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Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
American guitarist, singer and composer
1
Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer
2
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
American rock band
3
Dennis Wilson
Dennis Wilson
American musician (1944-1983)
4
Fred Tackett
Fred Tackett
American musician
5
Mike Love
Mike Love
American singer, songwriter, member of the Beach Boys
6
Terry Melcher
Terry Melcher
American musician and record producer
7
Jim Keltner
Jim Keltner
American session drummer
8
Russ Titelman
Russ Titelman
American record producer
9
Randy Newman
Randy Newman
American singer-songwriter, arranger and composer
10
Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre
rock band
11
Carl Wilson
Carl Wilson
American musician; original member of The Beach Boys (1946-1998)
12
Bruce Johnston
Bruce Johnston
American singer, musician
13
Gaby Moreno
Gaby Moreno
Guatemalan singer-songwriter and guitarist
14
Siedah Garrett
Siedah Garrett
American singer-songwriter
15
Jay Migliori
Jay Migliori
American saxophonist
16
Rob Mounsey
Rob Mounsey
American musician, composer, and arranger
Intro
American musician
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Member of, past and present
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

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 and for his collaborations with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys (particularly their unfinished album Smile). In addition to producing or arranging albums by Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Phil Ochs, Little Feat, Happy End, Ry Cooder and Joanna Newsom, Parks has worked with performers such as Syd Straw, Ringo Starr, U2, Grizzly Bear, Inara George, Kimbra, Suzy Williams and Silverchair.

Raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, 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.