MacArthur Park (song)

"MacArthur Park"
"MacArthur Park"
	US single picture sleeve (also used for the West German release)
Single by Richard Harris
from the album A Tramp Shining
B-side	"Didn't We?"
Released	April 1968
Recorded	December 21, 1967
Studio	Sound Recorders, Hollywood
Genre	Orchestral pop; psychedelic pop; baroque pop; easy listening; folk rock;
Length	7:21
Label	Dunhill
Songwriter(s)	Jimmy Webb
Producer(s)	Jimmy Webb
Richard Harris singles chronology

"MacArthur Park" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb that was recorded first by Irish actor and singer Richard Harris in 1968. Harris's version peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number four on the UK Singles Chart. "MacArthur Park" was subsequently covered by numerous artists, including a 1970 Grammy-winning version by country music singer Waylon Jennings and a number one Billboard Hot 100 disco arrangement by Donna Summer in 1978.^[4] Webb won the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the Richard Harris version.^[5]

In 1967, producer Bones Howe had asked Webb to create a pop song with different movements and changing time signatures. Webb delivered "MacArthur Park" to Howe with "everything he wanted", but Howe did not care for the ambitious arrangement and unorthodox lyrics and the song was rejected by the group The Association, for whom it had been intended.^[6]

^ ^a ^b Lanza, Joesph (November 10, 2020). "A Sea of Green Tambourines". Easy-Listening Acid Trip - An Elevator Ride Through '60s Psychedelic Pop. Port Townsend: Feral House. p. 139.
^ Molanphy, Chris (November 27, 2017). "Queen of Disco Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Breihan, Tom (January 10, 2020). "The Number Ones: Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 7, 2023. "MacArthur Park" is the sort of thing that can't possibly be repeated — a bugged-out psychedelic easy-listening folk-rock experiment that became a hit...
^ Boucher, Geoff. "'MacArthur Park' Jimmy Webb | 1968" Archived 2014-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2015
^ http://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1969-243.html . Retrieved 28 July 2023
^ Simpson, Dave (2013-11-11). "How we made MacArthur Park". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2018-03-22.

[Psychedelic_2020-1] Lanza, Joesph (November 10, 2020). "A Sea of Green Tambourines". Easy-Listening Acid Trip - An Elevator Ride Through '60s Psychedelic Pop. Port Townsend: Feral House. p. 139.

[Molanphy_2017-2] Molanphy, Chris (November 27, 2017). "Queen of Disco Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 13, 2023.

[Breihan_2020-3] Breihan, Tom (January 10, 2020). "The Number Ones: Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 7, 2023. "MacArthur Park" is the sort of thing that can't possibly be repeated — a bugged-out psychedelic easy-listening folk-rock experiment that became a hit...

[Boucher-4] Boucher, Geoff. "'MacArthur Park' Jimmy Webb | 1968" Archived 2014-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2015

[5] ttp://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1969-243.html . Retrieved 28 July 2023

[6] Simpson, Dave (2013-11-11). "How we made MacArthur Park". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2018-03-22.

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