Oh, god. This song STILL makes me cry. I think it always will. yes. Quite different from his usual, but Glen really shined here and touches so so many hearts so deeply. What a talent!
Was No1 in the USA when I spent 12 weeks there in the 60’s. Fell in love with that song and loved him and his music ever since. The best C& W singer ever.
This is the version that should have been the hit. And the guitar solo shows how good Glen really was in his prime. Wish the director had shown us more of him playing that. Thank you for posting this video.
Jimmy Webb wrote Macarthur Park I watched this Glen Campbell special years ago a truly magical moment in t.v. I was a seventies teen. Loved Richard Harris on the hit but yes Glen takes this to another level. His voice was and always will be timeless
It is Jimmy Webb conducting, he also plays piano on other songs in this concert which was recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I have the concert on video, and it is brilliant. This has to be one of the best live versions of Macarthur Park, and it's easy to see why Glen Campbell is considered the definitive interpreter of Jimmy Webb's fabulous songs.
He is playing an Ovation Bluebird electric 6-string. These (about 8 in all, including the 12-strings) were built exclusively for him in the late 70's. You can see some clips of the 12-string versions on RUclips as well.
I think it is appropriate that Jimmy Webb has returned to his Christian faith. I've never been sure that there is a God, but if there is, Jimmy Webb was so blessed with such enormous talent, that it is only appropriate that he should be thankful. When I think of the life he has had, the music he has written and the untold hours of joy his music has brought to so many millions of us, it just stuns me. Thank you Jimmy and thank you Glen, and God bless both of you. (Just covering my bases here.)
I went to see Jim Webb 01/27/2018 he wrote Mac Arthur Park he puts on a good concert he wasn't feeling well but did the concert for his fans and the next day was flying to London.
I was an athiest until thirty, when God called me to Himself. Jesus changed my whole life. I've been happy, and blessed for thirty years now. Not church or religion, but Jesus Himself. I was a miserable ,hateful, bigot . Jesus gives a whole new life, NOT a new religion. Jim
Glen passed away in 2017 aged 81,so this recording was made 40 years before -we seem to forget what a great 12 string guitarist he was yet he still managed to play his guitar even though he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's -We have lost one of our great artist ,I don't think there will ever be a another to compare to his ability, today most music appears to be electronically produced and lacking in talent ! .
I agree with you 100%!! Today's music stinks! Thank goodness there's so much of the real stuff around, like this one and thousands more, for all of us who don't like settling. When you settle, you lose a part of yourself. You are correct about no soul in the music anymore. Hip Hop stinks! Rap stinks! Pop today stinks! No apologies.
I remember this being on a PBS special, that I loved watching!! Isn't this the video performance of his double lp Live with the London Philharmonic Orchestra?
the full version of Donna's song includes the bridge verse. There is a 6 minute version that has the entire song. The single version was edited poorly for radio.
+olympoBR Richard Harris achieved a top 5 hit in the UK charts and a very fine version it was but Harris could never effortlessly reach the top notes which is absolutely vital with Mac Arthur Park especially at the end when the choir took over. But then he was an actor turned singer. Glen Campbell majestically sails though the notes without moving a muscle which for me is the best.
+John Abrams Richard Harris, as you said, was an actor not a singer, but in this song he used his heart"s feeling not a singer"s voice...Glen, otherwise, was a great singer not a top interpreter as RH was singular in this song...its a matter of opinion and i respect yours. I prefer GC singing "By the time i get to Phoenix ".
+taxid3rmy Democracy would be everyone voting on whether they think campbell or harris sang it better and the minority having to deal with being "wrong". Anarchy is the ideology you're looking for.
***** I won't make it personal like you did but no, you don't need to clarify, I understood you perfectly the first time and your second try only buttressed my point. True, democracy allows everyone to have input but you are talking about outcome ("everyone walks away happy"). Deciding for yourself what you want for your own outcome is the opposite of democracy, and much closer to anarchy. For example, if you live in the USA, no matter what your input sounds like and no matter what you do, you will have to deal with Pres Trump or Pres Hillary. That's democracy and up to 50% minus 1 walk away quite unhappy. Instead, if you live in the panarchic utopia of Superhogaland, you decide who you want to make rules for you if anyone and you walk away [ex ante] happy.
