The Smiley Smile Message Board

The Rolling Stone article features a first listen to a previously unreleased version of “What a Wonderful World”. The other two unreleased tracks are versions of “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Love is Here to Stay” which will be interesting to compare to the versions on Brian’s Gershwin album. The second disc of the CD release will feature a full instrumental version of the album.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brian-wilson-van-dyke-parks-what-a-wonderful-world-orange-crate-art-reissue-992164/

And the released version of What a Wonderful World is an alternate version from the commonly-heard unofficial version. No orchestra!

Really a wonderful album. Love to listen to it. And I think Brian's vocals are some of his best in later years solo. Very soulful!


Coincidentally, I knew the man who could pronounce “Orange” the way it was meant to sound. - Van Dyke Parks

Great news, I've always loved OCA. One of the, of not THE most underrated Beach Boys-related releases.

BW sounds amazing on it! :bw

Sounds like the same vocals from the murky circulating version. As mentioned, the orchestra is missing and instead we get those 90s electric keyboards Parks used on the OCA album.

Kind of perplexing the second disc is all instrumentals rather than vocals-only. Both would be great, but Brian's vocal tracks are more worth isolating than those backing tracks.

That's a good point. I wonder if it might be due to a touch of insecurity about those vocals being heard naked. Call me crazy but I feel like I might've hurt a touchup of modern day tuning on that Wonderful World version.

In any event, hopefully somebody can do some sort of vocal extraction to get those vocals by themselves.

If I have any money at all, after being put on stand-by due to covid-`9, I will definitely buy this. My favorite BW solo album ever - well, it's not really solo, not really a BW album...but other than that  :p

Nice! Looking forward to this.

Trailer

https://youtu.be/bkbueZ74Aow

Kinda interesting that VDP seems to feel that the original release sold poorly and appears to blame that in part on the departure from Warners to DreamWorks of Mo Ostin & Lenny Waronker.  Without a doubt Ostin & Waronker were decades-long fans of Brian and Van Dyke, but the way I remember it, OCA actually received a decent amount of promotion from Warners.  There were quite a few magazine features at the time (including Tower Records' in-house rag).  Brian was a receiving a fair amount of notice that year due to the Don Was documentary and soundtrack which led to a few joint reviews of the two CDs.  My memory is that Brian himself was all-over the map at the time, praising OCA as better than Smile in some pieces while expressing ambivalence about the project in other interviews.

I remember that hype well as it was literally during the very beginnings of my fandom. Hell, I heard it before Pet Sounds (because I heard the title track as a demo on the IJWMFTT documentary...and I prefer the demo)

It'll be interesting to read Brian's new liner notes. I remember when "That lucky old sun" came out, I played both albums (TLOS and OCA, since both albums feature Brian and Van Dyke but in different roles) to compare the approaches of each songwriter's vision of California. Van Dyke's classy and elegant way and Brian's pop-y rock and roll version. Beautiful stuff, each completely different yet similar in Brian's vocal arrangements. Speaking of vocal arrangements, I seem to remember that AGD said, Brian did all the arrangements while Brian once mentioned he just did what Van Dyke told him to do. IIRC there is no credit in the booklet for the vocal arrangements. That's why I'm interested in hearing Van Dyke's and Brian's new statements about the album. As mentioned before, imo OCA features some of Brian's best and most soulful vocals in later years.

I would often play OCA followed by TLOS together too. So sweetly, warmly, nostalgically Californian, both of them. Listening to 'Southern California' has reduced me to tears before, listening to 'What a Wonderful World' just now has done the same. The common uncommon element in both: Brian Wilson, his voice, agape in wonder at the beauty of the world, life itself. And so we listeners are agape in wonder at his own beautiful wonder.

I believe Brian said that Van Dyke would teach him the _songs_ phrase by phrase -- that is, the melodies. I don't believe he ever said that Van Dyke taught him the _harmonies._

And given that the harmonies on that record sound astonishingly like Brian's work, and that Van Dyke literally never used them on anything else he did ... I think it's pretty clear that Brian did it. Timothy White certainly believed as much.

