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Van Dyke Parks
Arrangements, Volume One
Bananastan
B1000
________________________________________________________
1. Donovan's Colours (Mono Single Mix)
(Donovan Leitch)
George Washington Brown
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
2. Come To The Sunshine
(Van Dyke Parks)
Van Dyke Parks
3. The Eagle And Me
(Arlen-Harburg)
Van Dyke Parks
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
4. Friends And Lovers
(Murphy-Koerner)
Sid Valentine
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
5. Alligator Man
(Floyd Chance)
Sid Valentine
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
6. Farther Along
(Van Dyke Parks)
Van Dyke Parks
7. Valley To Pray
(Coutson-Pilla-Guthrie)
Arlo Guthrie
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
8. Out On The Rolling Sea When Jesus Speak To Me
(Joseph Spence)
Van Dyke Parks
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
9. Sitting Here In Limbo
(Bright-Cliff)
Dino Martin
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
10. Wha' She Go Do (Remastered Version)
(McCarth Lewis)
Bonnie Raitt
(P) 1973 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
11. Sit Down I Think I Love You (Single Version)
(Stephen Stills)
The Mojo Men
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
12. One Meatball (LP Version)
(Singer-Singer-Zaret)
Ry Cooder
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
13. Cheek To Cheek (Album Version)
(Parks-Kibbee-George)
Lowell George
(P) 1979 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Jeffrey Porcaro, David Paich appear courtesy of Columbia Records, David Foster appears courtesy of RCA Records, J.D. Souther appears courtesy of Asylum Records.
14. Spanish Moon (Album Version)
(Lowell George)
Little Feat
(P) 1978 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
15. Ice Capades (Moog Music '67)
(Van Dyke Parks)
Van Dyke Parks
________________________________________________________
The tracks contained within, performed by a diverse range of artists, share one thing in common: they were all arranged by Van Dyke Parks.
________________________________________________________
All songs arranged by Van Dyke Parks
Executive Producer: Mike Minky
Mastered by Catasonic by Mark Wheaton
Design by Barbara Bersche
________________________________________________________
In 1971, I was visiting the Hollywood Hills' home of arranging great Bob Thompson, delivering some reference tapes of tunes I wanted him to arrange for my Discover America album. I noticed the vast array of gold records and other music memorabilia on his walls. Bob shrugged when 1 reflected my incredulity. “Not worth a damn cent!" he admitted. Then, as now, arranger profits were little, with no residual benefit for the pivotal contribution the arranger's craft plays in the production of recorded music.
Bob had had a heyday, in the Big Bang burst of Hi-Fi Stereo, and his binaural experiments would be as astonishing to me as anything I'd heard before. I wouldn't call him “a mentor;” but certainly an exemplar of the depth of invention that orchestration of recorded music invites. Google him, and pursue his work, (e.g., The Sound of Speed). He's a paradigm of the short-list of such musical genius that thrived in the Golden Age of analogue recording. (Others I've met of such a level are Perry Botkin Jr., Esquivel, and Lenny Niehaus.)
By the time I met Bob, it was a hard-scrabble life for him and his gifts, which he surely wanted to apply to more than commercial jingles and pop-music aspirants. The work he did for "producers" in “the '60s" made them look productive. That was how good he was.
While I'd had fair warning (that arranging/orchestration pays in pin money), I was already infected with the idea that The Arranger lorded over all other arts and crafts in the vertical hierarchy and production chain.
Let me go back to 1948. I was then but five years old. That year, I heard my first "pop" record, "Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time).” It was on a 78 that had a picture of a nose-art country girl under a lilac tree. I fell in love with her and the song. That same year, by visits to a barbershop, I heard my first radio hits. Of the songs of that era, "Cocktails for Two" was the most startling. It had an array of tuneful percussion and sound FX playing throughout. (Include in that family anything that can be struck and produce pitched tone.) Such instruments, while familiar to me in orchestral pieces, such as Gershwin and Grofe, I'd heard while summering in Chautauqua, New York in the '40s and '50s. I'd also had a regimen of mallet men in the passing of parades, with their xylophones and glockenspiels in the Marches of John Philip Sousa. He knew well how to attract the ear of a casual observer with the articulate power of such struck axes.
Yet, there was a distinct difference in the way such "ear-candy" was spun in the recording studio. Perspective played much a part of it, especially in the work of sound pioneer Spike Jones. Such arranging was a generation beyond the Big Band sound that took my father off to World War II (and brought him safely home, after U.S. Army service that led him through the liberation of Dachau). In 1948, one could still hear Big Band, under such hits as Vaughn Monroe's "Dance Ballerina Dance,” and there were the beginnings of a new C & W crossover genre with top-ten hits of groups like The Sons of the Pioneers with "Cool Water" and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds.” I was hooked on recorded music, and fascinated by its arrangements - all the while, pursuing clarinet (my first instrument) and piano, through musical literature.
