The Smiley Smile Message Board

From what Im hearing VDP now performs "Heroes & Villians" in concert. I believe this is the first time our boy has done any "SMILE" material in concert. Ill be there in Athens GA to hear him. A true original!

yeah im really excited about this show. 2 of the bands i play in are opening that show

Awesome! He has as much right to perform SMiLE stuff as that other fella! :hat

Wow I'd love to see the entire SMiLE performed by VDP's 'Moonlighting' band/orchestra (Sharpies?) ... coupla guest vocalists such as Brian, Danny Hutton, even Mike with Bruce and Al  :smokin

I don't think "Moonlighting" gets nearly enough attention.  I was lucky enough to catch that show the night he recorded it on the Santa Monica Pier, and it brought tears to my eyes more than once...

That would be correct! I saw Van Dyke Parks (with Clare and The Reasons - who are good too!) in Columbus two weeks ago and it was an excellent concert.
"Heroes and Villains" totally took me by surprise! He also tosses in a few other goodies along the way. The man's
performance is incredible to say the least. Enjoy the show!!

Very cool! I caught him in February in Portland & Seattle...no H&V though!  :police:

Is he playing any material off Song Cycle?

Does Van Dyke sing the lead?

does he sit at piano?  that's way cool. 

I don't think he played anything off of Song Cycle, but he did play material from Jump and Tokyo Rose
 :)

Sam_BFC - Yes! He sings it as a duet with Clare, it was great!

Van Dyke Parks performs "Heroes and Villains" with Clare and the Reasons in New York City on WNYC's Spinning On Air with David Garland:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFxdAkfjeVg

That´s his current set list:

Jump!
Opportunity For Two
Come Along
Orange Crate Art
Black Gold
Delta Queen Waltz
Danza
The Attic
Cowboy
Heroes and Villains
Sail Away

I think that could be an interesting new arrangement and lyrical phrasing given that I suspect VDP knows he can't sing the song as the Beach Boys (or even Brian et al. for that matter) did it. That particular performance, however, seemed too unsure of itself to be anything more than a curiosity but it definitely has great potential, I think.

Where to get tour dates, his website does not seem to be up to date.

The fall tour with Clare and the Reasons is over:

9/23 - Cincinnati, OH - Blue Wisp
9/24 - Columbus, OH - The Wexner Center
9/25 - Grand Rapids, MI - Ladies Literary Club
9/26 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
9/28 - Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum
9/29 - Toronto, ON - The Music Gallery
9/30 - Montreal, Quebec - Ukranian Federation
10/1 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
10/2 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House
10/3 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe

There will be three more dates at the end of October:

10/26 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
10/29 - Asheville, NC - Moogfest
10/31 - Athens, GA - Melting Point

Thought that was an interesting performance. Seems like the three instrumentalists had a much better grasp of the song than the two vocalists, tho.

Cool....somewhat of a similar setlist earlier this year. One night he did The All Golden though, and C-H-I-C-K-E-N was in there too. Is Danza the Gottschalk composition?

At the end of the Clare and The Reasons set Van Dyke Parks came on for the last tune playing
piano on "He Needs Me" from the Popeye soundtrack, Clare sang lead. That was a real treat!

Gosh, he's been touring off & on for quite some time now with Clare and the Reasons; would be great to see them become his Wondermints!  Agreed, seems like they are really just starting to get comfortable with doing H&V, but still great to have a 'studio' performance of him doing the song.
I caught him with them about a year ago at McCabes Guitar shop, (where Dennis, Carly Munoz & I saw him in the late 70's!), and they didn't play nearly enough songs with him.  Back then they were his opening act.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5geqwr7UNvY


Yes, written by Louis Moreau Gottschalk.

What a pleasure to hear Van Dyke`s version of Heroes!

I do love Van Dyke's version - it's a rearrangement, which no cover I've heard has done. The ones on Smiling Pets just have pretty faithful covers with the sections in different order, but this is..... DIFFERENT!

I don't like this version at all, to be honest.

It's a real treat to hear VDP play this song, I quite like his version. Different, quirky, very VDP, and very cool.

This great, but I hate seeing Van Dyke's face here. It looks like the song brings up some painful memories. But maybe that just his concentrating face.

Now that I think about it, though, imagine Van Dyke recording all of Smile? It would be amazing!

Wonderful.

With a nod to Bach's Cello Suite #1, one can now easily imagine this in the same era as Song Cycle...

Yeah, a VDP Presents SMiLE would be a corker. His own arrangements......... how would he have done it bearing in mind the masterpiece Song Cycle which followed......  8)

It's a nice clip, but the woman's vocal is dispensable and, to my ears, unnecessary.