Unfortunately, I don't think that either can ever say that because of issues with official credits and the like. I suspect there was an agreement not to discuss it openly, because Brian already towers over the project so much. Also, there are a handful of songs where Van Dyke brought in session singers to pad the sound (they're pretty obvious and their work doesn't sound at all like BW's stuff), which means the credit wouldn't solely go to Brian anyway.

You know I never thought about it until now (a “duh” moment) that Lucky Old Sun was Brian’s take on Orange Crate Art.  Makes me wonder if a composite album of the best tracks on each could make a coherent album that would be more of a collaboration than OCA was.  Maybe Brian realized he missed an opportunity with OCA by limiting his role to vocals and made up for it with Lucky Old Sun.

I remember a good amount of buzz/promotion for OCA, considering I normally wasn't paying a ton of attention to such things. So if I noticed it, it had to be somewhat prevalent.

My local TV station actually did a piece on Brian during the local news discussing both OCA and the IJWMFTT soundtrack. They did it as a tie-in to the Beatles Anthology which was airing at the time (it was an ABC station, no surprise). I recall Brian discussing the Beatles, I think he played a little bit of "With a Little Help" or something, and the also mentioned his TWO new album projects at the time.

Well put, thank you. I've gone around with a few fans over the years who insist VDP arranged every part of every harmony on that record. Those weird interjections and other hallmarks of Brian's vocal arranging style are clear. No way VDP, what, *sang* every one of the vocal parts to "San Francisco" to Brian as he added each part? No way.

And yes, it's not difficult to imagine that some additional music business and intepersonal politics were at play bringing Brian and VDP together on that project, so credits easily could have been a sensitive thing.

I've seen a few people say they'd rather hear the backing tracks than vocals-only, citing Brian's shaky voice. Yes, Brian's voice was "gruffer" in the mid 90's on those albums, but he also sang *in tune* much better than he did in subsequent years. His vocal *tone* is much smoother by the end of the 90s and into the 2000s, but compare something like the the vocal intro to "You've Touched Me" to most of the vocal stacks on OCA. No contest. He's way more in tune/key on OCA. (And yes, an engineer from the OCA project mentioned that did involve some finagling, both by comping many vocal takes, and through some use of synthisizers, etc.)

I thought I commented already on this, but heard Its a Wonderful World last night. Brian’s vocals were great, but that arrangement? Not so much. Would’ve liked to hear the orchestral version in pristine sound. The keyboard made the song drag quite a bit and imho didn’t fit at all

Yeah, it's great to hear Brian's vocals in pristine quality, but I'm not into VDP's keyboard bit. Too many jazzy chords, and it feels a lot like circa 1980 Bruce Johnston. I much prefer the straight-forward (chords-wise) backing track on the orchestral version.

Those really fake/cheap-sounding 80s/90s keyboards are all over OCA, and it's one of the reasons that, while I love VDP's arrangements on those backing tracks, and while they're played very well, I don't think those backing tracks are exactly "timeless" sounding. Some elements of the backing have a bit of easy listening sort of vibe, like those instrumental elevator music jazzy Christmas CD compilations they sell at Target.

I had seen people write in the past that the circulating orchestral version wasn't an OCA outtake, but instead was recorded separately for Brian's wedding.

I'm wondering if *both* stories are sort of true. Did Brian track the OCA version with VDP, and then use the vocals from that version later for the orchestra version? If Brian worked up that version separate from VDP, and/or it was a project even *with* VDP that post-dated the OCA sessions, that would also help to explain why it isn't on the new OCA reissue.

I was also hoping that we might get a different Brian vocal version of "Hold Back Time." There was a rumor years ago that the version on OCA "accidentally" used a scratch/guide vocal. Brian's lead on that song especially is indeed a bit more wonky than the other tracks. But I have no idea if any of that is true. Maybe it just came out sounding like that, and someone tried to explain it away by assuming it must be some sort of scratch vocal.