In '53 I heard Les Paul, and marveled at his "wire choir" of multi-layered guitars, on tunes like "How High the Moon" ('50), and "Bye Bye Blues" ('52), all with the winsome vocals of wife Mary Ford. He'd synthesized an entirely new approach to electric guitar, sui generis, ad hoc, outta the blue, and totally astonishing to my pre-teen ears. Such flight formation trio guitar work wasn't equalled until the Eagles' instrumental break in "Hotel California:' Les Paul widened my list of mentors in recorded music, while I labored on in an effort to be legit.
THE BIG BANG
In 1963, my brother Carson and I were hired by songwriter Terry Gilkyson, for his song "The Bear Necessities," featured in Disney's The Jungle Book movie. It was sung by Phil Harris, and nominated for an Academy Award. That was my first paid job as an arranger.
Although it was only a glorified rhythm chart, I was now actually called an Arranger. It was a benchmark in my life. I'd found the niche I would most comfortably occupy for the next 50 years.
My work began. Nothing I'd learned in music school prepared me one iota for the social and musical demands that came with the job. Yet, I gained distinction with each effort. I reserved the right to fail, knowing I'd never achieve anything significant without so doing. And yes, I failed, often, miserably. All this, with the blessing of anonymity, carefully preserved.
Here's Volume One, dating from my earliest studio adventures in the '60s. "Come to the Sunshine" was the first such arrangement. It was written about my dad and his band "The White Swan Serenaders" (who played at the White Swan Hotel in Punxsutawny, PA). This single on MGM gave me my first real adventure at the dawn of multi-track recording (although it was done in just 3 takes). Throughout, you'll hear what I learned about arranging. Bear in mind, I went on to scratch out my own hard-scrabble life as an underpaid arranger, yet able to propel three offspring through their collegiate careers. They learned enough to avoid my occupational mistakes.
Volume Two will be a different matter, with an exponential craft improvement on my part. Still, this must be my confession, as a review of my past work may offer great instruction to others who move the Recorded Arts beyond my wildest dreams.
Clearly, my best work lies ahead.
- VAN DYKE PARKS
Pasadena, Ca.
March '11
________________________________________________________
Back to Van Dyke Park's main page
Back to Top
________________________________________________________
(P) & (C) 2011 Bananastan
All Rights Reserved
Van Dyke Parks
Arrangements, Volume One
Bananastan
B1000
________________________________________________________
1. Donovan's Colours (Mono Single Mix)
(Donovan Leitch)
George Washington Brown
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
2. Come To The Sunshine
(Van Dyke Parks)
Van Dyke Parks
3. The Eagle And Me
(Arlen-Harburg)
Van Dyke Parks
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
4. Friends And Lovers
(Murphy-Koerner)
Sid Valentine
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
5. Alligator Man
(Floyd Chance)
Sid Valentine
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
6. Farther Along
(Van Dyke Parks)
Van Dyke Parks
7. Valley To Pray
(Coutson-Pilla-Guthrie)
Arlo Guthrie
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
8. Out On The Rolling Sea When Jesus Speak To Me
(Joseph Spence)
Van Dyke Parks
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
9. Sitting Here In Limbo
(Bright-Cliff)
Dino Martin
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
10. Wha' She Go Do (Remastered Version)
(McCarth Lewis)
Bonnie Raitt
(P) 1973 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
11. Sit Down I Think I Love You (Single Version)
(Stephen Stills)
The Mojo Men
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
12. One Meatball (LP Version)
(Singer-Singer-Zaret)
Ry Cooder
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
13. Cheek To Cheek (Album Version)
(Parks-Kibbee-George)
Lowell George
(P) 1979 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Jeffrey Porcaro, David Paich appear courtesy of Columbia Records, David Foster appears courtesy of RCA Records, J.D. Souther appears courtesy of Asylum Records.
14. Spanish Moon (Album Version)
(Lowell George)
Little Feat
(P) 1978 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
15. Ice Capades (Moog Music '67)
(Van Dyke Parks)
Van Dyke Parks
________________________________________________________
The tracks contained within, performed by a diverse range of artists, share one thing in common: they were all arranged by Van Dyke Parks.
________________________________________________________
All songs arranged by Van Dyke Parks
Executive Producer: Mike Minky
Mastered by Catasonic by Mark Wheaton
Design by Barbara Bersche
________________________________________________________
In 1971, I was visiting the Hollywood Hills' home of arranging great Bob Thompson, delivering some reference tapes of tunes I wanted him to arrange for my Discover America album. I noticed the vast array of gold records and other music memorabilia on his walls. Bob shrugged when 1 reflected my incredulity. “Not worth a damn cent!" he admitted. Then, as now, arranger profits were little, with no residual benefit for the pivotal contribution the arranger's craft plays in the production of recorded music.
