Song Cycle

Last year, the seminal American composer and arranger put out Arrangements, Vol. 1 on his Bananastan label. He has now reissued 1968's towering Song Cycle, 1972's calypso-themed Discover America, and the 1975 songbook record Clang of the Yankee Reaper.

Van Dyke Parks moved on from the Beach Boys' abortive SMiLE sessions to record his own solo debut, Song Cycle, an audacious and occasionally brilliant attempt to mount a fully orchestrated, classically minded work within the context of contemporary pop.