Wipeout

I was deeply saddened yesterday to hear that Brian Wilson had hung up his surfboard for the last time. He's written some truly amazing songs and, for a while, really did give Macca a run for his money. I listen to Marty Wheelan every day (7-10am) on RTÉ and was absolutely bowled over by a Dublin barbershop quartet singing live in the studio this morning a breathtaking version of God Only Knows*; goosebumps doesn't even come close. (*Fast forward to 11:51.)

That said, this blog is, essentially, now more than ever, about the living, And someone who definitely falls into that category - even at 92(!) - is Willie Nelson. RTÉ has been playing cuts from Willie's new album, Oh What a World, for a little while now; not least this gorgeous offering which, for me, is already shaping up to be one of my songs of the year. 

Willie Nelson - Forty Miles From Nowhere (2025)

 

  ★ 

And here they both are, in the mid 1990s, joining forces on The Warmth of the Sun, a Beach Boys classic from 1964.

The Beach Boys & Willie Nelson - The Warmth of The Sun (1996)

 

 Brian Wilson (1942-2025) 

Willie Nelson (1933-)

Young and beautiful, but someday your looks will be gone

Dennis Wilson (1944-1983)

Dennis Wilson was a proper Beach Boy; the only Wilson who could surf, for one. Probably better than his drumming, that's for sure (his percussion parts were regularly overdubbed in the studio by session guys). Not that it bothered him; Dennis was a rock star - he had money to spend, drugs to take, gangs to join, women to fuck and cars to trash.

But the middle brother came good during the band's fallow period in the early 70s when Brian's head began to unravel. Some of his songs, whilst maybe not as pitch perfect as his elder sibling's symphonic masterpieces, nevertheless had a certain unique quality that carried the group through their quieter years. Cuddle Up, co-written with 'Captain' Daryl Dragon (he and his partner, Toni Tennille, were both bona fide Beach Boys [and girl] at the time) is a nailed on classic. It's a timeless song that sits rightly at any top table of classic Beach Boys records. I love it.

The Beach Boys - Cuddle Up (1972)

Not the Cheshire Regiment

Badge. Noun - a small piece of metal, plastic, or cloth bearing a design or words, typically worn to identify a person or to indicate membership of an organisation or support for a cause. 

'the Cheshire Regiment'
'they wore plastic name badges'

As ever, I'm indebted to the OED for their succinct definition. I strongly urge you to take no notice of those Urban Dictionary folk; what do they know, anyway?

Anyway, all this is, by way of a preamble, to tell you that Sunday Vinyl Session have got some shiny new badges to give away. If you'd like one, get in touch. Better still, come and see us, why don't you? On June 9th. we'll be talking about, and playing the Beach Boys' 1966 iconic album, Pet Sounds. It's a date.

The Unbelievable Truth with Van Dyke Parks

For today's post I'm indebted to Van Dyke Parks. VDP is a singer songwriter, arranger and producer in his own right but he's probably best known for his collaborations with Brian Wilson - not least the legendary Smile sessions. He was in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention for a while and helped pioneer the Moog synthesiser. A resident of Los Angeles he is still very much moving and shaking. His business cards (above) are treasured by their recipients.

I emailed Van Dyke Parks just after breakfast this morning: 

Dear Mr. Van Dyke Parks, 

On Monday I wrote a blog about Dick Van Dyke's recent car fire in LA; you probably passed him by the side of the freeway that very afternoon. 

On Tuesday I wrote a blog about Earl Van Dyke, a fellow ivory tinkler & the beating heart of Motown. 

Today I'd like to write a few words about your good self. I'm interested in the interview you once gave where you talked about The Beatles; as much for the way you described the beach - 'it's where the land comes down to the water'. You probably don't remember. Anyway, this is a long winded way of asking if you'd care to share something with my readers that they possibly don't know about you. You may even want to tell us the back story behind your delightful business cards. I do hope so. 

Thanking you in advance.

When I went to check my emails this afternoon there was a reply sitting in my Inbox:

Dear John,

Since you mention Dick Van Dyke, I may add that we're distant cousins. His family stopped in New Jersey and liked it there. My Van Dyke family line is the first Dutch family in what is now Pennsylvania. Yet that famous actor and I share the same lineage. We both issue directly from one man: Thomas Janse Van Dyke (b.1580, d. 1670) , who sailed from Rotterdam on "die Bönte Kuhe" ("The Spotted Cow") to Nieuw Amsterdam, in 1646. The ship herself ("The Spotted Cow") has an illustrious war-time naval history, participating in much marine battle for Caribbean Territory. My lineage points to the adjacent farms of the Van Dyke and Parks dairy farms, in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. My grandfather Clarence Carson Parks fell in love with Zoe Van Dyke, and their son in my father. I have their Steinway grand (O model) in my living room. It has been in our family since March 11th, 1911, having been acquired as a "maternity gift" to my grandmother, the day of my father's birth. 

 You have my permission to share this vital information with your readers.