Carol Celeste Parks (born Carol Celeste Carmichael; November 30, 1949 – October 21, 2010) was an American singer and composer.

Early life

Parks was born in Pasadena, California, daughter of contemporary Christian music composer, conductor and arranger

Ralph Carmichael Ralph Carmichael (May 27, 1927 – October 18, 2021) was an American composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. Early Life and Career ...

. As a teenager, Parks was a member of the ''Jimmy Joyce Children's Choir'', performing with

Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of ''Art Linkletter's House Party, House Par ...

(''

Kids Say the Darndest Things ''Kids Say the Darndest Things'' is an American comedy series originally hosted by Bill Cosby that aired on CBS from January 9, 1998 to June 23, 2000. A revival hosted by Tiffany Haddish aired on ABC from October 6, 2019 to January 19, 2020. A ...

''),

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...

and Johnny Green.

Career

Vocalist

Parks was a Hollywood studio singer in the 1970s and worked with Andy Williams and Tom Jones in shows and was in the choir for

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

, Cher, and Danny Kaye. She was featured as

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

on several popular songs of the 1970s including "

Desiderata "Desiderata" (Latin: "things desired") is an early 1920s prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. Although he copyrighted it in 1927, he distributed copies of it without a required copyright notice during 1933 and , thereby forfeiting his ...

", "

It Never Rains in Southern California "It Never Rains in Southern California" is a 1972 song jointly written and composed by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood and sung by Hammond, a British-born singer-songwriter. Lyrics content The lyrics of "It Never Rains In Southern Californi ...

", " Undercover Angel", " Rock Me Gently", "

The Goodbye Girl ''The Goodbye Girl'' is a 1977 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Neil Simon and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings and Paul Benedict. The film, produced by Ray Stark, centers on an od ...

", "

Little Green Apples "Little Green Apples" is a song written by Bobby Russell that became a hit for three different artists, with their three separate releases, in 1968. Originally written for and released by American recording artist Roger Miller, "Little Green Ap ...

", "

Train of Thought The train of thought or track of thought refers to the interconnection in the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected discourse or thought, as well as the sequence itself, especially in discussion how this sequence leads from one idea to ...

", "

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" is a Southern Gothic murder ballad, written in 1972 by songwriter Bobby Russell and first recorded by his then wife, singer, comedian, and actress Vicki Lawrence. Lawrence's version, from her 1973 al ...

" and "

Delta Dawn "Delta Dawn" is a song written by musician Larry Collins and country songwriter Alex Harvey (country musician), Alex Harvey. The first notable recording of the song was in 1971 by American singer and actress Bette Middler, Bette Midler for her ...

". During the mid-70s, she joined up with

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts ...

, founder member of the band Bread, and became his backing singer for a number of his solo tours, alongside her future husband. Together, they also supported the reunited Bread during their 1978 tour of the UK, although the 1978 UK TV special featured Parks singing from off stage. She sang on several commercials for Ernest and Julio Gallo, AVCO Financial Services Corporation,

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

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and other clients. Under the aliases "Honey White and the Night Man,” "Kim Carmichael," and "Carol Carmichael,” she recorded two

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s ''Songs My Father Taught Me'', ''The Carol Carmichael Songbook'', and two singles, "All Night's Alright", "Shake A Hand". She also recorded two albums ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' and ''Touring The Motor City'', plus a single "Summertime Love" with

The New Christy Minstrels The New Christy Minstrels are an American large-ensemble folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. The group has recorded more than 20 albums and scored several hits, including " Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today", "Denver", and ...

. Additionally, Parks sang main titles for ''

Where's Poppa? ''Where's Poppa?'' is a 1970 American black comedy film based on the 1970 novel by Robert Klane and starring George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Ron Leibman, and Trish Van Devere. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a lawyer (Segal ...

'' (1970), ''

Save the Tiger Save, SAVE, or Saved may refer to: Places *Save (Garonne), a river in southern France *Save River (Africa), a river in Zimbabwe and Mozambique *Sava, a river in Eastern Europe also known as Save *Savè, Benin, a commune and city * Save, Govuro ...

'' (1973), ''Teenager'' (1974), '' Lifeguard'' (1976), and the

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

'' Ironside'', as well as all of the songs from '' The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation''. She also sang for some of the Christian albums produced by her father. Parks recorded "The Persuader" on the first automated recording console invented by

George Massenburg George Y. Massenburg (born Baltimore, Maryland c. 1947) is a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for submitting a paper ...

at The Complex in the early eighties.

Assistant record producer

She also worked as an assistant producer of records for several pop music groups of the era including Rita Jean Bodine and Hodges, James and Smith in the 1970s, New Monkees in the eighties and associate produced for Donald Fagen,

Walter Becker Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen t ...

and

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

in the nineties. She contracted recordings for

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

, Lambert & Potter, Michael Omartian,

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

Melanie Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Lee Greenwood Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He also plays the saxophone. Active since 1962, he has released more than 20 major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the ''Billboa ...

, Helen Reddy, Alan O'Day, Andy Kim,

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

, Johnny Mathis, Vicki Carr, Billy Joel, and many others. Along with her former husband Dean Parks, she co-wrote and sang the score for '' Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation''. Her children, Amanda and Acacia Parks, also sang on several tracks.

Artist

Parks conducted workshops for art teachers such as

Sabrina Ward Harrison Sabrina Ward Harrison (born 1975, Canada) is a Canadian artist and author. She is the creator of five published books of her journals, the first one being published when she was 23, ''Spilling Open; The Art of Becoming Yourself'' (Villard 1999). ...

and

SARK Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of ...

Personal life

Parks was married to musician

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. 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 ...

. She lived and worked in Southern California's NoHo Arts District until her death in Valley Village, California.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Carol American women singers American film score composers 1949 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Pasadena, California Singers from California 21st-century American women