Orange Crate Art

Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks have just unearthed their previously unreleased cover of the jazz standard, “What A Wonderful World”. The track is one of several rarities that will appear on the upcoming 25th anniversary reissue of Wilson and Parks’ 1995 collaborative album, "Orange Crate Art", out June 19th, 2020, via Omnivore Recordings.

Wilson and Parks’ cover of “What A Wonderful World” boasts a simple arrangement that finds Wilson crooning over some very lush keys. Backing harmonies that sound like the Beach Boys crossed with a church choir are peppered throughout, while Wilson even throws a little gravel into his voice toward the end in a nod to Louis Armstrong’s enduring version of the song.

Wilson and Parks first worked together in 1966 when the Beach Boys took their first stab at "SMiLE", and then they partnered again in 1972 for the Beach Boys’ song “Sail On Sailor”. In the early 90's, Parks began working on "Orange Crate Art", an album paying tribute to California, and, as he recalled, he knew from the start that he wanted Wilson to sing on the record.

“I’d started with the title tune”, he remembered. “I didn’t have to call Central Casting. Coincidentally, I knew the man who could pronounce ‘Orange,’ the way it was meant to sound. And not how they pronounce it on Miami Beach. That is precisely why I asked Brian to be the voice of America. And in this, he is. As for me? I arranged this album and wrote songs. Brian opted to coast and just unpack as a vocalist. He honored me that way”.

The 25th anniversary edition of "Orange Crate Art" will be released as a 2 CD set or as a double LP set, this marks the album’s first vinyl release. Both versions will boast the pair’s cover of “What A Wonderful World,” as well as previously unreleased renditions of 2 George Gershwin songs, “Love Is Here To Stay” and “Rhapsody In Blue.” The CD version of the reissue, meanwhile, will come with a 2nd disc of previously unissued instrumentals.