MacArthur Park [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Subtitled - Richard Harris Sings The Songs of Jimmy Webb. 1997 compilation for the late film star includes the huge hit title track & all the best from his first two albums, 'A Tramp Shining' (1968) & 'The Yard Went on Forever...' (1969). Universal.

Tracks:

Prelude/Didn't We - Interlude
Paper Chase (Interlude)
Name of My Sorrow - Interlude
Lovers Such as I
In the Final Hours
MacArthur Park
Dancing Girl (Interlude)
If You Must Leave My Life
Tramp Shining
Yard Went on Forever
Watermark
Interim
Gayla
Hymns from the Grand Terrace
Hive
Lucky Me
That's the Way It Was

Album Description

Subtitled - Richard Harris Sings The Songs of Jimmy Webb. 1997 compilation for the late film star includes the huge hit title track & all the best from his first two albums, 'A Tramp Shining' (1968) & 'The Yard Went on Forever...' (1969). Universal.

Album Details

Classic Mid Sixties Recordings Produced By Jimmy Webb.

Customer Reviews:

Richard Harris: Interpreter Of Song.......2007-03-30

Richard Harris---yeah, loved him--- still do--- that's maybe the best thing about being an artist--- the work, the empression lives on.... Certainly he's most known as an actor[and deservedly so, he was one of a generation of powerhouse performers whose ranks include his pals Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole and hell-raising equal Oliver Reed] and he has left us a litany of great work in such 'classics as 'Camelot', 'Major Dundee', 'Man In The Wilderness', 'The Molly Maguires'.The Field', 'Unforgiven' and many others....His work, though occasionally flawed, was always, at the very least,distinctive and very often much. much more....So it was, and IS, via his recordings, with his singing,,,,
'Macarthur Park' is certainly his most well known recording outside of 'Camelot' and is the perfect example of his unusual singing style....Something of a 'metaphysical ballad' it's a perfect match for the poerful, passionate and often contradictory nature of it's singer/protagonist.... The fact that much of the song is a strain on his voice, combines with the 'talk/sing nature of the narrative,makes the song seam both deeply personal and emotionally chargedand effects the listener in the same way.... There is a shared sense of striving between listener[s] and performer and an ultimate sense of satisfaction at the accomplishment of the task, the singing of the song.... 'MacArthur Park', as sung by Harris, is more than the performance of a song--- it's an adventure....
I strongly recommend the combined cd of both 'My Boy' and 'Slides'.... These are properely matched as they are both 'concept' albums and, again, come across as highly personal.... Indeed, Harris penned some of the songs on 'My Boy' himself and it is something of a 'record' of his life.... I'm a performer myself, locally, here on Cape Cod,and will be performing the song 'Slides' myself next month as part of a local Arts Festival and will be well pleased if I can imbue it with half as much meaning and distinction as the late, GREAT!, Richard Harris....
Cheers! Doug McKenna

MacArthur Park - Richard Harris.......2007-02-13

Richard Harris is one of my favorites and I was so pleased to find the CD at Amazon.
I am looking for more of my favorites!! Pat

I Saw Him Live!.......2006-11-02

In 1973, I saw Mr. Richard Harris on Stage at The Academy Of Music in Philadelphia. Performing all the Songs that made him a Signing Legend.
He told stories of his drinking with Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.
I hope i spelled his name right. He went through the spectrum of emotions with the songs and stories. He was great. His voice was Richard Harris.
Just as Johnny Cash used to say about the Music Scale- " I hit a few, I miss a few." Richard Harris Fans' never noticed, I didn't. He was Great, i only wish he stuck to the original line of songs in the movie 'Camelot'. But at the performance i was able to see and hear, he was great. i wished he kept up his singing part of his life.

