S.O.D. "MacArthur Park" by Jimmy Webb

6/30/2016     Although singer/songwriter/actor and director Richard Harris first recorded this song in 1968, Jimmy Webb composed it along with too many songs to count. Looks like more than 300.  He has written songs for Barbra Streisand, Isaac Hayes, Joe Cocker, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, America and a big bass drum full of others. Just about any performer you can think of from that era.  His 1967 song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", first recorded by Glen Campbell, was the third most performed song between 1940 and 1990.  

     The first record Webb ever bought was Glen Campbell's "Turn Around, Look at Me", when he was 14, very impressed with Campbell's voice.  He began playing piano and organ at a young age and by the time he was 12, was playing in the church choir with his father on guitar and mother playing accordion. His father had many churches as a Baptist minister in southwestern Oklahoma and West Texas.  

     The very first song to be recorded that Webb wrote was "My Christmas Tree" by The Supremes in 1965.  Webb also wrote "Highwayman" which showed up on the 1988 album "Highwayman" by Willie Nelson,  Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.  He has received many awards and was inducted into 4 music Halls of Fame. Webb is the only artist in history to receive Grammy Awards for orchestration, music, and lyrics.  He is now on his 51st year of musical achievement.