Van Dyke Parks at McCabe's in Santa Monica tomorrow, March 30

[rn57]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-van-dyke-parks-tom-mcdermott-mccabes-20130327,0,5971126.story

It's uncommon for VDP to do headlining gigs in the LA area, so his appearance at McCabe's Guitar Shop tomorrow is noteworthy. Sold out, unsurprisingly, so you'll have to check Craigslist or some such just in case somebody has to go out of town.  He'll be appearing with Tom McDermott, a N'Orleans pianist who has impressed Van Dyke so much he's releasing an album by the guy on his Bananastan label - despite the fact he hasn't even met McDermott before this weekend! The above article has some of Van Dyke's usual sparkling quotes.

[ontor pertawst]

Sniff. Can the next VDP gig be mentioned here BEFORE it sells out? As a change of pace, say.

(Collapses into heaving sobs)

[bgas]

Must point out that Tom McDermott is originally from St. Louis MO, recording there( here) in the early 1980's before moving to N'orleans:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_McDermott_(musician)

[rn57]

At

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/van_dyke_parks_keeps_on_cyclin

Michael Simmons, a noted journalist and man-about town in NYC, then LA, for years, writes about the upcoming gig - with another of Van Dyke's priceless one-liners at the end - but mostly about when Van Dyke first came to his attention - when he was office boy at Cheetah magazine, where his father Matty Simmons, later of National Lampoon fame, was publisher. 

(Cheetah was the first big-budget, slick rock magazine. Its first issue - yes, the one that had Jules Siegel's "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!" - was dated Oct '67 and hit the stands sometime around Sept 10 or Sept 15, thus preceding Rolling Stone's first issue by around two months.  The magazine lasted around the middle of '68.)

What made Simmons aware of VDP was the "Colors" single put out under the name of George Washington Brown by Warner Bros. This moved Tom Nolan, Cheetah's main staff writer, to do a profile on Van Dyke - one I'd like to read one of these days.  All of the early Crawdaddy is online, but issues of Cheetah are not in public or college libraries, and turn up on eBay only rarely.  Richard Henderson referred to Nolan's article in his book on Song Cycle, but I've never seen it mentioned elsewhere.

[Pretty Funky]

Sniff. Can the next VDP gig be mentioned here BEFORE it sells out? As a change of pace, say.

(Collapses into heaving sobs)

I just clicked on McCabes own site and tickets for the 10pm show are still on sale. $22.50

http://store.mccabes.com/home.php?cat=249

[ontor pertawst]

woohoo! Thanks!

[rn57]

I forgot McCabe's still does these 8 and 10 pm shows. It's just the 8 pm that's sold out. Well, I used to get down to McCabe's a fair amount over 20 years ago and the late shows tended to be the more entertaining ones so that's probably the better one to catch.

[bgas]

At

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/van_dyke_parks_keeps_on_cyclin

Michael Simmons, a noted journalist and man-about town in NYC, then LA, for years, writes about the upcoming gig - with another of Van Dyke's priceless one-liners at the end - but mostly about when Van Dyke first came to his attention - when he was office boy at Cheetah magazine, where his father Matty Simmons, later of National Lampoon fame, was publisher. 

(Cheetah was the first big-budget, slick rock magazine. Its first issue - yes, the one that had Jules Siegel's "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!" - was dated Oct '67 and hit the stands sometime around Sept 10 or Sept 15, thus preceding Rolling Stone's first issue by around two months.  The magazine lasted around the middle of '68.)

What made Simmons aware of VDP was the "Colors" single put out under the name of George Washington Brown by Warner Bros. This moved Tom Nolan, Cheetah's main staff writer, to do a profile on Van Dyke - one I'd like to read one of these days.  All of the early Crawdaddy is online, but issues of Cheetah are not in public or college libraries, and turn up on eBay only rarely.  Richard Henderson referred to Nolan's article in his book on Song Cycle, but I've never seen it mentioned elsewhere.

