Van Dyke Parks "Song Cycle" 1968
"Van Dyke Parks has always been one of the great charlatans of US music history!"
Former child actor Van Dyke Parks had reinvented himself as a songwriter, arranger, raconteur, and budding conceptualist when Warner Bros. bankrolled this brave, baroque 1968 debut, which has achieved true notoriety in the annals of '60s California pop.
More heard-of than heard, Song Cycle sailed against the tide of guitar-driven, blues-drenched rock to bet on the orchestral ambitions of Sgt. Pepper, weaving a conceptual tapestry from folk, Tin Pan Alley, and classical strands. In place of generational anthems or confessional love songs, Parks's coy, modest tenor offered intricate, impressionistic wordplay ripe with puns, multiple-entendres, and geopolitical allusions far beyond the pale of countercultural rock. On songs such as "The All Golden," "Palm Desert," and "Laurel Canyon Blvd.," you'll hear poetic links to Brian Wilson's most convoluted, internalized soundscapes, as well as a wily musical intelligence that will either intoxicate or infuriate you. Not unlike a brattier, Californian cousin to Stephen Sondheim, Parks revels in musical and thematic puzzles, and Song Cycle offers his most seductive and challenging ones. - Sam Sutherland
Former child actor Van Dyke Parks had reinvented himself as a songwriter, arranger, raconteur, and budding conceptualist when Warner Bros. bankrolled this brave, baroque 1968 debut, which has achieved true notoriety in the annals of '60s California pop.More heard-of than heard, Song Cycle sailed against the tide of guitar-driven, blues-drenched rock to bet on the orchestral ambitions of Sgt. Pepper, weaving a conceptual tapestry from folk, Tin Pan Alley, and classical strands. In place of generational anthems or confessional love songs, Parks's coy, modest tenor offered intricate, impressionistic wordplay ripe with puns, multiple-entendres, and geopolitical allusions far beyond the pale of countercultural rock. On songs such as "The All Golden," "Palm Desert," and "Laurel Canyon Blvd.," you'll hear poetic links to Brian Wilson's most convoluted, internalized soundscapes, as well as a wily musical intelligence that will either intoxicate or infuriate you. Not unlike a brattier, Californian cousin to Stephen Sondheim, Parks revels in musical and thematic puzzles, and Song Cycle offers his most seductive and challenging ones. - Sam Sutherland
Producer: Leonard Waronker1 Vine Street (R Newman)
2 Palm Desert (Van Dyke Parks)
3 Widow's Walk (Van Dyke Parks)
4 Laurel Canyon Blvd. (Van Dyke Parks)
5 The All Golden (Van Dyke Parks)
6 Van Dyke Parks (Public Domain) say what now?
7 Public Domain (Van Dyke Parks) come again . . . ? What the heck?
8 Donovan's Colours (Donovan Leitch)
9 The Attic (Van Dyke Parks)
10 Laurel Canyon Blvd. (Van Dyke Parks)
11 By The People (Van Dyke Parks)
12 Pot Pourri (Van Dyke Parks)
CD bonus track 13 The Eagle And Me (Arlen/Naiberg) (originally released as a single on Warner Bros)
Then came 'Discover America' and we all bought the album thanks to my old friend and collegiate pal Steve Roberts I think! . . .
“Still she walking’ about with she face like Jack Palance - Go To FRANCE!”
The All Golden - Van Dyke Parks
The Mighty Sparrow's 'Jack Palance' Discover America
Van Dyke Parks "Discover America" 1972
While I dig "Song Cycle" quite a bit, I prefer "Discover America", Van Dyke's sprawling, tropical fever dream. What does it sound like? I liken it to giving a bunch of Disney characters lost in Trinidad with nothing but a bottle of booze and a bag of coke. I dunno. It's a whole hill of fun and a big kick in the rubber parts. Light the tiki torches, crank it up, and relax. - By Patrick Crain (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma United States)
After reading reviews for other Van Dyke Parks albums, I'm amazed at how easily this one gets overlooked; Mr. Parks certainly has many strong albums which deserve heaping amounts of credit (Song Cycle and Jump! come to mind first), but to me this one is the perfect blend of the artistic sensibilities of "Song Cycle" and the listenability and pop/catchiness of "Clang of the Yankee Reaper" (The albums released just before and after "Discover America").
To my ears, this one has just the right combination of elements from both albums, and has proven to be the one I come back to listen to the most. Some people may gripe that there are a number of covers on this album (as another reviewer mentioned, "Roosevelt in Trinidad" contains a number of the original versions): But this is where Park's talent for instrumentation, arranging and personalizing material shines through. This album swells and swoons in all the right places; it is a funky feverish haze with exquisite instrumentation, arrangements, and just the right mix of artistic pretention and outright feelgood funkiness. A tropical cocktail that'll shake you! - By Josh Z. Bonder "a sound painter" (Toronto)
After reading reviews for other Van Dyke Parks albums, I'm amazed at how easily this one gets overlooked; Mr. Parks certainly has many strong albums which deserve heaping amounts of credit (Song Cycle and Jump! come to mind first), but to me this one is the perfect blend of the artistic sensibilities of "Song Cycle" and the listenability and pop/catchiness of "Clang of the Yankee Reaper" (The albums released just before and after "Discover America").To my ears, this one has just the right combination of elements from both albums, and has proven to be the one I come back to listen to the most. Some people may gripe that there are a number of covers on this album (as another reviewer mentioned, "Roosevelt in Trinidad" contains a number of the original versions): But this is where Park's talent for instrumentation, arranging and personalizing material shines through. This album swells and swoons in all the right places; it is a funky feverish haze with exquisite instrumentation, arrangements, and just the right mix of artistic pretention and outright feelgood funkiness. A tropical cocktail that'll shake you! - By Josh Z. Bonder "a sound painter" (Toronto)
Van Dyke Parks "Clang Of The Yankee Reaper" 1976
Shedding the florid orchestrations of SONG CYCLE and the West Indies explorations of DISCOVER AMERICA, Van Dyke Parks' third album stands as perhaps his most straightforward set of independent songs.
