Describing Ackles' style in 2003, critic Colin McElligatt wrote, "An unlikely clash of anachronistic show business and modern-day lyricism...deeply informs his recorded output.
Alternately calling to mind Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin, Robbie Robertson, Tim Hardin, and Scott Walker, Ackles forged an utterly unique sound out of stray parts that comprise a whole that is as uncompromising as it is unrivaled.
"[1] Although he never gained wide commercial success, he influenced other artists, especially British singer-songwriters such as Elvis Costello, Elton John, and Phil Collins, all of whom declared themselves fans of Ackles.
He played the character "Peanuts" in the second film in the series (1946's The Return Of Rusty, directed by William Castle) and the uncredited role of Roger "Tuck" Worden in the last five.
"[7] His wife said, "His ultimate goal when he was younger was to write, produce, direct, design the sets, do the music, and star in his work.
"[3] While working a string of rent-paying jobs after college—"private detective, security guard, and circus roustabout"—he was simultaneously composing "musicals, ballet scores, and choral pieces.
These early experiences and enthusiasms were to leave a mark on his songwriting, and helped form a distinctively theatrical singing style.
His first album, the eponymous David Ackles (1968), did not achieve commercial success, even when reissued in 1971 as The Road to Cairo, but it was influential among singer-songwriters.
This and his follow-up 1969 release, Subway to the Country, contained songs that melded strong theatrical influences with piano-based rock.
At first he and Al Kooper tried recording the tracks in a "stripped-back country-rock style," then classically trained composer Fred Myrow was brought in to arrange and conduct.
Now that Ackles could employ strings, winds, brass, and choruses, his elaborate musical style began to develop.
"[9] Though the album was recorded and mixed in about two weeks, Ackles worked for two years on its conception and "immensely complex" orchestral arrangements.
[5] Elektra gave Ackles his biggest budget to date to complete the project and advertised it pre-release as "The Album of the Year.
"[10] Elektra sent a pre-release copy to Chris Van Ness, the music editor of Los Angeles Free Press, who wrote an enthusiast review comparing it to The Beatles' Sgt.
[11] Melody Maker called it a classic and British music critic Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times described it as "the Sgt.
[3] After leaving Columbia Records in 1973, Ackles concentrated on fulfilling his publishing contract with Warner Bros., writing songs to order for the company's artists.
He worked on musical theater and screenplays from the home base he shared with his wife and son, a six-acre horse farm in Tujunga, near Los Angeles.
[2] He was the executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives (now the National Association of Fundraising Professionals) and was a part of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles (now the Academy of New Musical Theatre).
When Elvis Costello was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, he cited Ackles in his speech as one of his major influences.
"[2] Elton John and Elvis Costello—two of Ackles's most fervent admirers—chose "Down River" to perform as their first-ever duet together for the finale of the premiere episode of Costello's TV series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with....[15][16] Interviewed in 1990 for the booklet accompanying his To Be Continued retrospective box-set, Elton John recalled his incredulity when he discovered that Ackles had been selected to be his co-headlining opening act for his American debut at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles in August 1970.
In 1968, Julie Driscoll & the Brian Auger Trinity had a minor UK hit with Ackles's song "Road to Cairo."
The 1994 Elektra reissues generated modest sales and a number of praise-filled articles, which raised hopes that Ackles was on the verge of a new career as a rediscovered cult favorite.