  Aha; Reading tis I was under the impression you were saying the article was in the 1st issue of Cheetah ( the only one I own), but it's not. The only GWB reference is in the 'Records" column and it's very brief; it's in the last paragraph on the page below: 

     

[ontor pertawst]

Ticket snagged, I'll report back with some lurid expose!

[rn57]

At

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/van_dyke_parks_keeps_on_cyclin

Michael Simmons, a noted journalist and man-about town in NYC, then LA, for years, writes about the upcoming gig - with another of Van Dyke's priceless one-liners at the end - but mostly about when Van Dyke first came to his attention - when he was office boy at Cheetah magazine, where his father Matty Simmons, later of National Lampoon fame, was publisher. 

(Cheetah was the first big-budget, slick rock magazine. Its first issue - yes, the one that had Jules Siegel's "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!" - was dated Oct '67 and hit the stands sometime around Sept 10 or Sept 15, thus preceding Rolling Stone's first issue by around two months.  The magazine lasted around the middle of '68.)

What made Simmons aware of VDP was the "Colors" single put out under the name of George Washington Brown by Warner Bros. This moved Tom Nolan, Cheetah's main staff writer, to do a profile on Van Dyke - one I'd like to read one of these days.  All of the early Crawdaddy is online, but issues of Cheetah are not in public or college libraries, and turn up on eBay only rarely.  Richard Henderson referred to Nolan's article in his book on Song Cycle, but I've never seen it mentioned elsewhere.

  Aha; Reading tis I was under the impression you were saying the article was in the 1st issue of Cheetah ( the only one I own), but it's not. The only GWB reference is in the 'Records" column and it's very brief; it's in the last paragraph on the page below: 

     

Nolan's article about Van Dyke was not in the Jules Siegel/Mama Cass-as-Playmate issue of Cheetah, but a later one - probably from around the time Song Cycle was released.

But the reference to the George Washington Brown 45 indicates that when it came out, people were wondering who the hell GWB really was. The default assumption in those days, where attention-grabbing records by unfamiliar or apparently pseudonymous artists were concerned, was generally that the Beatles must be moonlighting from Capitol.  Though "Donovan's Colours" not such an obvious progression from Sgt Pepper.

But OP - should you have the chance to chew the fat with Van Dyke, it may be worthwhile to bring up that 45. I think he enjoys talking about the record and the curiosity it stirred up.  Anyway, his first, now-defunct, email handle was geowashbrown.  Also, find some inventive way to bring Harry Nilsson into the conversation. Van Dyke sometimes tires of discussing Smile - though that's probably not that likely just now, since it won the Grammy - but he never tires of reminiscing about his  days with Nilsson.

[Justin]

I didn't think I was going to make this but at the last minute I was glad to find out that I could!  Went to the 10pm show and it was a packed house.  It was my first time attending a performance by Van Dyke and I have to say that I was MORE than pleased with what I heard and saw.  I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here how great he is.  The music was vibrant and infectiously joyous.  I was so happy to be there.  He had a few famous celebrity fans also in attendance...Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and Harry Shearer (legendary actor, voice actor on Simpsons).

Van Dyke was very charming and eloquent--as usual.  He was kind enough to sign both my SMiLE albums on LP (BW's 2004 version and the reissue from 2011).  He wrote a very kind message on the 2004 one:

[Shady]

Thanks for that Justin..

I'm glad it was a packed house for VDP

[Aegir]

What did he play? What was the band setup?

[Justin]

Harp, cello, upright bass, drums and VDP on upright piano.  He played for about an 1 hour, 1 hour and 10.  Not too familiar with VDP's work since it was my first show so I can't give a full set list.  A few songs I recall were "Wings of a Dove" "Cowboy" and "Sail Away."  Inara George was on stage for a few songs and she was fantastic.  They graced us with a wonderful Harry Nilsson cover, "He Needs Me" which was a huge surprise for me.  Can't wait to get into VDP's work.

[hypehat]

A harp? Sweet - last time I saw him he was just a trio. Cracking that you got to see He Needs Me too, that was a highlight of the Union Chapel gig I saw a couple of years back.