The recipe for MacArthur Park.......2006-07-27

This is a review of the reviews and an attempt at an explanationabout the songs of Jimmy Webb. As a professional musician andsongwriter, I study the songs of musicians I admire, such asJimmy Webb. When I first heard the songs he wrote for The 5th Dimension in 1967, I was hooked. Then, he wrote an album forJohnny Rivers and the songs were even better. But when the firstRichard Harris album was released, I thought, this guy is agenius! Musically, he is complex and always interesting. Yet hislyrics leave everyone scratching their heads. Well, it's quitesimple really. He uses "imagery" in his words. He constantlyalludes to other things that represent what he is wanting toexpress. I believe this makes for a very interesting approachto lyric-writing. As for the "someone left the cake out in therain" line, with all the references he makes to having lost agreat love, coupled with "and I'll never have that recipe again"he is writing about the recipe of love...at least, that's myinterpretation. As for McCartney being a better songwriter. Ilove McCartney. In my opinion, his work is superior to Lennon'stunes. But McCartney's not a better somgwriter...he's just adifferent kind of songwriter. You cannot compare McCartney toWebb. As for Richard Harris' singing...it took me a while, atfirst, to become accustomed to his voice, for he always soundedflat to me. But with time, I've come to realize that no one elsecould have done a better job on these songs than that wild, crazy and talented Irishman. His name will be forever associatedwith "MacArthur Park" and that cake that melted in the rain.

My Favorite Version.......2006-07-24

...of course it's not everyone's cup of tea. That's why there's so many choices out there. Incidently Jonathan W. Williams' review offered a pound sterling to anyone who figured out the lyrics. I'm not saying that I have the difinitive answer, but I'm told that MacArthur Park is, or at least was, the Bowery of San Francisco, a place where people, who were once full of promise, go to drink it all away, and watch their formerly structured lives "melt" in the rain, no matter how long it took to "bake" it.

Average customer rating:

Grimethorpe is Never Grim!

The Melody Shop

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
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Movie Brass
Grimethorpe
Old Rugged Cross: 24 Brass Band Favourites
Brassed Off!: Original Soundtrack From The Miramax Motion Picture
Best of Brass

ASIN: B000007MY1
Release Date: 1998-06-16

Tracks:

The Melody Shop - Major Peter Parkes
MacArthur Park - Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Doretta's Aria - Mark Walters
Lezghinka - Grimethorpe Colliery Band
The Debutante - Richard Marshall
Prelude To Act III - Major Peter Parkes
Every Time We Say Goodbye - Jonathan Beatty
Rhapsody Espana - Major Peter Parkes
Trumpet Blues And Cantabile - Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Adagio - Mark Walters
Gallop - Major Peter Parkes
Slaughter On 10th Avenue - Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Paganini 18th Variation - Nigel Fielding
Punchinello - Major Peter Parkes
Ave Maria - Richard Marshall
Light Walk - Mark Walters
One Day In Your Life - Melvyn Bathgate
Toccata - Major Peter Parkes

Customer Reviews:

Grimethorpe is Never Grim!.......2001-01-19

West Yorkshire in England consistantly produces eight to ten of the best brass bands in all the world. The Grimethorpe Collery Band's "Melody Shop" demonstrates why this band is always counted among the finest. This particular CD offers the listener a wide variety of musical tidbits. For the lovers of classical music, Grimethorpe's rendition of the Galop from Rossini's "William Tell" will certainly put you in that Lone Ranger mood!(This piece was heard in the movie "Brassed Off" with Grimethorpe providing the soundtrack for the fictional Grimley Band featured in the movie.)For 70s fans, the band does a hard-charging version of Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park."

There is even a hymn on the CD. Barrie Gott's "Lightwalk" (from the old hymn tune "Walk in the Light) actually comes out of the Salvation Army Brass Band literature. I doubt that most listeners ever heard a hymn swing like this one!

My personal favorite is the cut of "Lohengrin: Act 3 Prelude" by Wagner. It is hard to believe that this is a brass band- and I mean ALL BRASS- playing with such fire and technical accuracy. What a group! What a piece! What a wonderful combination!

Tracks:

Prelude/Didn't We - Interlude
Paper Chase (Interlude)
Name of My Sorrow - Interlude
Lovers Such as I
In the Final Hours
MacArthur Park
Dancing Girl (Interlude)
If You Must Leave My Life
Tramp Shining
Yard Went on Forever
Watermark
Interim
Gayla
Hymns from the Grand Terrace
Hive
Lucky Me
That's the Way It Was

Average customer rating:

MacArthur Park
Buddy Greco
Manufacturer: Candid Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000006N1B
Release Date: 1996-03-19

Tracks:

Around The World
Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
This Is All I Ask
She Loves Me
You Better Go Now
Me And Mrs. Jones
The Georgia Road
Baubles, Bangles And Beads
Satin Doll
Like Young
My Funny Valentine
Girl Talk
The Lady Is A Tramp
Touch Me In The Morning
Legacy
Hungry Years
Neither One Of Us
Passing Pastels
MacArthur Park

Music:

Music

Music