Refer to Van Dyke Parks as "obscure" and he merely laughs good-naturedly. "I'm obscure, sure," he admits. "I don't mean to be. On my gravestone it'll probably say, 'What We Have Here Is Failure to Communicate.' "

Former child actor, ex-member of the Mothers of Invention, 1960s pop culture darling, movie soundtrack composer ("Popeye," "Private Parts"), Parks has a litany of achievements that should have earned him recognizability by now. But Parks seems at ease that his ultimate legacy rests in one crowning credential: his musical collaboration with pop genius Brian Wilson.

Parks joins Wilson on Friday for a panel discussion of "Smile," Wilson's much-heralded (and, at 37 years, long-delayed) masterwork. If "Smile" is something of an artistic burden to carry around for nearly 40 years, it's one that Parks bears happily.

"There's an old expression," he says, " 'Grow where you're planted.' I found in spite of my best intentions to be very successful in Hollywood, I wasn't in terms of fame and fortune. But I found other things that have brought me great happiness. One of them is working with Brian Wilson on 'Smile.' "

It wasn't always a joy. When Wilson and Parks began "Smile" in 1966, it was a project seemingly doomed to failure. Brian's fellow Beach Boys detested Parks' impressionistic lyrics and Wilson's experimental music, and "Smile" was left uncompleted. Last year, in one of the most unexpected moves of his peculiar career, Wilson resurrected "Smile," reuniting with his long-ago collaborator to finish the work.

While Wilson has been basking in the success of his long-delayed masterpiece, Van Dyke Parks has remained, typically, underappreciated. Now 62 — "with snow on the roof, but the fire still burns within" — Parks has come to terms with his status as second banana. But it's not without its share of emotional baggage.

"I was invited to play the Royal Festival Hall in London about five years ago. I went with one dread – that there would be an empty seat," he says. "I got there and the promoter told me every seat was filled and people were standing in the aisles. Afterward, it became immediately apparent to me that the reason all those people were there was because I had worked with Brian Wilson."