I'd definitely put Harry Nilsson's Popeye soundtrack as part of your Van Dyke discography - his orchestration is pretty much my favourite thing about that record. And that's probably his greatest skill, although I love his piano playing - simultaneously refined and raucous. He really belts that thing, doesn't he?

[Ed Roach]

Ticket snagged, I'll report back with some lurid expose!

Glad to catch a little tidbit from Justin, (& btw, Justin, check out Van's live album, "Moomlighting", & of course "Song Cycle"), but I'm dying to hear from you O.P.  I know how sad you have been to miss his recent shows, as sad as I was to miss last night!  But I felt comfortable knowing we'd hear from you

[G.C]

Did he play The All Golden?

[rn57]

Did he play The All Golden?

When I saw Van Dyke perform in the Washington area last year (a free show at the Kennedy Center, lasting one hour, and a ticketed event later that evening at the Hamilton Club, which lasted close to two), he played The All Golden at the latter gig - as the closing number.  At both, he played the title track and Come Along from Jump, the title track from Orange Crate Art, Sail Away, Cowboy, and the John Hartford song he does on Moonlighting.  

The Kennedy Center appearance is still online, I think....yep, it is:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=84944&source_type=B

It gives you a good idea of his show, except that his between-song remarks were a little curtailed owing to the time consideration.  At the Hamilton, he could really stretch out and tell his stories.

Van Dyke's LA-area shows are always guaranteed to bring out a celeb or two - or more. Even if they happen a little far afield.  In February he performed at the South Pasadena public library auditorium, and although he lives more or less down the street from it, there aren't too many other people in showbiz who are nearby.  Nonetheless, Bonnie Raitt drove all the way across LA to see it.

An entertaining moment in the annals of VDP gigging came a year or so back when he played Minneapolis. He opened the show by announcing that it was his first visit to the Twin Cities area.  Someone in the audience yelled, "Not true! I saw you open for Randy Newman here back in the seventies!"

"Randy Newman? The seventies, you say?" replied Van Dyke.  He put his thumb and forefinger to chin thoughtfully, waited a couple of beats, then said: "Well...either I was too high that night....or YOU were!"

[rn57]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a7EjakxeCc

From around the time VDP's Jump! was released.  Bob Claster of KCRW spents the better part of an hour interviewing him about his career up to then. Some extremely funny spots. 

VDP's debut composition, "High Coin," is mentioned, and VDP lists several of its cover versions. (He leaves out the one by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - as WCPAEB's Michael Lloyd later acknowledged, the band recorded their version after hearing Van Dyke play it a few times in clubs. They never bothered to ask him about so much as the chord changes, so it doesn't have too much to do with what he wrote.  When I mentioned this recording to VDP about 10 years ago, he was still pretty steamed, saying: "I would never be so discourteous as to fail to properly learn someone's song before performing and recording it.")

In the interview, VDP mentions that Broadway legend Tammy Grimes was interested in recording it...and asked him what it was "about."  Let him tell the rest at the link, but it does bring to mind the late Tandyn Almer's statement, in the liner notes of his new CD, that Van Dyke was part of a kind of competition among LA's hipsters circa '65 to be the first to write a "dope song" that could make it onto the charts.

[Lowbacca]

An entertaining moment in the annals of VDP gigging came a year or so back when he played Minneapolis. He opened the show by announcing that it was his first visit to the Twin Cities area.  Someone in the audience yelled, "Not true! I saw you open for Randy Newman here back in the seventies!"

"Randy Newman? The seventies, you say?" replied Van Dyke.  He put his thumb and forefinger to chin thoughtfully, waited a couple of beats, then said: "Well...either I was too high that night....or YOU were!"

Great guy.

[Peter Reum]

Thanks for the link to the Kennedy Center show.....

[Mikie]

Cool autographs there, Justintime!

