MacArthur Park
I posted The Rain, The Park, and Other Things a while back, by the Cowsills... and that song
cannot be mentioned without this classic by Richard Harris (RIP) being brought to mind as
well. Jimmy Webb wrote this for The Association, but with the ambitious arrangement and
unorthodox lyrics, the song was rejected by the group. Webb did not take Harris seriously
when he petitioned him for a song he could sing (he was an actor, not a singer). However,
Harris persisted, and the rest, as they say, is history .. By the way, the song lyrics are things
that really happened in MacArthur Park during his relationship with Susie Horton, where the
couple would occasionally meet for lunch and spent their most enjoyable times together.
James Webb, songwriter, composer, and singer, has written numerous platinum-selling songs,
including"Up, Up and Away," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "MacArthur Park," "Wichita Lineman,"
"Worst That Could Happen," "Galveston," and "All I Know." He had successful collaborations with
Glen Campbell (who also recorded MacArthur Park), Michael Feinstein, Linda Ronstadt, the 5th
Dimension, the Supremes, Art Garfunkel, and Richard Harris. I never did care for Donna Summers'
version of this classic, first released as sung by Richard Harris in the summer of 1968.
Webb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Nashville Songwriters
Hall of Fame in 1990. He received the National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement
Award in 1993, the Songwriters Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award in 2003, the ASCAP "Voice of
Music" Award in 2006, and the Ivor Novello Special International Award in 2012. According to BMI,
his song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was the third most performed song in the 50 years between
1940 and 1990. Webb is the only artist ever to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration.
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