Van Dyke Parks

Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Parks spent his childhood studying clarinet, piano, and singing at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey. He started his professional career as a child actor. During the 1950s, he worked steadily in movies and television, and in the early 1960s, he majored in music at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. After dropping out of university in 1963, he relocated to Los Angeles, where his first paid gig was arranging "The Bare Necessities" for the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book. Following this, he involved himself with the growing West Coast music scene, subsequently playing with—or appearing on records by—acts like the Mothers of Invention, the Byrds, Judy Collins, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and Harpers Bizarre. His LP Song Cycle mixed a number of genres (including bluegrass, ragtime, and show tunes) and framed classical styles in the context of 1960s pop music. It was released to underwhelming sales, but attracted a cult following in later years.


Starting in the 1970s, Parks made repeated excursions into Afro-Caribbean music, notably on his 1972 album Discover America and on records he produced for the Esso Trinidad Steel Band and Mighty Sparrow. At the same time, he managed the audio/visual department of Warner Bros. Records, which was the earliest of its kind to produce music videos for artists. Since then, he established himself in motion pictures and over the years has directed, arranged, produced, and composed soundtracks for theatrical films and television shows such as Popeye (1980), Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985), and The Brave Little Toaster (1987). Much of his later work has been in commissioned orchestral arrangements for lesser-known indie acts.

Early life[edit]

Born in 1943 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as the youngest of four children, Parks spent time in Lake Charles, Louisiana, during his childhood. His older brothers played brass instruments.^[7] His father, Richard Hill Parks, was a doctor who served as chief psychiatric officer in the Dachau liberation reprisals.^[8] Having studied with Karl Menninger, Richard's specific medical specialties were neurology and psychiatry, and he was the first doctor to admit African-American patients to a white southern hospital.^[9] Richard was also a part-time clarinetist and had a dance band to get through medical school, Dick Parks and His White Swan Serenaders.^[10][11] Parks's mother was a Hebraic scholar.^[7]


As Parks was growing up, there were two grand pianos in the family living room, and at age 4 he began studying the clarinet.^[11] He attended the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey, studying voice and piano,^[10] and would sing "Gershwin, Schoenberg, atonal music, everything".^[12] Parks also was a street urchin in La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera^[13] and sang the title role in Amahl and the Night Visitors at New York City Opera.^[14] During his childhood, Parks became extremely fond of old-style American music, most notably the sounds of Tin Pan Alley. This interest in Depression-era songwriting correlated heavily with his artistic goals and interests during the 1960s and beyond. He was also deeply affected by musicians Spike Jones and Les Paul, which led him to develop an interest with studio experimentation in the form of pop music.^[12][15][16] Parks has said that the first record he ever purchased may have been Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This."^[11]


He began his professional career as a child actor. Between 1953 and 1958, he worked steadily in films and television, including the 1956 movie The Swan, starring Grace Kelly. He appeared as Ezio Pinza's son Andrew Bonino on the NBC television show Bonino.^[17][18] One of his co-stars on Bonino was 14-year-old Chet Allen, who appeared as Jerry Bonino. Parks and Allen were roommates at the Boychoir School. Parks also had a recurring role as Little Tommy Manicotti (the kid from upstairs) on Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners.^[18]


After graduating from McKeesport High School,^[19] Parks majored in music at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he studied with Aaron Copland from 1960 to 1963,^[20][21] and developed an interest in Mexican music. In 1962, Parks began studying acoustic guitar. According to Parks, he learned 50 requinto solos of Mexican boleros but gave up the prospect when he realized playing guitar had become too commonplace.^[12]

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