During childhood, Elliott developed
juvenile diabetes, which had near-catastrophic consequences when he was twelve years old. Growing up, Elliott wrote music influenced by composers
George Gershwin and
Jerome Kern, as well as country music artist
Lefty Frizzell, In 1964, childhood friend
Sal Valentino called to inform Elliott that he had a gig but had no band to back him up. Elliott agreed to help him put a band together, which included himself on lead guitar,
Ron Meagher on bass,
Declan Mulligan on rhythm guitar and
John Petersen on drums. Elliott appeared with the band in the 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie
Village of the Giants, which was featured in a 1994 episode of
Mystery Science Theater 3000.{{cite book Elliott also appeared with the band as The Beau Brummelstones on
The Flintstones television animated sitcom in the season six episode "Shinrock A Go-Go," which originally aired on December 3, 1965.{{cite book Touring became complicated on a couple of occasions when Elliott suffered seizures from his diabetic condition that left him unable to perform. In 1966,
Warner Bros. Records acquired
Autumn and promptly put out an all-covers album, ''
Beau Brummels '66'', which distressed Elliott as the band's main songwriter. He moved to Los Angeles to attempt to regain control over the musical direction, while the rest of the band remained in San Francisco. For a brief time,
Don Irving became Elliott's stand-in on guitar when the group performed. Elliott, with Valentino co-writing, created two critically acclaimed albums, 1967's
Triangle and 1968's ''
Bradley's Barn''. By this time the Beau Brummels were reduced to a duo consisting of Elliott and Valentino, and they soon split. Elliott arranged
The Everly Brothers' 1968 album
Roots, on which he also played. The Everly Brothers recorded two of his songs, "Turn Around", which had appeared on ''Bradley's Barn'', and "Ventura Boulevard". Elliott played guitar on
Van Dyke Parks' debut album, 1967's
Song Cycle, and released a solo album of his own,
The Candlestickmaker, in 1970. He reunited with the Beau Brummels on occasion, most notably in the mid-1970s when the group released a
1975 self-titled album. Elliott went on to work with artists such as
Randy Newman,
Van Morrison,
Little Feat and
Dolly Parton. == Discography ==