Dean Parks Explained

Dean Parks
Birth Name:Weldon Dean Parks
Birth Date:6 December 1946
Birth Place:Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Genre:Pop, rock, jazz
Occupation:Musician
Instrument:Guitar, pedal steel
Years Active:1970–present

Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination. [1]

Albums

Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher in 1970. In 1980, he was a founding member of the Christian Jazz Fusion band Koinonia. Parks is best known for his many contributions to albums by Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, and Bread. Notably, he played guitar on Steely Dan's Royal Scam track "Haitian Divorce".[2] Parks is also a long-time collaborator on David Foster albums, such as Shadows by Gordon Lightfoot.[3]

Parks features on Cat Beach's albums Letting Go and Love Me Out Loud. In 2008, Parks participated in the production of the album Psalngs,[4] the debut release of Canadian musician John Lefebvre.

Parks is very prominently featured on Viktor Krauss' album II (2007), where he plays a plethora of other stringed instruments in addition to electric and acoustic guitars.[5] He played on eight Lyle Lovett albums.[6]

Tours

During the late 1970s, Parks teamed up with Bread for their "Lost Without Your Love" reunion tour, taking on the responsibilities of lead guitarist.[7] Following the departure of founding member Jimmy Griffin, Parks then became the 'unofficial' fourth member for the duration of the 1977/78 tours, including the visit to England to record a BBC TV special.

He continued the role when Bread's co-founder, David Gates, put together his own solo touring band shortly afterwards. In the spring of 2005 he joined David Crosby and Graham Nash on their European tour, as well as their U.S. tours in fall 2007, fall 2008, and spring 2011. In April 2017 Parks joined James Taylor's band while Taylor recovered from a broken finger.

Movies

Parks has played guitar for film scores such as (with Carol Parks), Bowfinger, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Big Bounce, Days of Thunder, Dying Young, August Rush, and Rosewood (with Tommy Morgan and John Williams).

Personal life

He was married to fellow musician Carol Parks.

Discography

With America

With Bobby Bland

With Cher/Sonny & Cher

With Chris Botti

With Michael Bublé

With T Bone Burnett

With Joe Cocker

With Andraé Crouch

With Rita Coolidge

With The Crusaders

With Julia Fordham

With Kenny Loggins

With Lyle Lovett

With The Manhattan Transfer

With Aaron Neville

With Madeleine Peyroux

With Rebecca Pidgeon

With Joe Sample

With Steely Dan

With others

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dean Parks Artist GRAMMY.com . 2023-11-25 . www.grammy.com.
  2. Web site: Ventura Highway - The Gypsy Queens. Dr.dk. May 22, 2018.
  3. Web site: Dean Parks | Credits. .
  4. Web site: Press for Psalngs.com. Press.Psalngs.com. 2009-08-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20110825021755/http://press.psalngs.com/ . 2011-08-25.
  5. Web site: Jazz . All About . 2007-04-13 . Viktor Krauss: II album review @ All About Jazz . 2023-11-25 . All About Jazz . en.
  6. News: Perusse . Bernard . 28 Feb 2012 . A parting gift from Lyle Lovett . C.2 . . 24 Nov 2023.
  7. Book: Grein, Paul . Griffin Out; Now It's Gates & Bread . 1978-03-25 . Billboard, Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en.

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