Song Cycle

by Van Dyke Parks

Overview

Van Dyke Parks moved on from the Beach Boys' abortive SMiLE sessions to record his own solo debut, Song Cycle, an audacious and occasionally brilliant attempt to mount a fully orchestrated, classically minded work within the context of contemporary pop. As indicated by its title, Song Cycle is a thematically coherent work, one which attempts to embrace the breadth of American popular music; bluegrass, ragtime, show tunes -- nothing escapes Parks' radar, and the sheer eclecticism and individualism of his work is remarkable. Opening with "Vine Street," authored by Randy Newman (another pop composer with serious classical aspirations), the album is both forward-thinking and backward-minded, a collision of bygone musical styles with the progressive sensibilities of the late '60s; while occasionally overambitious and at times insufferably coy, it's nevertheless a one-of-a-kind record, the product of true inspiration. ~ Jason Ankeny

Product Details

Release Date:	07/07/2017
Label:	SUPER D INDEPENDENT DIST.
UPC:	4943674262212
Rank:	2300

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Van Dyke Parks   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Steve Young   Guest Artist
Tom Scott   Guest Artist
Ron Elliott   Guest Artist,Guitar
Tommy Tedesco   Guest Artist,Balalaika
Randy Newman   Guest Artist,Piano
Kirby Johnson   Conductor
Earl Palmer   Percussion
Gayle Levant   Harp
Misha Goodatieff   Violin
Richard Perissi   Brass
Joseph Saxon   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Leonard Selic   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Joseph Ditullio   Strings
Arthur Briegleb   Brass
James R. Horn   Reeds,Woodwind
William Nadel   Balalaika
Thomas Shepard   Brass
George Washington   Piano
Paul Robbins   Choir/Chorus
Norman Benno   Reeds,Woodwind
Charles Berghoffer   Strings
Gaile Parks   Choir/Chorus
Robert West   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Nick Woods   Choir/Chorus
Philip Goldberg   Strings
Dennis Budimer   Strings
Thomas Scott   Reeds,Woodwind
Thomas Morgan   Reeds,Woodwind
Jerome Reisler   Strings
Thomas Z. Shepard   Brass
Dick Hyde   Brass
Frederick Seykora   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Nathan Gershman   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Hal Blaine   Percussion
Tony Rizzi   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Carl Fortina   Accordion
Harry Bluestone   Strings
Gary Coleman   Percussion
Don Bagley   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Vincent DeRosa   Brass
Jay Migliori   Reeds,Woodwind
Dennis Budimir   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Dick Rosmini   Guitar
Jim Gordon   Percussion
Jim Horn   Reeds,Woodwind
Darrel Terwilliger   Strings,Choir/Chorus
George Fields   Reeds,Woodwind
Ralph Schaeffer   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Julia Rinker   Choir/Chorus
Vanessa Hendricks   Choir/Chorus
Vasil Crienica   Balalaika
Leonard Malarsky   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Gregory Bemko   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Orville Rhodes   Strings,Choir/Chorus
Durrie Parks   Choir/Chorus
Billie Barnum   Choir/Chorus
Armand Karpoff   Strings
Leon Stewart   Balalaika
Nicolai Bolin   Balalaika
Karen Gunderson   Choir/Chorus
Vasil Orienica   Balalaika
Gerri Engemann   Choir/Chorus
Allan Reuss   Balalaika
Virginia Majewski   Viola
Ted Nash   Reeds,Woodwind
Jesse Ehrlich   Strings
Chuck Berghofer   Strings
James Hendricks   Choir/Chorus
William Green   Reeds,Woodwind
Lyle Ritz   Strings,Choir/Chorus
William Kurash   Strings
Samuel Boghossian   Strings

Technical Credits

Kirby Johnson   Music Advisor
Ed Thrasher   Art Direction
Tom Wilkes   Illustrations
Randy Newman   Arranger,Composer
Donovan   Composer
Lee Herschberg   Engineer
Van Dyke Parks   Arranger,Composer
Public Domain   Composer
Guy Webster   Photography
Lenny Waronker   Producer