Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American composer, arranger, record producer, instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, author, and actor. Parks is best known for his collaborations with musician Brian Wilson and for his contributions as lyricist to the Beach Boys’ Smile project. Besides numerous collaborations with the Beach Boys, he has worked with such performers as Phil Ochs, Donovan, Haruomi Hosono, the Byrds, Tim Buckley, Arlo Guthrie, Little Feat, Loudon Wainwright III, Rufus Wainwright, U2, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Joanna Newsom, Grizzly Bear, Inara George, Silverchair, Kimbra, and Ringo Starr. (More from Wikipedia)
Brian Wilson brought in a talented collaborator for his project, Van Dyke Parks. In Allmusic, William Ruhlmann says of him: “In a field where the term ‘genius’ is handed out freely, Van Dyke Parks is the real article. As a session musician, composer, arranger, lyricist, and singer, he’s contributed significantly to several decades’ worth of inimitable masterpieces credited to other artists, as well as generating two or three masterpieces of his own.”
Van Dyke Parks is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi and was a musical prodigy. He studied the clarinet and also did some work as a child actor; while in his teens, Parks appeared in Grace Kelly’s final film, The Swan (1958). After graduating from college, he made some recordings for MGM Records in 1964 that included “Come to the Sunshine”; the touring band that he put together included a young Stephen Stills. Primarily though, he worked behind the scenes, playing as a session musician with Sonny and Cher (before they even took that name) and Paul Revere and the Raiders under producer Terry Melcher. His other early credits include playing Hammond Organ on the Byrds’ Fifth Dimension album and also keyboards for Judy Collins, plus arranging songs for Tim Buckley.
Terry Melcher put Van Dyke Parks in touch with Brian Wilson; Wilson needed a lyricist who could match his musical visions that he was struggling to get on tape. Just imagine: an album full of “Good Vibrations”-level music! John Bush continues for Allmusic: “[Brian Wilson] labored over every note and, more than that, every tone, often asking his musicians or the Beach Boys themselves to revise when the results didn’t match his conception of the music going on inside his head. Such care and control produced music that was far beyond Pet Sounds, and when the impressionistic themes and lyrics of collaborator Van Dyke Parks were added, SMiLE began shaping up as the most unique LP ever produced by a pop group.”
(June 2013/2)
