Biography of Alan Parks

William Alan Parks was born in Bryn Mawr, PA in 1953. He became a Christian in 1966, and soon began singing Gospel music with his older brother Lindsay. The Parks boys had been born into a very Godly home. Their parents, Bill and Jeanette, only had two real purposes in life - to see their boys won for Christ, and then, to see them go on for, and serve, the Lord. Their Mom, was called home to glory on September 6th, 2003, and then their Dad, on February 26, 2005. No biography of Alan, no history of the boys' musical career, and no writings of their wives and family would be complete without mentioning that first and foremost, they are the products of praying, Godly parents. Any music enjoyed in their home was Christian music. This influenced the boys to begin singing and playing of the One they had heard about all of their lives, and very shortly after they began singing together, some very wonderful things transpired that allowed them to continue it.

In 1970, shortly after The Parks Brothers won the Couriers Farm Show Talent Contest, they were awarded their first recording contract. The name of that album was "The Parks Brothers - A Day I Shall Never Forget." From the exposure that album brought, they collaborated on two album projects featuring songs written by two men, featuring various artists. In 1972, The Parks Brothers recorded the first of what would be a number of albums produced by their hero, Rusty Goodman. This second release was entitled "Singing His Praises". Shortly after this, Lindsay's wife Diane joined the group, and they were known as The Parks Brothers and Diane. The first trio album was released from them in 1973, entitled "We Love To Tell The Story". The next year, as Lindsay's medical training to become a physician required a much more restrained travel schedule, it was obvious that Alan would be doing more solo dates. To set this up, an album entitled "The Parks Brothers and Diane - Featuring Alan" was released. Half of the songs on it were trio songs, and half were solo efforts by Alan.

By 1974, Alan was busy with a number of solo dates, and Rusty Goodman produced his first complete solo album, a tribute to the worship songs Alan had grown up singing, entitled "Hymns I Grew Up With". From this album, one particular song, "My Redeemer", slowly grew until it became the #1 (most requested) song in the USA, according to The Singing News. (1975) After a month at #1, it fell to #6, and the next month, was back at #1 again. After the success of that song in the US, it later became the most requested Gospel song in 8 other countries. That original album, "Hymns I Grew Up With", has now been distributed to 170 countries of the world, and at one time, was manufactured in the USA, Canada, Australia, and England.

Alan's next album, "Wm. Alan Parks", (1975) featured a group of his hero musicians and singers - Charlie McCoy, Henry Strzlecki, Jimmy Capps, and others, as well as the vocal harmonies of The Jordanaires - Elvis Presley's original backup singers. Two songs from this album also broke into the national Top-20.

In 1977, Alan married Carol (Aspenson), a Wisconsin girl who lived in Miami, FL. The summer after they married, he recorded an album in studios in KY, PA, Nashville, and Los Angeles, which was entitled "Spend A Day With Me". An unlikely cut from this album, "Evening Prayer Medley", which ran almost six minutes long, reached #11 on the Singing News charts. This was Alan's first release on the Image VII label of giant Word Records. It was distributed to every sales outlet in the world that carried Gospel albums.

The last project recorded before a long break from releasing albums, was "Believers Hymns of Worship" (1980) Alan used a number of musicians from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on this album, which was produced by Charles Novell, and engineered by the legendary Chuck Seitz - who, with RCA, was the engineering genius behind Elvis, Chet Atkins, and Dolly Parton. Shortly after the release of this album, Alan took a hiatus from touring and recording, that would last for nearly 20 years. By this time, Alan and Carol had two children - Shannon (1978) and Alan, Jr. (1980), and life on the road away from them was not what they thought was best.

For a number of years, Alan worked in a number of fields...he joined his Dad, Bill, building custom homes. In 1983, the family moved to the Annapolis, MD area, where Alan joined a division of Weyerhauser Lumber Company, which built homes. Through a contact met in his position of Project Manager, he was able to join the investment firm of Merrill Lynch, where he worked until 1989, when he, Carol, and the children, were called to full- time service again for the Lord. During his years of secular employment, Alan still travelled an average of 40 weekends per year, singing and/or speaking. Their third child, Devin, was born in Annapolis. In 1997, the family moved to Myrtle Beach, SC, where they still reside today. Shannon married Chris Parnell in 2002, and they also reside in Myrtle Beach. (As noted elsewhere on this website, Carol died on March 23, 2005, just 24 days after Alan's Dad.)

From 1989 through till the present, Alan has averaged more than 200 days per year on the road, engaged in a Bible teaching, evangelistic, and singing ministry. He still gives around 75 concerts per year, and is most always also the "special music" when he speaks.

Alan finally released a new project in 2001, entitled "Day and Night", recorded at the Gaither Studios in Alexandria, IN. On this album are musicians who tour with Ray Boltz, Sandy Patti, The Gaither Vocal Band, and others. Of his backup singers, three of them have been featured soloists on The Gaither Homecoming Video series. One of the background vocalists, Marshall Hall, is now the baritone for the Gaither Vocal Band. It was a labor of love - mostly quiet songs that give healing in the valleys of life.

During Carol's illness, and then after she died, Alan took a number of months off completely. In fact, he didn't sing a note publicly for almost 17 months. It took the recording of his latest project, "I Dream of Heaven", to jumpstart that side of the ministry that God has called him to. All 12 of the songs follow the themes of Heaven, Christian hope, and several deal honestly with loss. Alan will tell you that not since the release of "Hymns I Grew Up With", has an album gotten off to the start that this latest one has. In e-mail, letters, and phone calls, each of the 12 songs has been identified as the personal favorite of some.

Since it all began, Alan has travelled more than 6,000,000 miles with the Gospel. He has given some 5800 concerts, and has stood in front of more than 12,000 audiences. During the 1990's alone, he travelled to 42 countries, with return visits to 36 of them. Alan turned 54 on April 2, 2007, and would be the first to tell you that he feels all the miles! But he also thanks God for so many amazing opportunities to carry the eternal treasure to so many.