It's up for pre-order on Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087CSYLGK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Has a weird placeholder image, but it's the new 2-CD set.

I’m looking forward to Brian and Van Dyke’s liner notes, particularly Van Dyke’s, ever the wordsmith. Non-native Californians have a different, interesting view of the place than natives, even Brian, to whom the state owes so much to for painting a warm, desirable picture of through his music to us elsewhere in the country/world. Van Dyke does so as well much the same way through hid words on OCA.

Anyway, I’m wondering about the other two outtakes from the album. Anybody know anything about them?

Some fans have complained that Brian's vocals were "shouty" on this album. I don't know what they're talking about. I think his vocal are amazing on  this album - I'm not talking just lead vocals, but those harmonies. And those harmony stacks scream out to be BRIAN WILSON.
As far as the instrumental backings, a lot of that was budget related. Van Dyke commented at the time about having to use synths because there wasn't the budget for an orchestra on the entire album. He did hire an orchestra to do the opening and closing of Movies is Magic; then, since they were there, he had them play Lullabye, too.
It's my favorite non-BB's BW album.

I agree with you . I do think it kinda goes off the rails after San Francisco but that was more due to the songwriting imho. First half though was great

Hold Back Time is slightly ruined by out of sync vocals; My Jeanine is the only song I don't absolutely love. I don't skip it when I play the album, but it's the only song I don't go back for.

I’ll never forget my wife’s reaction when we listened to OCA together. “So you meant to tell me the b*tch’s name is Jeannie Apples?” :lol. Completely ruined the song for me

Though I guess I understand what they mean by "shouty" (Brian's voice during that era was kinda strange - maybe too much smoking?), I think whatever it is, he uses his voice to great effect on OCA. The soundtrack to IJWMFTT is a little harder for me to listen to, but that may be because the Beach Boys versions of those songs are just so good. But his singing on OCA is very inspired and as I mentioned before even soulful. He's not just singing the melodies, he's actually phrasing words around etc. And his sound at that time definitely fits with the songs. Just listen to the outro in "sAIIlll awaayyyy" and the wordless part in "Summer in Monterey". All in all, I love Brian's work on the leads but also on the backgrounds (where he got help by Danny Hutton and others on a couple of tracks). Plus I think this may be the last album we got with a full, though worn falsetto by Brian. Not that he didn't sing those high parts on "Imagination" but he sounds more smooth there, not as in-your-face. That could also come from the medical treatment he got, but also the shock of Carl's death.
And again, the feeling and joy he puts into his singing was only heard again starting with "That lucky old sun" imo, even BWPS wasn't THAT good. But others may disagree, which is their prerogative.
Great album and definitely worth a re-release.

‘Sail Away’ is flat out my favorite song on OCA. “At perfect coast in harmony, we’ll raise a toast to what’s still left of my memory” is one of my favorite Van Dyke lyrics, I’d take it over even some of his SMiLE lyrics. You heard me. Not ‘Surf’s Up’ though, his best ever work. You’d never know it, but buddy  I’m a kind of poet, and I marvel at his deft hand at wordplay.

@Rocker, about the IJWMFTT soundtrack, I’m sure you’d agree that it’s a shame the CD didn’t include the performance of ‘Orange Crate Art’ with just Van Dyke on piano in the film. Delightful as all hell.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OiykTknz51U (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OiykTknz51U)

There’s also a version of “God Only Knows” in the film with just Brian on piano and Carl singing that I wish had been on the soundtrack, really beautiful. https://youtu.be/iHXAkq10D8g

Didn't Audree, Carl and Brian also sing "In my room" during that interview? I haven't wathced the film in a long time. I'd rather see some outtakes from that "session" than having the performance of GOK or OCA on the soundtrack. Not everything must be used just because it exists. But to see Brian, Carl and Audree singing around the piano and their interaction may be interesting.

