Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Alexander
Format:Audio CD
First I absolutely love the old time Calypso and Soca, which I discovered during my visits to Trindad in the nineties. I had heard the odd tune (like Rum & Coca etc.) before, but the experience of listening to all the greats (Sparrow, Kitchener, Terror & David Rudder) live in the calypso tents changed my perspective completely and as I understand a similar epihany happened to Mr Parks.
I own the fantastic "Clang of the Yankee Reaper" album on vinyl since the mid eighties and I was looking for "Discover America" for many years and when I saw it will be reissued I was full of excitement! I wasn't disappointed and I can't belief I am finally listening to it. And indeed it is really that good! This is nothing but a masterpiece from a master arranger.
The album opener "Jack Palance" is performed by the Mighty Sparrow himself (those interested in exploring more calypso through this angle might investigate Mighty Sparrow's Hot and Sweet, an album produced by Van Dyke Parks in 1974). Wooden marimbas, steel drums, island rhythms, and other calypso staples (supplied by the Esso Trinidad Steel Band) grace many of the tracks, but Parks maintains style thru vast string arrangements, orchestration, gratuitous experimental bits, and the vintage Americana themes examined in the lyrics. Parks reimagines and rearranges traditional material on Discover America, as well as borrowing two killer tunes from Allen Touissaint ("Occapella" and "Riverboat") and Lowell George's "Sailin' Shoes" (Little Feat actually play on Park's "FDR In Trinidad"). The adapted material is brilliantly produced and addictingly melodic.... Read more ›
I own the fantastic "Clang of the Yankee Reaper" album on vinyl since the mid eighties and I was looking for "Discover America" for many years and when I saw it will be reissued I was full of excitement! I wasn't disappointed and I can't belief I am finally listening to it. And indeed it is really that good! This is nothing but a masterpiece from a master arranger.
The album opener "Jack Palance" is performed by the Mighty Sparrow himself (those interested in exploring more calypso through this angle might investigate Mighty Sparrow's Hot and Sweet, an album produced by Van Dyke Parks in 1974). Wooden marimbas, steel drums, island rhythms, and other calypso staples (supplied by the Esso Trinidad Steel Band) grace many of the tracks, but Parks maintains style thru vast string arrangements, orchestration, gratuitous experimental bits, and the vintage Americana themes examined in the lyrics. Parks reimagines and rearranges traditional material on Discover America, as well as borrowing two killer tunes from Allen Touissaint ("Occapella" and "Riverboat") and Lowell George's "Sailin' Shoes" (Little Feat actually play on Park's "FDR In Trinidad"). The adapted material is brilliantly produced and addictingly melodic.... Read more ›
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rediscovering "Discover America" (via Trinidad).
2 May 2013
By squarehawk2
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Just one of the first 3 albums reissued, Van Dyke Park's second effort is possibly his most accessible as well as most bizarre. For those not initiated with the record, it is a wonderful mix of Calypso/Caribbean soul flavor spiked by Depression Era sentiment and occasional odd ball humor. All the tracks possess a warm feel that Park's arrangements give them, blending strings, steel drums and sweet bass (among other things). As a stand alone work I'm not sure what to compare it to, and that is the true sound of a great record.
As for the reissue itself, there is not much it say. It's a standard digipak with one end to house the CD & the other end for a single pamphlet. There are no liner notes, just pretty much the same same info as the Warner Bros. CD from back in the day (although there is a snazzy picture of a mustached Parks by bus locker rentals!). Information around the release claims the music was remastered, and for all I know it might be, however the new CD doesn't sound that different to me compared to the older one I have. To be honest, it would have been nice of Bella Union (the reissue label) to add little something extra is terms of liner notes. Possibly an interview w/ Parks remembering the recording or an author giving insight to his career at that period (such as how did he decide to use part of The Mighty Sparrow's "Jack Palance" to open his record?).
Well, maybe Mr. Parks felt all that to be unnecessary and just wanted to represent the album to be as it was; a fantastic record. For me it was a not as important to repurchase this record..BUT the fact that it is back in print for others to find is awesome, and I applaud Bella Union for taking step to release his early works.
So, if you haven't, please discover Van Dyke Parks as he discovers America!
As for the reissue itself, there is not much it say. It's a standard digipak with one end to house the CD & the other end for a single pamphlet. There are no liner notes, just pretty much the same same info as the Warner Bros. CD from back in the day (although there is a snazzy picture of a mustached Parks by bus locker rentals!). Information around the release claims the music was remastered, and for all I know it might be, however the new CD doesn't sound that different to me compared to the older one I have. To be honest, it would have been nice of Bella Union (the reissue label) to add little something extra is terms of liner notes. Possibly an interview w/ Parks remembering the recording or an author giving insight to his career at that period (such as how did he decide to use part of The Mighty Sparrow's "Jack Palance" to open his record?).
Well, maybe Mr. Parks felt all that to be unnecessary and just wanted to represent the album to be as it was; a fantastic record. For me it was a not as important to repurchase this record..BUT the fact that it is back in print for others to find is awesome, and I applaud Bella Union for taking step to release his early works.
So, if you haven't, please discover Van Dyke Parks as he discovers America!
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
