Hal Blaine was the drummer on Richard Harris’s 1968 hit “MacArthur Park,” a nearly nine-minute epic penned by Jimmy Webb. Blaine recalled the skepticism surrounding the song’s length, noting, “Companies thought would never get played.” However, the track defied expectations, becoming a massive hit. He remembered how the song’s duration allowed disc jockeys, “during the days when they still spun records by hand, to take a bathroom break.” The song’s innovative structure and successful reception proved that ambitious musical arrangements could find a wide audience.
From the session logs
The Epic Drumming Behind “MacArthur Park”
Hal Blaine played drums on Richard Harris’s 1968 recording of “MacArthur Park.” He noted the song’s considerable length, which was unusual for radio play at the time.
“Companies thought would never get played.”
— Hal Blaine
Source: Hal Blaine’s own session database, in his words.
More from the archive: ask anything about Hal — who he recorded with, the sessions, the stories — at halblaine.com, the archive of 5,829 of his session memories.
Hal’s memoir is coming.
“The Red Light Means Go” — the studio stories he never got to tell, in his own voice. Sign up, the list hears it all first.