Looks like you must have impressed Brian when you had him sign that CD and/or you caught him on a real good day. His autograph is more than a scribble or like a little worm like he signs most autos. Looks like the way he USE to sign it back in the 60's and 70's! Congrats for seeing a great show and for getting Van Dyke's autograph too. That's one I'm lacking. Justin, did Van sign autographs after the show or did you just catch him backstage or elsewhere?

[The Heartical Don]

Did he play The All Golden?

When I saw Van Dyke perform in the Washington area last year (a free show at the Kennedy Center, lasting one hour, and a ticketed event later that evening at the Hamilton Club, which lasted close to two), he played The All Golden at the latter gig - as the closing number.  At both, he played the title track and Come Along from Jump, the title track from Orange Crate Art, Sail Away, Cowboy, and the John Hartford song he does on Moonlighting.  

The Kennedy Center appearance is still online, I think....yep, it is:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=84944&source_type=B

It gives you a good idea of his show, except that his between-song remarks were a little curtailed owing to the time consideration.  At the Hamilton, he could really stretch out and tell his stories.

Van Dyke's LA-area shows are always guaranteed to bring out a celeb or two - or more. Even if they happen a little far afield.  In February he performed at the South Pasadena public library auditorium, and although he lives more or less down the street from it, there aren't too many other people in showbiz who are nearby.  Nonetheless, Bonnie Raitt drove all the way across LA to see it.

An entertaining moment in the annals of VDP gigging came a year or so back when he played Minneapolis. He opened the show by announcing that it was his first visit to the Twin Cities area.  Someone in the audience yelled, "Not true! I saw you open for Randy Newman here back in the seventies!"

"Randy Newman? The seventies, you say?" replied Van Dyke.  He put his thumb and forefinger to chin thoughtfully, waited a couple of beats, then said: "Well...either I was too high that night....or YOU were!"

Thanks for the link! Q: how can I preserve (rip is the word I believe) this video? I would be ever so glad to have it at hand for the rest of my life...

[Justin]

Cool autographs there, Justintime!

Looks like you must have impressed Brian when you had him sign that CD and/or you caught him on a real good day. His autograph is more than a scribble or like a little worm like he signs most autos. Looks like the way he USE to sign it back in the 60's and 70's! Congrats for seeing a great show and for getting Van Dyke's autograph too. That's one I'm lacking. Justin, did Van sign autographs after the show or did you just catch him backstage or elsewhere?

Thanks Mikie!...you're exactly right about the signature and I feel very lucky to have a nice one.  I have a couple other Brian sigs and like you said, they're just a "B" and a "W" with a couple squiggly lines after them.  I was lucky to get these.  Van was in the "store" area of McCabe's saying hello to people and taking pictures.  I almost missed him since he was getting ready to leave right as Tom McDermott was finishing his encore.  I stepped out of the performance just as Van was leaving.  He was gladly signing what  people had for him.  But it was just me and someone else who had things for him to sign. A young woman went up to him with two of his solo albums on vinyl and he gladly signed (and sketched something) on each.  She said she was a composer and said she really loved his work.  Van was very warm and extremely kind and just said: "Don't give up."  I thought that was nice.  I approached him and he generously signed my items.  I get the feeling he gets pretty tired of signing Beach Boys related stuff by now but he was very gracious about my two Smile albums.  I enjoyed the concert so much, I've already ordered a few of his CDs and the next time I see him live I'll be sure to have a few VDP albums on hand for him to sign!

He seems like a genuinely nice guy and definitely approachable for an autograph.  Hope you meet him soon!

[Don Malcolm]

Thanks so much, Justin, for sharing with us. Congrats on the wonderful mementos you've added to your collection! Would have come down from Santa Barbara but simply could not abandon my girlfriend's beloved animals since she is on the East Coast right now...they don't do well on their own and it would have been after 3am before I would have gotten back (if I'd gotten back at all)...ah, the vagaries of bad timing.

VDP is a treat to see in person and I will move heaven and earth to get there the next time he plays in SoCal.

Thanks, rn57, for that link to the Kennedy Center show.

Ontor--we await more from you!!