@debdireen4 I'll post here with yours. Yes, indeed deb, the man is timeless. Such a soulful voice and the guitar technique is fantastic. I hear that Glenn is not well these days. God bless the man, he has provided a great body of work and was a major star. By the time I get to Phoenix, Witchita Lineman, the best!
Amen to melody!!! Recording technology has never been so good as it is today but the level of crap coming out today has never been so low. A serious imbalance propelled by today's pop-culture dribble. I can only hope the pendulum will swing the other way one day and popular music will again have some artistic merit and substance.
So they should it's either the London or Royal Philarmonic conducted by Jimmy Webb (who wrote & composed it, he also coached Richard Harris on the original recording)
it sure looks like him. the credits on the album say that Jimmy and Alan Aynsworth conducted. I have no idea what Alan Aynsworth looks like, but I'd say it's Jimmy.
richard harris sang it fine for the hit... great voice actually. Glen take it to another level. to working musicians Glen epiteomizes what we all aspire to. god bless you glen and jimmy webb
@SuperNevile Hello :) I think the "striped pair of pants" lyric is misunderstood because its context is misunderstood. Its function is symmetrical to the "old man playing checkers" line - each of the first two verses begins with a stanza about the love affair, then turns to a digression about something unrelated - as if the speaker becomes distracted by something that's completely pointless... perhaps a reflection of why the relationship failed.
@boogiefever1985 Like Tony had predicted in his song *The Music Has Died* - what's played on the radio now are either Hispanic or hip hop/rap along the Bay to Lalaland corridor.
McArthur Park ~ Glenn got the lyric right, (unlike Richard who was english and kept singing about McArthur's Park where ever that is). Love the song and the 70s presentation. Not sure about the "striped pair of pants" lyrics, but I guess it fits in with anquish about a lost cake recipe.
What a brilliant song Richard Harris did a great job but glens version is totally better one was a great actor the other was a great singer. Rest in peace both of you fantastic artists
Well, what I ment was Donna Summer left out the heart of the song and only sang the choras which leaves no meaning to the song in her disco version. And I have never herd the 18 minute suite, maybe im missing something.
I reckon this performance is the best rendition of this song ever recorded. Campbell's own studio version is a bit lacklustre and whilst I like Richard Harris's version, it doesn't have either the sheer polish of this version or the cracking guitar solo.
Peter Thompson look up the version he did on CMT[might be GAC] on Gary Chapman’s show. He’s wearing a black suit on the show. He kicks butt on it, especially the guitar solo.
@MrJohnlord27 No, I don't agree sir. I think this song is a guy's song if you will - and best sung by one. Richard Harris is probably definitive, but would love to hear the Jerry Vale version. Didn't Vic Damone also sing this?
Glen's voice is perfect for this, and all Jimmy Webb songs - after all, original singer Richard Harris was an actor, though a great one at that. I've left my cake out in the rain a few times since I first heard this, ha ha. Always found the recipe again, not sure about this time round ... The original hit arrangement beats this, it was groundbreaking 'orchestral rock' at the time ('68). Glenn's guitar solo doesn't work here, despite his chops.
Campbell is a musician's musician, and a songwriter's singer. Everything he does is in the service of the song. A wonderful, wonderful interpretation!
Oh, god. This song STILL makes me cry. I think it always will. yes. Quite different from his usual, but Glen really shined here and touches so so many hearts so deeply. What a talent!
Glen one of the only men that can take you into the music and make you feel you are there. a voice that will go on forever just like Elvis.
My Fav Country singer of all time , Loved him as a kid and an adult , God Bless him RIP Glen :(
Was No1 in the USA when I spent 12 weeks there in the 60’s. Fell in love with that song and loved him and his music ever since. The best C& W singer ever.
what a gem he was ... one of the most beautiful male voices in pop music.