My Jeanine is my favorite on the album ... :)

I like the way he sings the title but the verse melody drags a bit imho

I just want to say I agree with everything in this post.
Why don't we have a 'like' button on this board? A lot of times I see a post I agree with, but I don't have anything to add to what was said, so I just move on to the next one.

I would also love a “like” button.

Thank you, I appreciate that!

Count me in as a huge fan of this album. This is my second-favorite Brian solo project after BW88. It's one of the few times when he moved away from the Beach Boys' mid-60s formula as a solo artist and did something entirely different. His voice does sound strained here and there but I don't mind at all. Beautiful cover art and overall design too. Happy to see "What a Wonderful World" getting an official release now, very moving rendition. Just an all-around amazing project for Brian and VDP!

Oh man. I had forgotten about that, it's been many years since I've seen the film.

Thank you for reminding me. That is utterly beautiful and that totally needs to be released in its entirety.

I have to say I like that this board doesn't have a "like" function. It doesn't add anything, and really these boards are about engagement and discussion, not each person individually needing feedback. That's for, well, just about every other social media outlet.

If one digs a post here, a response post with "right on!" or whatever is fine. I'd always encourage people to actually participate in the discussions, but that's obviously not something everyone can or wants to do, or should have to.

But this place is a pretty big rarity these days, one of the last places to talk BBs that isn't on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or YouTube.

Not to derail the thread.

Back to OCA; I'm quite interested to hear the long-reported OCA version of "Rhapsody in Blue." I feel by the time he did on the Gershwin album, his voice had deteriorated more, and it sounded a bit sloppy and too reverb-laden. The OCA just *might* be better.

I've preordered my vinyl copy directly from Omnivore Recordings. Looking forward to seeing the finished packaging! Nice get some good news these days.

Right on, HeyJude! Message boards like this are my social media of preference, because you can hold a discussion on a single topic without it getting buried in the mix.

As for OCA, I'm not much of a fan, but will probably get the new release for completist reasons.

Pre-ordered this today.  It would be cool if there were demos of the songs performed by Van Dyke, or demos similar to the OCA performance in the IJWMFTT movie.

Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks Set To Release ‘Orange Crate Art’


Today American Songwriter is grateful to premiere this newly created video for one of the album’s main highlights, their beautiful, spare version of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” that’s touchingly augmented by still photos of signs showing support for those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the combination of these images and Wilson’s angelic harmonies in balance with Parks’ tender electric piano progression in the background doesn’t fill your heart with emotion, nothing will.



https://americansongwriter.com/brian-wilson-van-dyke-parks-set-to-release-orange-crate-art/?fbclid=IwAR0rDliTIYuJ0AOK14Lr25dyOkZ947kDXwgovjU4XKr4N6jgEAmrhzSnnSc

Is Rhapsody  In Blue the same recording of Brian that's been booted?

What has been booted?  Is it available on youtube or anywhere?

I don't think anything to do with the OCA version of "Rhapsody in Blue" has ever surfaced. There's of course the much later Brian version from the Gershwin album, and I think he played some of it on piano at one of those circa 1991 Landy-era gigs.

But the only outtake from the actual OCA sessions to ever surface was the murky "What A Wonderful World."

I haven't seen these "new" Brian performances linked to yet. So, here you go:


Rhapsody In Blue - Brian Wilson & Van Dyke Parks


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elbhuuiS6Us



Our Love Is Here To Stay - Brian Wilson & Van Dyke Parks


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP60aoAOpu8

Omnivore will be releasing the instrumental version of OCA as a standalone vinyl album for Record Store Day Black Friday. Here’s the “trailer” for their Black Friday releases: https://youtu.be/GiaYANc8roE

The completist in me want this RSD release, but I can't say I'm all that excited for it. I got the 2LP release earlier this year, and I'm trying to tell myself that's enough for me.

who arranged the Gershwin tunes?