‘MacArthur Park’ Songwriter Jimmy Webb Plans Tour

Some 56 years after its first release, Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park” is having a moment. The full seven minutes and 21 seconds of the Richard Harris version of the song — the first of nearly 200 covers released — plays a pivotal role in the climactic scene of the new film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to the 1988 Michael Keaton horror-comedy, while the Donna Summer version is featured in the film not once, but twice (in the opening and closing credits).

The meaning of “MacArthur Park” has long been analyzed by fans and critics and is often misunderstood. But the song, which was written by Webb in 1967, released first by Richard Harris in 1968 which garnered a Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocals Grammy win for Webb, and rocketed again to new heights with Donna Summer’s No. 1 disco version in 1978, is getting another shot at being understood.

Webb is enjoying the song’s comeback and is finally feeling understood. “Mr. Juice gets my song. It took a made-up undead demon but finally, someone understands that ‘MacArthur Park’ is a love song. A long love song with lots of chords and strings. And a cake, of course,” says Webb.

“An Evening with Jimmy Webb” tour dates begin October 1.

Multiple GRAMMY-winning cross-genre songwriter Webb’s most popular songs are touchstones for a generation yet remain timeless: “MacArthur Park,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Didn’t We,” “Galveston,” “Worst That Could Happen,” and “The Highwayman” for starters.

During his live shows – which are different every night –  Webb creates a unique connection, revealing the stories behind his hits, his first songwriting job at Motown, through a career trajectory that took a teenaged preacher’s son from a farm town in Oklahoma to the top of his longed-for profession in Hollywood in only a few short years. His books, Tunesmith: The Art of Songwriting and memoir The Cake and the Rain demonstrate his talent with words and music.

Webb has topped the charts from pop to country, blues, jazz, disco to even rap and EDM, with interpretations by some of the industry’s greatest including Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer, Josh Groban, Glen Campbell, The Highwaymen, Barbra Streisand, The Fifth Dimension, Guns n’ Roses, and James Taylor.  The Webb covers are continuous: being released for Pride Month 2024 is a hot new dance version of “MacArthur Park” by Micah McLaurin and Amber Riley.

Since Webb’s GRAMMY sweep in 1968 when his own “Up, Up and Away” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” both vied for Song of the Year ( “Up” won), to the use of his “Do What You Gotta Do” in Kanye West’s “Famous,” the man often praised as “America’s Songwriter” remains a respected icon in popular music – and continues to challenge his artistic boundaries with projects like a classical nocturne. He is always included in the lists of the greatest songwriters.

Webb lives on the North Shore of Long Island, New York, with his wife, a PBS television host and producer, Laura Savini.