''Tokyo Rose'' is an album by the American musician

Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle (album), Song Cycle'' and for his ...

, released in 1989. The album concerns the intersection between Japanese and American cultures and economics.

Production

The album's first song, "America", is an adaptation of "

America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee) "America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)" is an American patriotic song, the lyrics of which were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The song served as one of the ''de facto'' national anthems of the United States (along with songs like "Hail, Columb ...

" with numerous

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancie ...

shifts characteristic of Japanese music, played on a combination of standard Western instruments and traditional Japanese instruments, such as the

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...

and the

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

Syd Straw Syd Straw (born 1958) is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor Jack Straw (''The Pajama Game''), she began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinct voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined ...

and

Danny Hutton Daniel Anthony Hutton (born September 10, 1942) is an Irish-American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band Three Dog Night. Hutton was a songwriter and singer for Hanna-Barbera Records from 1965 to 1966. Hutton had a ...

sang on the album. "Manzanar" is about the

internment of Japanese Americans Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

Critical reception

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' called the album "an ambitious suite of songs dealing with the politics, cultures and economies of a changing world." The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' deemed it "a gorgeously idiosyncratic piece of work," writing that "the string arrangements that dominate this album are every bit as beguiling as we've come to expect from Parks." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' determined that Parks's "music ploughs its charming, obscure and highly original furrow, faintly evoking Gilbert and Sullivan or Rodgers and Hammerstein rather than any discernable acknowledgement of rock, soul or pop." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote: "Sustaining a tone like the innocence and hardheadedness of E. L. Doctorow's ''Ragtime,'' Mr. Parks begins in pre-Sony times. As history and dreams flash through the orchestral arrangements, they begin a century-long prelude to an even closer future the two nations may share."

Track listing

All songs written by Van Dyke Parks, except track 1, which is public domain, arranged and adapted by Parks; track 10, Japanese lyrics by Amy Furumoto. # "America" – 3:47 # "Tokyo Rose" – 5:08 # "Yankee Go Home" (features vocal of

) – 6:27 # "Cowboy" – 4:35 # "Manzanar" – 6:02 # "Calypso" (features vocal of

Mari Iijima is a Japanese actress and singer. She writes and produces most of her own music, and plays the piano and other instruments. After being signed to JVC Victor in 1982, Mari first became known for her voice-acting role as Lynn Minmay in the anime ...

) – 4:27 # "White Chrysanthemum" – 4:00 # "Trade War" – 4:40 # "Out of Love" – 3:18 # "One Home Run" – 4:00

Personnel

– vocals, bass * Todd Hayen – orchestrator, conductor *

Osamu Kitajima Osamu Kitajima (喜多嶋修), also known by the pseudonym Justin Heathcliff, is a Japanese musician, producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. History After studying the classical guitar and the piano as a child, in the 1960s Kitajima wa ...

– biwa, koto *

Masakazu Yoshizawa was a Japanese American flutist and musician, known for his mastery of the bamboo flute, specifically the shakuhachi. Yoshizawa also mastered several other traditional Japanese flutes, in addition to other Japanese and Western musical instruments. ...

– shakuhachi *

Bobby King Bobby King (born July 28, 1944, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States) is an American gospel-style, R&B and soul singer. He formed a singing duo with Terry Evans in the early 1970s. Since 1973, King has sung on most Ry Cooder albums. He wa ...

– vocals *

– vocals * Kathy Dalton – vocals *

Israel Baker Israel Baker (February 11, 1919 – December 25, 2011) was an American violinist and concertmaster. Through a long and varied career he played with many of the greatest figures in the worlds of classical music, jazz and pop. He appeared on hund ...

– concert master *

Dennis Budimir Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of The Wrecking Crew. Biography Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played profession ...

– guitar *

Julie Christensen Julie Christensen (born January 21, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for its versatility, Christensen's music has been praised by critics. As a solo artist, Christensen has released five albums, and in January 2016 released the ...

– vocals * Terry Evans – vocals * William "Bill" Greene – vocals *

– vocals * Hiromitsu Katada – narimono *

Buell Neidlinger Buell Neidlinger (March 2, 1936 – March 16, 2018) was an American cellist and double bassist. He has worked with a variety of pop and jazz performers, prominently with iconoclastic pianist Cecil Taylor in the 1950s and '60s. Biography Neidling ...

– bass * Akira Tana – drums * Mike Watts – programming *

Arnold McCuller Arnold McCuller (born August 26, 1950) is an American vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was active as a solo artist and session musician, but is perhaps best known for his work as a touring back-u ...

– vocals *

– vocals * Brian Otto – guitar *

Lisa Popeil Lisa Stephanie Popeil (born February 24, 1956, in Chicago) is an American voice coach, singer, and musician. She is the creator of the trademarked ''Voiceworks Method'' and, as a voice coach, specializes in the pedagogy of vocal styles. Early ...

– vocals

References

{{Authority control Van Dyke Parks albums 1989 albums Warner Records albums

Production

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References