Discover America

by Van Dyke Parks

Discover America cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: May 1972
  • Label: Warner Bros.
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 37:07
  • Community rating: 3.44/5 from 2 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Fleeing the pressure of Los Angeles, the eccentric composer crafted this fascinatingly incongruous project largely focused on interpreting traditional Trinidadian calypso music. Utilizing extensive steel drum orchestration and complex baroque arrangements, the record serves as both a loving tribute to Caribbean idioms and a slightly cynical, satirical gaze upon American imperialism. It remains a critically revered touchstone of idiosyncratic 1970s studio pop.

Genres

Descriptors: avant-garde, conceptual, orchestral, rhythmic, eccentric

Tracklist

  1. Jack Palance (0:59)
  2. Introduction (0:26)
  3. Bing Crosby (2:20)
  4. Steelband Music (2:11)
  5. The Four Mills Brothers (1:28)
  6. Be Careful (2:47)
  7. John Jones (3:07)
  8. FDR in Trinidad (2:26)
  9. Sweet Trinidad (0:56)
  10. Occapella (2:41)
  11. Sailin' Shoes (2:08)
  12. Riverboat (3:02)
  13. Ode to Tobago (5:13)
  14. Your Own Comes First (3:24)
  15. G-Man Hoover (2:53)
  16. Stars and Stripes Forever (0:59)

Credits

  • Charles Aznavour - primary artist, written-by
  • Jean Patrick - written-by

More from Van Dyke Parks: full discography