Growing up, there were two grand pianos nestled in the family living room, and at age 4, Parks began studying the clarinet. He attended the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey, studying voice and piano, and would sing "Gershwin, Schoenberg, atonal music, everything". Parks also was a street urchin in "La bohème" at the Metropolitan Opera and sang the title role in "Amahl and the Night Visitors" at New York City Opera. During his childhood, Parks became extremely fond of old-style American music, most notably the sounds of Tin Pan Alley. This interest in Depression-era songwriting would correlate heavily with his artistic goals and interests during the 1960s and beyond. He was also deeply affected by musicians Spike Jones and Les Paul, which led him to develop an interest with studio experimentation in the form of pop music. Parks has said that the first record he ever purchased may have been Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This."