Bob had had a heyday, in the Big Bang burst of Hi-Fi Stereo, and his binaural experiments would be as astonishing to me as anything I'd heard before. I wouldn't call him “a mentor;” but certainly an exemplar of the depth of invention that orchestration of recorded music invites. Google him, and pursue his work, (e.g., The Sound of Speed). He's a paradigm of the short-list of such musical genius that thrived in the Golden Age of analogue recording. (Others I've met of such a level are Perry Botkin Jr., Esquivel, and Lenny Niehaus.)
By the time I met Bob, it was a hard-scrabble life for him and his gifts, which he surely wanted to apply to more than commercial jingles and pop-music aspirants. The work he did for "producers" in “the '60s" made them look productive. That was how good he was.
While I'd had fair warning (that arranging/orchestration pays in pin money), I was already infected with the idea that The Arranger lorded over all other arts and crafts in the vertical hierarchy and production chain.
Let me go back to 1948. I was then but five years old. That year, I heard my first "pop" record, "Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time).” It was on a 78 that had a picture of a nose-art country girl under a lilac tree. I fell in love with her and the song. That same year, by visits to a barbershop, I heard my first radio hits. Of the songs of that era, "Cocktails for Two" was the most startling. It had an array of tuneful percussion and sound FX playing throughout. (Include in that family anything that can be struck and produce pitched tone.) Such instruments, while familiar to me in orchestral pieces, such as Gershwin and Grofe, I'd heard while summering in Chautauqua, New York in the '40s and '50s. I'd also had a regimen of mallet men in the passing of parades, with their xylophones and glockenspiels in the Marches of John Philip Sousa. He knew well how to attract the ear of a casual observer with the articulate power of such struck axes.
Yet, there was a distinct difference in the way such "ear-candy" was spun in the recording studio. Perspective played much a part of it, especially in the work of sound pioneer Spike Jones. Such arranging was a generation beyond the Big Band sound that took my father off to World War II (and brought him safely home, after U.S. Army service that led him through the liberation of Dachau). In 1948, one could still hear Big Band, under such hits as Vaughn Monroe's "Dance Ballerina Dance,” and there were the beginnings of a new C & W crossover genre with top-ten hits of groups like The Sons of the Pioneers with "Cool Water" and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds.” I was hooked on recorded music, and fascinated by its arrangements - all the while, pursuing clarinet (my first instrument) and piano, through musical literature.
In '53 I heard Les Paul, and marveled at his "wire choir" of multi-layered guitars, on tunes like "How High the Moon" ('50), and "Bye Bye Blues" ('52), all with the winsome vocals of wife Mary Ford. He'd synthesized an entirely new approach to electric guitar, sui generis, ad hoc, outta the blue, and totally astonishing to my pre-teen ears. Such flight formation trio guitar work wasn't equalled until the Eagles' instrumental break in "Hotel California:' Les Paul widened my list of mentors in recorded music, while I labored on in an effort to be legit.
THE BIG BANG
In 1963, my brother Carson and I were hired by songwriter Terry Gilkyson, for his song "The Bear Necessities," featured in Disney's The Jungle Book movie. It was sung by Phil Harris, and nominated for an Academy Award. That was my first paid job as an arranger.
Although it was only a glorified rhythm chart, I was now actually called an Arranger. It was a benchmark in my life. I'd found the niche I would most comfortably occupy for the next 50 years.
My work began. Nothing I'd learned in music school prepared me one iota for the social and musical demands that came with the job. Yet, I gained distinction with each effort. I reserved the right to fail, knowing I'd never achieve anything significant without so doing. And yes, I failed, often, miserably. All this, with the blessing of anonymity, carefully preserved.
Here's Volume One, dating from my earliest studio adventures in the '60s. "Come to the Sunshine" was the first such arrangement. It was written about my dad and his band "The White Swan Serenaders" (who played at the White Swan Hotel in Punxsutawny, PA). This single on MGM gave me my first real adventure at the dawn of multi-track recording (although it was done in just 3 takes). Throughout, you'll hear what I learned about arranging. Bear in mind, I went on to scratch out my own hard-scrabble life as an underpaid arranger, yet able to propel three offspring through their collegiate careers. They learned enough to avoid my occupational mistakes.
Volume Two will be a different matter, with an exponential craft improvement on my part. Still, this must be my confession, as a review of my past work may offer great instruction to others who move the Recorded Arts beyond my wildest dreams.
Clearly, my best work lies ahead.
- VAN DYKE PARKS
Pasadena, Ca.
March '11
________________________________________________________
Back to Van Dyke Park's main page
Back to Top
________________________________________________________
(P) & (C) 2011 Bananastan
All Rights Reserved
