Here is a nice little video, courtesy of YouTube, of Jimmy Webb talking about his new album, Just Across The River, with his wonderful stories and insights about its production. And not to be missed is Jimmy Webb's spot-on voice impression of Glen Campbell back in the 60's when Webb wrote the song "Wichita Lineman". I didn't know that Webb was such a funny guy. Note: If you happen to get pop-up ads at the bottom of the video, just click on the "x" on the lower right side of the video and they'll go away.
In 1968 I was a teenager at home one afternoon lounging on the couch and watching a TV show called To Tell the Truth. This was a show where four celebrity panelists would try to identify which one of three contestants had a previously described unusual occupation or experience. The two contestants who were impostors were allowed to lie during questioning but the "real person" contestant was sworn "to tell the truth". After a few rounds of questioning the contestants the panelists would then each vote for who they think is the real person with the unusual occupation. After some teasing moves from the imposters the real person then stands up to reveal their identity.
The "unusual" occupation described that day was Songwriter of such hits as "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", and "MacArthur Park". — Listen to samples of each:
The 5th Dimension "Up, Up and Away" sample
Glen Campbell "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" sample
When 21-year-old Jimmy Webb (Jim Webb at that time) stood up that day, it was one of those profound moments in my life that would have a lasting effect on me. When this young songwriter was identified, I remember one of the panelists, Peggy Cass I think, just gushing over how beautiful his song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was.
~Video~
Here is Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" made famous by Glen Campbell, whose version reached #3 on the U.S. pop charts in 1967. It was originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965.
I remember feeling the same way about that song. What he wrote were intense romantic ballads of unrequited love and lost love, and in my teen years I really identified with that. But Webb's songs were also a step up (and sometimes a giant leap forward) from the usual radio fare. These were beautiful melodically crafted songs from someone who really knew and understood the craft of songwriting. The music was more sophisticated ("MacArthur Park") and the harmony and chord progressions more complex. You could hear the influence of Burt Bacharach, another great songwriter and composer at the time. I think there was also the influence of his love of Classical Music in his writing and as a lover of Classical Music myself I could really relate to that. In all, Jimmy Webb's songs were a breath of fresh air.
And so right then and there I had found one of the great role models for my life. To become a songwriter like Jimmy Webb — that's what I really dreamed and aspired to do someday.
After that I became somewhat of a Jimmy Webb freak. I bought all of his music I could find. I bought a songbook titled The Genius of Jim Webb (which I still have). Webb also made me into a big fan of Glen Campbell which wasn't cool to some of my friends.
I remember back then reading an article about Jimmy Webb growing up in Oklahoma and west Texas which mentioned that he would use the phrase "Its getting hungry out" referring to the weather turning bad. Well, I couldn't wait for the weather to start turning bad so I could use that phrase myself. When the opportunity finally came, I announced in front of my family and friends; "You know, I think its getting hungry out." However, this comment was met with looks of puzzled bewilderment. I guess I needed to use an Oklahoma accent to pull it off.
For some reason, I have vivid recollections of where I was and what I was doing when I first heard some of Jimmy Webb's songs.
Richard Harris' version of "MacArthur Park"
It's 1968 and I'm riding in a car in Carmel, CA with my friends listening to "top 40" radio. "MacArthur Park" comes on and my friends comment on how this song seemed to go on and on (at almost 7 1/2 minutes). But I was blown away by the beauty of this song and I didn't want it to end. To me it was like a little pop symphony with four movements. It was refreshing to hear what was to me a serious classical music influenced pop song as opposed to much of the silly and shallow music on the radio back then. Soon after, I bought the album A Tramp Shining which included "MacArthur Park". I still have that album.
Now Jimmy Webb did something I thought was very ingenious on this album and on the follow-up album he wrote for Richard Harris, The Yard Went On Forever. He included some beautiful instrumental interludes between several of the songs. I think of these as little musical gems perfectly bridging his songs together.
(Left, Jimmy Webb and Richard Harris in 1968 at the time of "MacArthur Park")
I can remember watching Frank Sinatra on TV extolling the virtues of "Didn't We" from Webb's A Tramp Shining.
Richard Harris "Didn't We" sample
Richard Harris "In The Final Hours" sample
Glen Campbell's version of "Wichita Lineman"
In late 1968, my parents were driving me to Castle Air Force base in California. The country road, with its line of telephone poles, stretched out as far has I could see, straight to the horizon. Then this song came on the radio. It was like listening to a dream. This song and that view to the horizon — what a beautiful and magical combination!
Glen Campbell "Wichita Lineman" sample
Glen Campbell "Galveston" sample
As with my "Wichita Lineman" experience, there is something delightfully wonderful and glorious about having Jimmy Webb songs accompany you as you travel down a long lonely highway. For me, it is almost a religious experience. It actually enhances my sense of awe and mystery of the scenery, natural and manmade, laid out in front of me. And if it is night with a sky full of stars, the music in a sense can heighten my wonder at the infinity of the cosmos.
The Four Tops' version of "Do What You Gotta Do"
I was in the Air Force sitting in a weather observation tower in England in 1969 when this song came on the radio. I remember the English DJ's comment at the end of the song. "If this song doesn't get her to come back, nothing will."
The Four Tops "Do What You Gotta Do" sample
~Videos~
In 1968 Jimmy Webb wrote the music for a follow-up album for Richard Harris titled The Yard Went on Forever. This now relatively obscure album was not as successful as A Tramp Shining but it still provides a powerful musical statement as to the genius of Jimmy Webb.
Here are YouTube videos of two tracks from the album:
"The Yard Went on Forever" (Dedicated to the victims of disasters, both natural and man made.)
Listen to Jimmy Webb's contrasts in mood with this music.
After some particularly stormy and chaotic music depicting disasters and destruction, Webb contrasts that (at around the 2 minute mark) with 100 seconds of dreamy and wistful music full of quiet sublimity and beauty in depicting order and innocence.