I don't know, I think it was good for Van Dyke's vocals to be doubled. BTW, I sent an e-mail to Van Dyke awhile ago that expressed my deep admiration for "Donovan's Colours". I'm convinced that's why he revisited this Song Cycle style here.  ;D

Can I email VDP too? Would he be any more likely (or less) to respond these days? I have nothing in particular to say, I guess, but I like the albums of his that I've heard very much and I think he should know this! (Plus, that's like two degree of separation from Brian Wilson, dig?)

Judging from this arrangement it would be about twice as long.

Even if he didn't respond, I'm sure he'd appreciate your appreciation for his work. And I do think he'd respond to you, eventually.

I kinda dig it. Sort of an 'unplugged' version. Although I agree with AGD, it would have been better without the woman's voice (no offense to her).

I was honestly expecting to dislike it, for no other reason than the fact that I couldn't imagine the song working without all the harmonies.  I did enjoy his reimagining though, even if it sounds almost nothing like the original.  Van Dyke's arranging talent is such that he makes it work quite well.

Yes, his e-mail address is on his web site.  Google it. He did respond to me but his answer wasn't that encouraging. I asked him to share any information he could about the making of "Donovan's Colours" and here's what he said, to paraphrase:

"It was just an idea I had, a mood I was feeling, and I was very satisfied with the results."

A kind of Brian Wilsonesque answer. Then he plugged a book. But hey, at least he responded! I'm not complaining.

Which book did he plug?

It was interesting to see him at the piano...I loved his Popeye work...one of my favorite scores...but don't understand the notion of the woman's voice being "dispensable" - Are women not part of the Americana journey, often caught in the romanticized "crossfire?"  Think Redford and Newman in Butch Cassidy?

Taylor sings on Heroes and Villains...Am I missing something? I thought she filled in the vocals very nicely.  8)

It certainly gives a new meaning to the operatic dynamic...and the "interpretation" for performance possibilities... 

Since Song Cycle, Van Dyke has employed female vocals on much of his stuff to astonishingly good effect.

Must give a nod here to Jennifer Warnes and Kathy Dalton's amazing contributions to Jump!

A 33 and 1/2 book on Song Cycle.

Which I've just read -  very enlightening too.

Now I'll have to actually read it. Thanks.

'Ang on, 33 and 1/2? Mine's 33 and 1/3!

Good call, willy. I am totally in love with 'An Invitation To Sin', awesome stuff. It is sexy, attractive - but the ominous melody line reflects all the dangers that sexual sin may bring with it.

I love how dramatic his performance is on the radio...Id love to catch him in Tallahassee, but its quite a drive  :violin

Well sure, but just think about all the lassies you might meet while you're there.

VDP answered one of my emails back in 2004; I'd send him a note.

Loved that Heroes and Villains video...

The whole concert from WNYC is now online:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130569463

Much obliged! How long will it be on there? How can I make a transfer to CDR? Pray tell...

Thanks for that link! God bless Van Dyke Parks!

Look for a program called "Sound Tap".  Inexpensive and effective for capturing streaming audio.

I salute you, Sir!

Is anyone going to see VDP in Athens, Ga tomorrow?

I will be there with bells and whistles on!
Whats up Laurel Canyon??

Astroray, please check your PMs.

Well I went to see VDP Halloween night in Athens GA and he did not perform H&V!
BUT WHAT A FANTASTIC SHOW!
He started by saying "tonight it's all treats , no tricks"! And was it ever.
I cant say enuff good things about the man ,just go see him if you get a chance!

the music of van dyke parks is heavenly

any details of the new album which he recently referred to? Did he play a few new songs?

Can't wait for some new VDP.

yeah that show was amazing. i think he actually was going to play H&V for his last encore, but chose wings of a dove instead. i was sitting right in front of him and it sounded like he muttered heroes and villains when he was rifling though his sheet music trying to decide what song to play.
my friend/bandmates (i played in the loud bands immediately before and after his perormance)  family some how got to be buds with him that night so i was able to witness him cracking jokes with them and was introduced to and spoke with him for a couple of minutes. what a cool guy

Very interesting take on the song.  To my eye they only had worked out the arrangement shortly before doing it on-air, and were/are still refining it.  The performance is a bit tentative that way but still a fun listen, they're all pro's.    Van Dyke looks like he's trying to concentrate, as he's not on stage (certainly not in any discomfort).  Clare has a cheat sheet to keep her on track and is deliberately under-singing to support/double Van Dyke.  FYI, her maiden name is Clare Muldaur, she is folksinger Geoff Muldaur's daughter.  The whole band is classically trained, her husband is the violinist and does their orchestrations.  Their other noteworthy cover is a brass band/salon orchestra take on "That's All" by Genesis, with a tuba handling the bass line.

Wow! A little different, but still totally awesome! 8) 8) ;D ;D