The penultimate song of my youth. And the greatest singer of my youth. Thank you, Glen Campbell. I'm going to miss you.
ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SONGS OF ALL TIMES. LEFT YOU SPEEECHLESS =-
Oh, thank you for sharing this! It was so very, very enjoyable!!!! Absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!
Glen is such a great talent and brings this Jimmy Webb song to life. I love this song
This is the version that should have been the hit. And the guitar solo shows how good Glen really was in his prime. Wish the director had shown us more of him playing that. Thank you for posting this video.
The legendary Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb combo.Thanks guys.And thanks wleme.
Wonderful!!!!! What a performance!!!!!!!
I like this song by Glen better than anyone else singing it, especially the way he did it in the beginning!
I agree.
Glen is great! He does this song so well.
I never knew that Glen Campbell recorded this. He is one of my favorite singers from the 70's. He also has recorded some awesome Christian CD's!!!
Glen, magnificent, emotional and great orchestral backing
I prefer this version its wonderful and such a great song!
Glen is a legend!
Jimmy Webb wrote Macarthur Park I watched this Glen Campbell special years ago a truly magical moment in t.v. I was a seventies teen. Loved Richard Harris on the hit but yes Glen takes this to another level. His voice was and always will be timeless
Glenn nailed it!😊 What an angelic beautiful voice he had.
we will miss this great artist when he's gone....
yes we will...
It is Jimmy Webb conducting, he also plays piano on other songs in this concert which was recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I have the concert on video, and it is brilliant. This has to be one of the best live versions of Macarthur Park, and it's easy to see why Glen Campbell is considered the definitive interpreter of Jimmy Webb's fabulous songs.
THE. MAGICAL GLEN CAMPBELL,,,,, R, I, P
Agree: What a song and what a voice...and can you dig him on guitar?!! Stunning... Great, Glenn!!!
This is so good, so good, SO GOOD, SOOOOO GOOD!!!
1 of the best voices.
you get a look at how good a guitarist Glen was that is often overlooked.
He is playing an Ovation Bluebird electric 6-string. These (about 8 in all, including the 12-strings) were built exclusively for him in the late 70's. You can see some clips of the 12-string versions on RUclips as well.
Stunning i love it so much
What a song and what a voice.
Loved Glen Campbell reminds me of my Dad.
Holy, Whoa! I never knew that Glen covered this song, and he did a GREAT job!
Fantastic!
can you imagine how this audience felt sitting there...
you great glen made us to know the meaning of music.
Spectacular singer...so much talent and class.
I think it is appropriate that Jimmy Webb has returned to his Christian faith. I've never been sure that there is a God, but if there is, Jimmy Webb was so blessed with such enormous talent, that it is only appropriate that he should be thankful. When I think of the life he has had, the music he has written and the untold hours of joy his music has brought to so many millions of us, it just stuns me. Thank you Jimmy and thank you Glen, and God bless both of you. (Just covering my bases here.)
I went to see Jim Webb 01/27/2018 he wrote Mac Arthur Park he puts on a good concert he wasn't feeling well but did the concert for his fans and the next day was flying to London.
Love that Prince Valiant hairstyle!
oh yes I remember that, I was working there at the time.
i love that glen plays the guitar in this.
Sublime.
Wow, Wow, Wow....what else can be said.!
I was an athiest until thirty, when God called me to Himself. Jesus changed my whole life. I've been happy, and blessed for thirty years now. Not church or religion, but Jesus Himself. I was a miserable ,hateful, bigot . Jesus gives a whole new life, NOT a new religion. Jim
I have this on LP... It's a fantastic LP, too... might have to dig it out!
Absolutely terrific
Glen passed away in 2017 aged 81,so this recording was made 40 years before -we seem to forget what a great 12 string guitarist he was yet he still managed to play his guitar even though he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's -We have lost one of our great artist ,I don't think there will ever be a another to compare to his ability, today most music appears to be electronically produced and lacking in talent ! .
