“MacArthur Park” is a song whose enduring success (like its lyrics) can’t really be explained. The orchestral-pop belter with multiple movements has inspired a great rolling of eyes for decades, but by now it’s a standard and part of the American pop-culture landscape. “MacArthur Park” is epic in scope and grandeur, a hill seemingly every popular vocalist had to scale in the ’70s.
“MacArthur Park” was written and composed by Jimmy Webb in the summer and fall of 1967. The inspiration for the song was Webb’s relationship (and breakup) with one Susie Horton. MacArthur Park, located at Wilshire Boulevard & South Alvarado in Los Angeles, was where the couple would occasionally meet for lunch. It was 1965, and Horton worked for Aetna insurance, whose offices were across the street from the park. According to Webb, they spent their most enjoyable times together there. Said he, “[The song] is a kind of musical collage of this whole love affair that kind of went down in MacArthur Park.”
Allegedly, the song was originally meant for The Association, but the group never recorded it. When Irish actor Richard Harris heard it, according to Webb, he exclaimed, “I’ll have that, Jimmy Webb. That’s a hit! That’s a damn hit!” Harris made the first recording of “MacArthur Park,” and it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. It eventually peaked at #2 that year.
Like its namesake park, the song has been changed and rearranged over the years. It seems like at least a misdemeanor to narrow this list to ten versions. After all, the folks over at secondhandsongs.com list over 100 vocal versions, in addition to a ton of instrumentals. These are just the ten that made the biggest impression on me.If you don’t think that you can take it, I suggest you try baking it first (insert winking emoji).
Richard Harris
This is where it all started, the 1968 original. Harris, known much more for his acting chops (and to future audiences as the original Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films) than for his pipes. Harris reportedly met Jimmy Webb in Los Angeles in ’67, and shortly thereafter summoned Webb to London to “make a record.” For the recording, Harris and his production team wisely chose members of the Wrecking Crew, LA-based studio musicians who played on scads of hit songs of the era. The personnel included Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass guitar, and Tommy Tedesco and Mike Deasy on guitars along with Webb himself on harpsichord. Harris’s classic version is earnest and without irony.
Donna Summer
American singer and disco-diva Donna Summer released a multi-million selling disco version in 1978. Her “MacArthur Park,” produced by Giorgio Moroder, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in November of ’78, and earned Summer her first Grammy nomination. In this live clip from that year, Donna attempts to explain the song’s metaphor, but then succumbs to “love’s hot fevered iron,” as the space lasers pew-pew and she shows the moves that earned her the title “Queen of Disco.”
Jimmy Webb
In this clip from 1971, the song’s writer, Jimmy Webb provides an idea of how he originally envisioned the song. His version illustrates the melancholy and heartbreak that was common in both popular music and film in that era. Donna Summer’s version of “MacArthur Park” would be the only recording of a Webb composition to top the Hot 100, and the last of seven hit versions of Webb’s compositions to reach the top ten.
Waylon Jennings
OK, it striped my pair of pants to learn that one of the pioneers of outlaw country won his first Grammy with this song. That’s right, the 1970 Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal went to Waylon Jennings for his ’69 version of “MacArthur Park” featuring the family group The Kimberlys. His version charted at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #23 on Hot Country Songs. Jennings would record the song again in ’76.
Four Tops
The legendary Four Tops hit #38 on the Hot 100 with their impassioned version. In this live clip, Levi Stubbs cold crushes the lead vocal. I totally buy that someone left the cake out in the rain, if Mr. Stubbs says it’s so. When the other three Tops join him on stage, their harmonies take this number to the sun, and I don’t care who catches me looking at it.
Wayne Kramer
And now, as John Cleese of Monty Python would say, for something completely different. MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer’s 1991 version would do The Cramp’s Lux Interior proud. Kramer’s over-driven ’90s distorto tone makes this tune sound a lot more menacing than tender. By this point, there were multiple levels of irony going on for any artist that covered “MacArthur Park.”
Wayne Newton
And now for a completely different Wayne. “MacArthur Park” was a staple in Wayne Newton’s lounge act. He would famously “Shatner” the first three couplets, speaking the lyric like overwrought poetry, before breaking into song. In his 1989 clip, Mr. Las Vegas does not disappoint, delivering a dramatic performance.
Glen Campbell
Lean back and do your best to remember where you were the first time you heard this song. OK, I’ll wait. If it was Glen Campbell on The Nashville Network, you were introduced to “MacArthur Park” by a rare vocal and instrumental talent. This song is like a tender baby in his hands, until he sets the mic stand aside in favor of his Strat and shreds through the instrumental break. Holy shee-it, man! My personal favorite.
The Madison Scouts
I was a marching band kid, and always admired the great drum & bugle corps. “MacArthur Park” was completely embraced by marching bands and corps in the ’70s & ’80s. This clip from Drum Corps International 1975 features The Madison Scouts, a World Class competitive junior corps based in Madison, Wisconsin. You gotta love this arrangement; the soloist is totally channeling Maynard Ferguson.
Aubrey Logan
Younger contemporary artists continue to keep this recipe fresh. Trombonist/vocalist and friend-of-the-site Aubrey Logan embraces the camp in her recent version. In the video, she can hardly keep a straight face, and the irony drips like sweet-green icing as she smirks her way through the “stripe-ed pair of pants” bit. Unfortunately, this version does not show the proper deference to my deep and disturbing memories of “MacArthur Park.” I guess it’s no surprise I’m still in therapy.
BONUS VERSION ALERT!
Buddy Greco
After his relationship with Susie Horton melted in the dark, Jimmy Webb crashed on pianist Buddy Greco’s couch for a while. Indeed, it was upon Greco’s piano “MacArthur Park” was composed, and to whom it was dedicated. Webb’s composition became Greco’s set-closer for forty years. Here he does it on The Mike Douglas Show in 1978. I’m pretty sure Mike himself baked his own version at some point too.
MacArthur’s Park continues to melt in the dark, but it gets reconstituted regularly. I occasionally see scenes in TV shows or movies shot in or near the distinctive park. And there’ve been a number of new versions recorded this century. I’ll tell you what, after all the loves of my life, I’m still wondering why.
I realize that folks sometimes would like to simply listen to these great versions, without my insightful commentary. I understand. So, in the interests of continuous play, I offer a YouTube playlist so you can let these tunes flow down like sweet, green icing
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