Compil. AU 2008 on Raven Records label
Pop and Soundtrack (Ballad, Vocal, Musical, Soundtrack)
The Anthology 1968-1974: Man of Words collects the best cuts of actor/singer Richard Harris' music career beginning with his late-'60s work with legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb. The most well-known of these tracks is Harris' classic version of Webb's enigmatic pop song "MacArthur Park" from the 1968 album A Tramp Shining. Harris was a well-respected, Shakespearean-trained actor in his early thirties when he began his pop career and had his most success with that first album. The follow-up, 1968's The Yard Went on Forever, was more ambitious in scope and failed to register with the public. Despite this, Harris continued to record albums through the mid-'70s and although he never achieved the same acclaim in his music endeavors as in his film work, there is much to appreciate in this collection. Many of these cuts, especially the ones anchored by Webb's superbly melodic and skillful songwriting, evince a strong psych-pop, Baroque pop influence reminiscent of such artists as the Beatles and Paul Williams. Similarly, Harris' emotive delivery, though informed by his theatrical training, never comes off maudlin, or garishly overdone. Instead, he remains a kind of idiosyncratic pop entity much in the spirit of such icons as Jacques Brel and Scott Walker (from Allmusic review by Matt Collar)
![]() | Richard Harris voc, 1930-2002 IE album by |
No | Title | Artist | Composer | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Didn't We | Richard Harris | 2:26 | |
2 | MacArthur Park | Richard Harris | 7:23 | |
3 | Name of My Sorrow | Richard Harris | 3:15 | |
4 | Lovers Such As I | Richard Harris | 3:31 | |
5 | A Tramp Shining | Richard Harris | 2:24 | |
6 | The Yard Went On Forever | Richard Harris | 5:42 | |
7 | Gayla | Richard Harris | 3:23 | |
8 | Hymns From The Grand Terrace The (Second Hymn) | Richard Harris | 3:31 | |
9 | One of the Nicer Things | Richard Harris | 3:25 | |
10 | What a Lot of Flowers | Richard Harris | 3:27 | |
11 | Fill the World With Love | Richard Harris | 3:52 | |
12 | Beth | Richard Harris | 1:59 | |
13 | Sidewalk Song | Richard Harris | 3:20 | |
14 | Requiem | Richard Harris | 4:46 | |
15 | This Is Where I Came In | Richard Harris | 3:32 | |
16 | My Boy | Richard Harris | 3:12 | |
17 | How I Spent My Summer | Richard Harris | 2:46 | |
18 | There Are Too Many Saviours on My Cross | Richard Harris | 6:12 | |
19 | Ballad of " A Man Called Horse" | Richard Harris | 3:20 | |
20 | Half of Every Dream | Richard Harris | 3:06 | |
21 | Trilogy From "The Prophet" (Love Marriage Children) | Richard Harris | 3:10 |