Simply the best ever!!!!!
The best version ever of Macarthur Park .
I agree with you 100%!! Today's music stinks! Thank goodness there's so much of the real stuff around, like this one and thousands more, for all of us who don't like settling. When you settle, you lose a part of yourself. You are correct about no soul in the music anymore. Hip Hop stinks! Rap stinks! Pop today stinks! No apologies.
keetonplace No apologies necessary.
i heard jimmy play this and all the other songs at the fairmont hotel and i was barely 10 feet from him what a night
yeah i agree with you Harris is the only one that can deliver this the way it should be sung..
and im a glen campbell fan too
Amen!!!
I remember this being on a PBS special, that I loved watching!! Isn't this the video performance of his double lp Live with the London Philharmonic Orchestra?
the full version of Donna's song includes the bridge verse. There is a 6 minute version that has the entire song. The single version was edited poorly for radio.
He was my first guitar hero.
Richard Harris is unbeatable in this song...after he put his dramaticism talent in these lyrics no one can be compared to him...a masterpice !
+olympoBR Richard Harris achieved a top 5 hit in the UK charts and a very fine version it was but Harris could never effortlessly reach the top notes which is absolutely vital with Mac Arthur Park especially at the end when the choir took over. But then he was an actor turned singer. Glen Campbell majestically sails though the notes without moving a muscle which for me is the best.
+John Abrams Richard Harris, as you said, was an actor not a singer, but in this song he used his heart"s feeling not a singer"s voice...Glen, otherwise, was a great singer not a top interpreter as RH was singular in this song...its a matter of opinion and i respect yours. I prefer GC singing "By the time i get to Phoenix ".
+olympoBR Fair comment. Good to gently cross swords with you. Have a pleasant day.
+taxid3rmy Democracy would be everyone voting on whether they think campbell or harris sang it better and the minority having to deal with being "wrong". Anarchy is the ideology you're looking for.
***** I won't make it personal like you did but no, you don't need to clarify, I understood you perfectly the first time and your second try only buttressed my point. True, democracy allows everyone to have input but you are talking about outcome ("everyone walks away happy"). Deciding for yourself what you want for your own outcome is the opposite of democracy, and much closer to anarchy. For example, if you live in the USA, no matter what your input sounds like and no matter what you do, you will have to deal with Pres Trump or Pres Hillary. That's democracy and up to 50% minus 1 walk away quite unhappy. Instead, if you live in the panarchic utopia of Superhogaland, you decide who you want to make rules for you if anyone and you walk away [ex ante] happy.
@debdireen4 I'll post here with yours. Yes, indeed deb, the man is timeless. Such a soulful voice and the guitar technique is fantastic. I hear that Glenn is not well these days. God bless the man, he has provided a great body of work and was a major star. By the time I get to Phoenix, Witchita Lineman, the best!
Amen to melody!!! Recording technology has never been so good as it is today but the level of crap coming out today has never been so low. A serious imbalance propelled by today's pop-culture dribble. I can only hope the pendulum will swing the other way one day and popular music will again have some artistic merit and substance.
So they should it's either the London or Royal Philarmonic conducted by Jimmy Webb (who wrote & composed it, he also coached Richard Harris on the original recording)
What year and where was this magnificent performance!???
It is about losing at love.
If I am not mistaken Jimmy Webb is Conducting The London Philharmonic in this clip.
Now I see it! They should've gotten Glen to play Dumbledore after Richard Harris died!
The macarthur park suite is almost 18 minutes long. I don't think she left out anything.
I have a designer outlet a mile from my house called Mac Arthur Glen, and I keep getting them mixed up if I speak of this song.. :-)
I'm used to Donna Summer singing this, but this is lovely. Well done Glen
someone left my cake out in the rain....can't find that recipe, OHHH NOOOO....lol.
still legendary.
it sure looks like him. the credits on the album say that Jimmy and Alan Aynsworth conducted. I have no idea what Alan Aynsworth looks like, but I'd say it's Jimmy.
