Editing Shel Silverstein (section)

===Music===
[[File:Grabsocks56.jpg|thumb|160px|left|[[Ballantine Books]] published Silverstein's 1956 collection of cartoons from ''[[Pacific Stars and Stripes]]'', foreword by [[Bill Mauldin]]]]
Silverstein studied briefly at [[Chicago College of Performing Arts]] at Roosevelt University. Silverstein was associated with the [[outlaw country]] movement.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=204WBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT129 |title=Progressive Country:How the 1970s Transformed the Texan in Popular Culture|last=Mellard|first=Jason|date=2013 |publisher=University of Texas Press |access-date= |isbn=9780292754676 |chapter=The New Cross Between Baba Ram Dass and Sam Bass |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> His musical output included a large catalog of songs; a number of them were hits for other artists, such as the rock group [[Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show]].<ref name="tim" /> He wrote [[Tompall Glaser|Tompall Glaser's]] highest-charting solo single "Put Another Log on the Fire", "[[One's on the Way]]" and "[[Hey Loretta]]" (both hits for [[Loretta Lynn]], in 1971 and 1973 respectively), and "[[25 Minutes to Go]]", sung by [[Johnny Cash]], about a man on [[death row]] with each line counting down one minute closer. Lynn recorded five songs written by Silverstein. Lynn's producer Owen Bradley once said Silverstein's style of song writing was the most similar to that of Lynn's own writing. Silverstein also wrote one of Cash's biggest hits, "[[A Boy Named Sue]]", as well as "[[The Unicorn (song)|The Unicorn]]", first recorded by Silverstein in 1962 but better known in its version by [[The Irish Rovers]]. Other songs co-written by Silverstein include "The Taker" written with [[Kris Kristofferson]] and recorded by [[Waylon Jennings]], and a sequel to "A Boy Named Sue" titled "Father of a Boy Named Sue", which is less known, but he performed the song on television on ''[[The Johnny Cash Show (TV series)|The Johnny Cash Show]]''. He also penned a lesser known song titled "Fuck 'em."<ref name="Thomas 2013">{{Cite web |last=Joseph Thomas |date=October 11, 2013 |title=My Shel Silverstein Biography Can't Quote Shel Silverstein. Why? |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/10/my_shel_silverstein_biography_can_t_quote_shel_silverstein_why.single.html |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMuQTN7Xo4w |title=Shel Silverstein - Fuck 'Em - Fuck 'Em |date=October 2, 2013 |last=Junkbomb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721163002/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMuQTN7Xo4w |archive-date=2015-07-21 |url-status=dead |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs on their first few albums, including "[[The Cover of "Rolling Stone"]]", "Freaker's Ball", "[[Sylvia's Mother]]", "The Things I Didn't Say" and "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most".<ref name=tim/> He wrote many of the songs performed by [[Bobby Bare]], including "Rosalie's Good Eats Café", "[[The Mermaid (Shel Silverstein song)|The Mermaid]]", "The Winner", "Daddy What If", "Warm and Free", and "Tequila Sheila". He co-wrote with Baxter Taylor "[[Marie Laveau (song)|Marie Laveau]]". The third album by [[Tompall Glaser]] contained eight songs by Silverstein and three by Silverstein and others.

Silverstein's "[[The Ballad of Lucy Jordan]]", first recorded by Dr. Hook in 1975, was re-recorded by [[Lee Hazlewood]] (1976), [[Marianne Faithfull]] (1979), [[Belinda Carlisle]] (1996), and Bobby Bare (2005) and later featured in the films ''[[Montenegro (film)|Montenegro]]'' and ''[[Thelma & Louise]]''. "Queen of the Silver Dollar" was first recorded by Dr. Hook on their 1972 album ''[[Sloppy Seconds (album)|Sloppy Seconds]]'', and later by [[Doyle Holly]] (on his 1973 album ''[[Doyle Holly (album)|Doyle Holly]]''), [[Emmylou Harris]] (on her 1975 album ''[[Pieces of the Sky]]'') and [[Dave & Sugar]] (on their 1976 album ''Dave & Sugar'').

Silverstein composed original music for several films and displayed a musical versatility in these projects, playing guitar, piano, saxophone and [[trombone]]. He wrote "In the Hills of Shiloh", a poignant song about the aftermath of the American Civil War, recorded by [[The New Christy Minstrels]], [[Judy Collins]], Bobby Bare, and others. The soundtrack of the 1970 film ''[[Ned Kelly (1970 film)|Ned Kelly]]'' features Silverstein songs performed by [[Waylon Jennings]], [[Kris Kristofferson]], and others.<ref name="legacy" /> He also co-wrote with Waylon the song 'A Long Time Ago'.

In addition, Silverstein wrote "Hey Nelly Nelly", a 1960s-era folk song recorded by [[Judy Collins]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pollock |first=Bruce |title=By the Time We Got to Woodstock: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Revolution of 1969 |date=2009 |publisher=[[Backbeat Books]] |page=232}}</ref>

Silverstein had a popular following on [[Dr. Demento]]'s radio show. Among his better-known comedy songs were "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take the Garbage Out)", "The Smoke-Off" (a tale of a contest to determine who could roll—or smoke—marijuana joints faster), "I Got Stoned and I Missed It" and "Stacy Brown Got Two." He wrote the 1962 song "[[Boa Constrictor (song)|Boa Constrictor]]", sung by a person who is being swallowed by a snake. The latter song was recorded by the folk group [[Peter, Paul and Mary]], and also by [[Johnny Cash]] for his 1966 album ''[[Everybody Loves a Nut]]''.

One of Silverstein's last musical projects was ''Old Dogs'', a 1998 album with songs about getting old, all of which Silverstein wrote or co-wrote.<ref name="olddogsallmusic">{{Cite web |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |title=The Old Dogs Biography |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p352588|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=2008-06-30 |website=[[Allmusic]]}}</ref>

A longtime friend of singer-songwriter Pat Dailey, Silverstein collaborated with him on the posthumously released ''Underwater Land'' album (2002). It contains 17 children's songs written and produced by Silverstein and sung by Dailey (with Silverstein joining him on a few tracks). The album features art by Silverstein.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Silverstein |first=Shel |date=June 1, 2009 |title=Underwater Land |url=http://www.underwaterland.com |access-date=April 23, 2017 |publisher=Olympia Records}}</ref>

He was a friend of Chicago songwriter [[Steve Goodman]], for whom he wrote the final verse of "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" (refusing a songwriting credit for his contribution). <!-- Do not add this without a source! -- Goodman also recorded Silverstein's "Three-Legged Man", as did [[Ray Stevens]].{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} -->

In 2010, Bobby Bare and his son Bobby Bare Jr produced a CD called ''Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein'' which was released on Sugar Hill Records. Other artists who recorded Silverstein's songs include [[the Brothers Four]], [[Andrew Bird]], [[My Morning Jacket]] and [[Bobby Bare Jr.]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 9, 2010 |title=Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14325-twistable-turnable-man-a-musical-tribute-to-the-songs-of-shel-silverstein/ |access-date=February 27, 2013 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sugar Hill Records Catalogue |url=http://www.sugarhillrecords.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=930 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104123721/http://www.sugarhillrecords.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=930 |archive-date=January 4, 2011 |website=SugarHillRecords.com}}</ref>