Though CLANG includes none of Parks' original compositions, the set contains the essence of his sound and shines a light on his skills as an orchestrator and as an arranger. The title song is classic Parks, its lyrics evocative of movement, changing times, and Americana. The steel band sound that had empowered DISCOVER AMERICA is again employed to fine effect, most notably as one of the orchestral flavors in "Another Dream." A wonderful parade-band version of Pachebel's "Canon In D"--sounding like football game halftime entertainment commandeered by a group of scholars--closes the album.
Though CLANG includes none of Parks' original compositions, the set contains the essence of his sound and shines a light on his skills as an orchestrator and as an arranger. The title song is classic Parks, its lyrics evocative of movement, changing times, and Americana. The steel band sound that had empowered DISCOVER AMERICA is again employed to fine effect, most notably as one of the orchestral flavors in "Another Dream." A wonderful parade-band version of Pachebel's "Canon In D"--sounding like football game halftime entertainment commandeered by a group of scholars--closes the album.
Van Dyke Parks "Jump!" 1984
An exhilarating song cycle based on the Uncle Remus tales...
...It incorporates the styles of Stephen Foster, ragtime, '30s movie-soundtrack music, you name it, all in the service of playful, touching lyrics that correspond to the source material, without actually aping it. A delight from start to finish. - Review by William Ruhlmann
...It incorporates the styles of Stephen Foster, ragtime, '30s movie-soundtrack music, you name it, all in the service of playful, touching lyrics that correspond to the source material, without actually aping it. A delight from start to finish. - Review by William Ruhlmann
Van Dyke Parks "Tokyo Rose" 1989
Given Van Dyke Parks' well-documented fascination with the various and sundry collision points of American musical culture with the rest of the world, he was as good a candidate as any to make a concept album about the often uneasy relationship between the United States and Japan, and he approached the subject on his fifth album, 1989's Tokyo Rose...
...Tokyo Rose concerns itself with America's mingled condescension, infatuation, and contempt toward Japan, as well as Japan's often skewed perception of America and it's cultural icons -- Uncle Sam woos the Dragon Lady, Japan learns to love baseball, and everyone tries to figure out where the cowboys came from. Parks' songs dip satiric arrows into sweet but poisoned wit; the lyrics are never less than amusing (even when they're too wordy and self-consciously clever, which is often), and the lush and elaborate orchestrations are dotted with both "authentic" Japanese themes and well-turned cliches of both Asian and American musical figures. Tokyo Rose often sounds like the original cast album to some eccentric Broadway musical about footloose and pretentious Ugly Americans vacationing in the Pacific Rim, especially since Parks hands over a few of his lead vocals to other singers (including former Three Dog Night belter Danny Hutton), but even though Parks' slightly precious tenor rarely sounds like the perfect instrument for this stuff, he seems to fit the songs better than anyone else on board. Tokyo Rose occasionally gets lost in its own ambitions, and it's sometimes a bit too smart for its own good, but there are precious few people in the American popular musical scene who could tackle this sort of material and make it work so well; if it's not quite a masterpiece, it's at least an experiment that works. - Review by Mark Deming
...Tokyo Rose concerns itself with America's mingled condescension, infatuation, and contempt toward Japan, as well as Japan's often skewed perception of America and it's cultural icons -- Uncle Sam woos the Dragon Lady, Japan learns to love baseball, and everyone tries to figure out where the cowboys came from. Parks' songs dip satiric arrows into sweet but poisoned wit; the lyrics are never less than amusing (even when they're too wordy and self-consciously clever, which is often), and the lush and elaborate orchestrations are dotted with both "authentic" Japanese themes and well-turned cliches of both Asian and American musical figures. Tokyo Rose often sounds like the original cast album to some eccentric Broadway musical about footloose and pretentious Ugly Americans vacationing in the Pacific Rim, especially since Parks hands over a few of his lead vocals to other singers (including former Three Dog Night belter Danny Hutton), but even though Parks' slightly precious tenor rarely sounds like the perfect instrument for this stuff, he seems to fit the songs better than anyone else on board. Tokyo Rose occasionally gets lost in its own ambitions, and it's sometimes a bit too smart for its own good, but there are precious few people in the American popular musical scene who could tackle this sort of material and make it work so well; if it's not quite a masterpiece, it's at least an experiment that works. - Review by Mark Deming