MacArthur Park was first recorded by Richard Harris!

Back in the 1970s, my family lived in the same house as my grandmother and my uncle, who just came back from the States. He had a nice record collection and my first introduction to many pop and rock albums was in his room. One of the records he played very often was Donna Summer‘s live double LP containing MacArthur Park. I still think it is a brilliant piece of pop and a justified disco classic.

While the most famous version of the song is undoubtedly Donna Summer’s version, I knew MacArthur Park was written by someone else and the disco queen is merely performing an inspired cover. What came as a shocker to me was that the first known release of the song on an album was by Richard Harris, aka The Man Called Horse. I know Harris mainly as an actor and never knew he was also a singer. I did a quick search on YouTube and found the song. Surprisingly, Harris does a nice version of the song, one that I see myself going back to enjoy.

And here is Donna Summer’s disco classic for comparison.

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