richard harris mac arthur park

my commercial 45 for the richard harris song mac arthur
park issued as dunhill 4134 states the run time as 7:20 but
actually runs 7:23 and matches all the db
entries......question is, was there ever a shorter dj edit
released?...it seems odd that a 7 plus minute song could
reach number 2 on the billboard charts in 1968....

If there was an edit, I've never seen a copy. For a while we played a "house" edit at the station I did weekends at in the spring of '68...ISTR the intro was shortened and the bridge was mostly removed. It sounded awful and at some point the cart "mysteriously" got irreparably jammed, and we just started playing the 45.

I'm also surprised there never was an official edit (though it is a hard song to edit without losing a lot of the story, not that that's ever stopped them before). I do recall there being considerable label hype about it being a 7-minute song...ISTR the promo having a picture sleeve touting that fact in large type.


Edited by Hykker

TomDiehl1 wrote: I've got the song on a special 7" 33 1/3 rpm promotional single with an odd promo number on it. I can't remember offhand but I seem to recall the flip side had 2 songs on it...MacArthur Park has the giant promo A on it, though, and was certainly the full version of the song, not an edit.

Tom, aside from its giant "A" designation, the configuration of your promo single sounds identical to the 7-inch, 33 1/3 RPM A Tramp Shining jukebox LP. My local Musicland store had a couple copies in their oldies 45s section about a year after the 45 had been a hit.

I bought the jukebox LP because I'd never heard "Mac Arthur Park" in stereo, but after one spin, I stashed it away. Not only did the stereo mix sound lifeless compared to the punchier mono 45,the disc itself was badly pressed on cheap vinyl. "Mac Arthur Park" was so off-center, it made Richard Harris sound like he'd taken a few meandering pathways too many through the park, if you know what I mean. Not that that would have been at all out of character for him, but still...

On the other hand, hearing the triumphant "O-o-H-h No-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O!" ending sung in a three-sheets-to-the-wind fashion did have its charms. Might've even sounded normal on the corner bar's Wurlitzer. :)

Discogs has scans of the Dunhill D-32 33-1/3 promo label here and the standard 45 DJ 45 labels here. Both were pressed by Monarch. The former was probably on vinyl, but the latter was styrene, which would have been promptly cue-burned to a crisp under normal airplay conditions.

According to the promo 33-1/3's Discog listing, the two sides on its B-side are the same as on the 7-inch jukebox LP.

Edited by Yah Shure

By the way, I have Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park" on the various artists CD compilation Top Hits of the Sixties Volume 1 on Collectables 9656. However, the database currently shows the CD title for Collectables 9656 as Top Hits Of The Sixties - Amazing Hits. Not sure if this is an error or if this CD release was issued under two different titles.