M
mike704
Guest
We have been talking about great bathroom records here and coincidentally my daughter wanted me to play the song tonight for a friend of hers. I did some research on the song and here is what I found:
In the summer of 1967, songwriter Jimmy Webb ("Up Up and Away") composed a 22-minute cantata that ended with a seven-minute coda called "MacArthur Park." He offered it to Bones Howe, who produced The Association, for possible inclusion on the group's fourth LP. Howe loved it, but the group did not want to give up half the album for Webb's project, so they rejected it.
Harris was an actor, not a singer. His performance on this was essentially "acting," as he read the lyrics with a great deal of drama. He recorded this shortly after starring in the movie Camelot. Some of his other films include This Sporting Life, Unforgiven, and Wrestling Earnest Hemmingway. He also played Professor Dumbledore in the first 2 Harry Potter movies.
Webb produced this for Richard Harris, crossing the Atlantic Ocean several times in the process.
Donna Summer recorded a disco version in 1978 that made it to #1 after it was released as a single. Her version was originally part of a 15-minute "suite." (thanks Brad Wind - Miami, FL, for above 4)
This runs 7:20. At the time, it was still very rare for radio stations to play songs longer than 3 minutes. "Hey Jude" by The Beatles came out shortly before this, and when it became a hit despite running 7:11, stations learned that audiences would stick around if they liked the song.
Harris died on October 25, 2002. He was 72.
Weird Al Yankovic wrote a parody of this called "Jurrasic Park" about the blockbuster movie of the same name. It is on his 1993 album Alapalooza.
Mike
In the summer of 1967, songwriter Jimmy Webb ("Up Up and Away") composed a 22-minute cantata that ended with a seven-minute coda called "MacArthur Park." He offered it to Bones Howe, who produced The Association, for possible inclusion on the group's fourth LP. Howe loved it, but the group did not want to give up half the album for Webb's project, so they rejected it.
Harris was an actor, not a singer. His performance on this was essentially "acting," as he read the lyrics with a great deal of drama. He recorded this shortly after starring in the movie Camelot. Some of his other films include This Sporting Life, Unforgiven, and Wrestling Earnest Hemmingway. He also played Professor Dumbledore in the first 2 Harry Potter movies.
Webb produced this for Richard Harris, crossing the Atlantic Ocean several times in the process.
Donna Summer recorded a disco version in 1978 that made it to #1 after it was released as a single. Her version was originally part of a 15-minute "suite." (thanks Brad Wind - Miami, FL, for above 4)
This runs 7:20. At the time, it was still very rare for radio stations to play songs longer than 3 minutes. "Hey Jude" by The Beatles came out shortly before this, and when it became a hit despite running 7:11, stations learned that audiences would stick around if they liked the song.
Harris died on October 25, 2002. He was 72.
Weird Al Yankovic wrote a parody of this called "Jurrasic Park" about the blockbuster movie of the same name. It is on his 1993 album Alapalooza.
Mike