Richard Harris was allowed to record an entire album?

“One hit wonder” is the term we apply to an artist, duo or group that have just one song that becomes popular. Some might look at is as a put-down, but I think even having one hit is pretty impressive. With all the really talented people in this world, just getting a record made and distributed is an accomplishment. I tip my hat to Timbuk 3, Bobby McFerrin and all the others who had one brilliant moment in the sun.

Richard Harris (yes, the actor) had a monster hit called MacArthur Park in the 1970s. You may remember that “someone left the cake out in the rain.” Careless, yes, but not as careless as allowing Richard Harris to hang around the studio long enough to lay down enough tracks to make a full album called A Tramp Shining.

I’m compounding that mistake by converting some of the tracks from the album to share with you as MP3s. I say “some of the tracks” because I couldn’t force myself to listen to the whole album.

There is a bit of a sub-genre of songs that recall the names of former girlfriends, lovers, flings. Solitary Man by Neil Diamond and A Bang On The Ear by The Waterboys are fine examples.

Name Of My Sorrows is not.

If you are up for one more, please tell me the lyrics for Lovers Such As I are the result of some contest to write a song using an early prototype software that produced a random rhyme generator.

Excuse me, I need to pour rubbing alcohol in my ears now. (Don’t try this at home.)

One thought on “Richard Harris was allowed to record an entire album?”

  1. There are so many things that I find remarkable about this. First, Richard Harris was one of my all-time favorite actors (I loved the movie MacArthur Park).

    He was also in The Molly Maguires opposite Sean Connery who played Black Jack Keogh, which is ironic because your last name is Keough.

    But, even more remarkable is that I found your site, while trying to find a website that had at one point sold a book of mine, and your website came up because my name is also Matthew Keough.

    Small world.

    All that being said, I’d rather drink paint than listen to those songs again.

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