Couple of interesting facts about Van Dyke Parks, aside from his having auditioned for the Monkees, which I believe I dealt with in another post.
A little bit after that, he was a member of the Mothers of Invention. For, like, a couple of weeks. By the time they recorded Freak Out! he was gone. It seems to have been rather easy to fall out with Frank Zappa, and he did.
Also, at the time he recorded Song Cycle he was highly influenced by Mexican keyboardist and composer Juan Garcia Esquivel. The above song doesn't really sound like Esquivel, but there is a similar sense of playing around with the listener's stereo equipment and headspace.
2 comments:
Thanks for reminding us of Van Dyke Parks - not exactly someone you think about often but a guy who was very interesting himself and collaborated with some equally interesting musicians. Other than the mercurial Frank Zappa (no surprise about the falling out) it looks as though he actually got along very well with a number of other musicians. The list is pretty amazing starting with Randy Newman, Arlo Guthrie, Tim Buckley, Judy Collins, the Byrds, and Ry Cooder, and Brian Wilson besides. It was neat to see he contributed to one of of the coolest Jungle Book songs, 'The Bare Necessities' (can't mention that without remembering Louis Prima's amazing performance).
Van Dyke Parks has lived a rich and extraordinary life so far and seems set to continue. It's neat that he got interested in Esquival. Matt Groening and Danny Elfman were inspired by Esquival's 'Space Age Bachelor Pad Music' for the theme of 'The Simpsons'.
So many connections, eh?
Parks's voice and musical vision are both rather unique. They're maybe not for everyone, which could be why he's got a very dedicated audience but isn't really a mainstream performer. But he's had a lot of success in collaboration with others as a songwriter and producer. That includes cowriting some classic songs by the Beach Boys, including "Heroes and Villains" and "Surf's Up". The Jungle Book was the last Disney movie made while Walt was still alive, and it's a good cap to his legacy, music included. ("Bare Necessities" was mostly sung by Phil Harris. Prima's big moment was "I Wan'na Be Like You".)
I never realized that Danny Elfman and Matt Groening had been inspired to do the Simpsons theme song the way it is by Esquivel. Listening to it, it makes sense, though. It's got that sense that you can throw in pretty much anything and it will work out as part of the song.
Indeed there are a crazy number of connections.
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