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Van Dyke Parks: Talk of the Rock Rialto

Richard Goldstein, The New York Times, 3 March 1968

 

VAN DYKE Parks might have grown old in comfortable obscurity. At 25, he had made his mark along Sunset Boulevard (California's Teflon-pan alley) as the producer of moderately successful pop groups such as Harper's Bizarre and the Mojo Men. His clients never quite achieved superstardom, but their very presence on the top 40 charts, gave Van Dyke access to the burgeoning Los Angeles rock scene. He appeared incognito on a few hip albums (such as the Byrd's 5-D). He provided lyrics for some of the Beach Boys' most fascinating songs, including 'Heroes and Villains' and 'Vegetables'. His sly, elliptical verse gained him a small but ecstatic following of his own.

Total word count of piece: 1200

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