Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks, a name perhaps not unfamiliar to you due to his collaboration with Brian Wilson on the ill-fated Smile album. Song Cycle was Van’s first album, and it is, I guarantee you, unlike anything you have ever heard. It’s not Rock, nor even Pop, but a densely-orchestrated, utterly-unique group of songs. Van was hired by Brian due to his abilities at lyric writing, and Song Cycle is filled with puns and other forms of word play, very clever and amusing. One song ends, the next beginning with the lyrics "That’s a tape...that we made...and I’m sad to say it never made the grade".
All the songs on the album were written by Van (including "Van Dyke Parks", writing credited to Public Domain :-), save for two. He included a song by a writer who had not yet recorded his own first album---Randy Newman. The song is "Vine Street" (which is also on Randy’s later debut album), performed in an impressionistic, almost surreal, style. Also on the album is Donovan’s "Colors", performed on harpsichord with orchestral accompaniment. The song was included on JBL’s demonstration LP of the 1970’s, and was used by audio shops to sell speakers.