What video is this from, and is it available on DVD?
Thanks for posting!
epic....
jimmy webb is a inspired song writer. Mac arthur park is a fantastic song like a good poem set to great music
Jimmy= Alive
Glen= Alive
Can we get a new album out of these two?
Please!
richard harris sang it fine for the hit... great voice actually.
Glen take it to another level. to working musicians
Glen epiteomizes what we all aspire to.
god bless you glen and jimmy webb
@SuperNevile Hello :) I think the "striped pair of pants" lyric is misunderstood because its context is misunderstood. Its function is symmetrical to the "old man playing checkers" line - each of the first two verses begins with a stanza about the love affair, then turns to a digression about something unrelated - as if the speaker becomes distracted by something that's completely pointless... perhaps a reflection of why the relationship failed.
great singer great song Im a a glen cambell
fan and enjoyed richard harris,but DONNA SUMMERS, LEFT THEM ALL IN THE DARK,
THIS WAS THE BEST
GC looks awesome here! And I've always preferred his version to Richard Harris's for some reason, though I loved Harris.
Actually Glen Campbell's best performance of this song was with Boston Pops TV show years ago. As far as I know, the recording was never released.
@boogiefever1985
Like Tony had predicted in his song *The Music Has Died* - what's played on the radio now are either Hispanic or hip hop/rap along the Bay to Lalaland corridor.
McArthur Park ~ Glenn got the lyric right, (unlike Richard who was english and kept singing about McArthur's Park where ever that is). Love the song and the 70s presentation. Not sure about the "striped pair of pants" lyrics, but I guess it fits in with anquish about a lost cake recipe.
What a brilliant song Richard Harris did a great job but glens version is totally better one was a great actor the other was a great singer. Rest in peace both of you fantastic artists
what guitar is glen using... just wondering
we met Glen in a restaurant in the 70's ....and he flirted with my mum !!!!.........
Well, what I ment was Donna Summer left out the heart of the song and only sang the choras which leaves no meaning to the song in her disco version. And I have never herd the 18 minute suite, maybe im missing something.
I reckon this performance is the best rendition of this song ever recorded. Campbell's own studio version is a bit lacklustre and whilst I like Richard Harris's version, it doesn't have either the sheer polish of this version or the cracking guitar solo.
Peter Thompson look up the version he did on CMT[might be GAC] on Gary Chapman’s show. He’s wearing a black suit on the show. He kicks butt on it, especially the guitar solo.
Discúlpenme pero perdónenme. La mejor interpretación a esta rola es de la señora Donna Summer. ¿Estamos?
It's here!!!!
Go check it out!!
NorwoodGlen's videos
I love this song so much. Still think Donna Summer's version is the best!
@advancedla I'm seeing him when he comes to Wales on the 23rd October. I'm taking plenty of tissues. :-(
Glen does a great job here. The original recording was less committed, somehow.
Long live melody - death to soulless techno, hip hop and rap. I don't know what has been happening with popular music this decade. Absolute joke.
@MrJohnlord27 No, I don't agree sir. I think this song is a guy's song if you will - and best sung by one. Richard Harris is probably definitive, but would love to hear the Jerry Vale version. Didn't Vic Damone also sing this?
@boogiefever1985 It's all great. Just enjoy what appeals to you. Open your mind, you might be surprised.
Holy crap that would be scary! :)
Glen's voice is perfect for this, and all Jimmy Webb songs - after all, original singer Richard Harris was an actor, though a great one at that. I've left my cake out in the rain a few times since I first heard this, ha ha. Always found the recipe again, not sure about this time round ... The original hit arrangement beats this, it was groundbreaking 'orchestral rock' at the time ('68). Glenn's guitar solo doesn't work here, despite his chops.
you can listen to part of it here on youtube watch?v=rb-i11WhJSY, from that page click on the link in the right hand side to hear the whole thing.
what year was this???
great pipes...but i love Waylon's version. tearworthy!
Andy Williams' version is still my ATF!!!!
Donna Summer left out the best part the bridge.