Van Dyke Parks

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Van Dyke Parks

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Los Angeles, United States (1968 – present)

Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American composer, arranger, producer, and musician, noted for his collaborations with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys on the legendary album “SMiLE.”

As a child Parks acted in the 1956 movie The Swan, which starred Grace Kelly. He also worked steadily on television as a child actor between 1953 and 1958, including a role as Ezio Pinza’s son on the NBC television show Bonino, as well as a recurring role as Little Tommy Manacotti (the kid from upstairs) on Jackie Gleason’s The Honeymooners. Early on, Parks also played in the folk group, The Greenwood County Singers with his brother, Carson Parks. After relocating to Los Angeles, Parks then worked as a studio musician and songwriter for Warner Brothers, writing hits for many artists such as Harpers Bizarre (“High Coin”); he became known for his clever lyrical wordplay and sharp imagery. He also played on several important recordings by The Byrds, whose producer Terry Melcher was a close friend of Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson, and this connection led to the meeting of Parks and Wilson in 1965.

In 1966 Parks was commissioned by Wilson to write lyrics for the Beach Boys’ next LP, the ambitious but ill-fated Smile project. Parks and Wilson collaborated on the songs for the album. Unfortunately, the Smile project was strongly opposed by members of the Beach Boys (notably Mike Love who negatively called Parks’ lyrics “Acid Alliteration”). The combination of resistance from the group and their record company, and Wilson’s growing mental health problems and spiralling drug use, led to Parks quitting the project in early 1967 and it was shelved a few months later.
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