Born in Mississippi in 1943, Van Dyke Parks was extraordinary even as a child, a musical prodigy and actor who later became a session musician, composer, producer, arranger, lyricist, and singer. His own music is as cinematic, fantastical and even phantasmagorical as it is from the heart. "Song Cycle" was less conventionally pop, in verse-chorus fashion, than "Smile;" the mood was something like a baroque psychedelic dream filtered through Disney and music hall. "Discover America" was a major departure, with most songs written by pre-war Calypso musicians from Trinidad & Tobago but given Parks’ highly individual spin. "Clang Of The Yankee Reaper" further wove New Orleans, classical and pop strains alongside Calypso and Caribbean rhythms. There have been more albums since, plus film scores, children’s books and arrangements for a dizzying array of talent (including Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Rufus Wainwright), but the jewels in Parks’ legacy remain those first three albums, slices of musical history both of their time and truly timeless.