Milt Okun

Milton Theodore Okun /ˈoʊkən/ (December 23, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was an American arranger, record producer, conductor, singer and founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc. He transformed the careers of a dozen or more major U.S. artists who, under Okun's tutelage, became some of the most successful musical acts of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. A special on PBS called Okun one of the most influential music producers in history. His career lasted over 50 years, from the folk revival to the twenty-first century.

He created arrangements or produced for many popular groups and artists such as The Chad Mitchell Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Brothers Four, John Denver, and Miriam Makeba. In 1968 he interviewed many American folksingers and published the songs they chose in Something to Sing About!

At the height of Okun's career, critic Richard Sparks wrote, "Of all producers, Milton Okun's range is the widest, from Plácido Domingo to the Muppets." During a hiatus in his work as conductor for Harry Belafonte, Okun took on the Chad Mitchell Trio as his first folk trio, later signing Tom Paxton as a client for his new Cherry Lane Music publishing company when Paxton auditioned unsuccessfully for an opening in the trio. Okun began his long association with John Denver after Denver replaced Chad Mitchell in the renamed "Mitchell Trio"; as well as bringing Denver to stardom and producing his most loved hits, Okun was arranger and producer for Peter, Paul and Mary. Cherry Lane Music became the music publishing company for Elvis and DreamWorks among other household names.

Okun died on November 15, 2016, at the age of 92.