Along the Cherry Lane : my life in music

Legendary writer and producer of Peter, Paul, and Mary, John Denver, and many others; and founder of one of the most successful large independent music publishing company in modern times, Cherry Lane Music, brings you his story up close and personal.

John Denver said, I have a producer who looks like an accountant, and an accountant who looks like a producer.

Soberly dressed, unflashy, and a trained classical musician, in the golden age of the music business Milt Okun stood out by not standing out.

His legacy does that for him. He discovered and launched John Denver, and mentored him throughout his career.

He created arrangements for Peter, Paul and Mary that the trio performed for half a century.

He brought Placido Domingo a crossover career that made him an international star beyond the world of opera.

He founded Cherry Lane Music, publisher of Dreamworks and Paramount and Marvel, Elvis and Quincy Jones and the Black Eyed Peas.

Without Milt, there would be no Hard Rock Cafe. And yet, as he tells it, it all happened almost despite his best efforts.

I thought, he says,I would be a junior high school music teacher all my life.