Let's talk about JIMMY WEBB

(yeow xp - "the last unicorn" - kenny loggins??)

Great choice. Love the drums on that one. My vote goes to "Love years coming" by Strawberry Children though.

I've got the one-CD '70s collection _Archive_ and found it to be pretty hit-and-miss, so I didn't spring for the box set -- anyway, if
you're looking for a less expensive intro to his records, you might try _Archive_.

i've seen some heralds.

So, Webb stacks up how, in everyone's opinion, I am wondering, against: Brian Wilson, Jobim, Bacharach, Randy Newman? Now me, I think Jobim is better than any of 'em.

bacharach obv. the much greater songwriter than webb or newman, which says nothing against webb or newman.

I have ...And Someone... which is quite a good overview of his best-known stuff, and Archive, on which I agree with Jeff that's it kind of meh (though "Piano" is one of his best "songwriters" songs). He didn't really develop his voice as a singer until later on. Ten Easy Pieces, in which he performs a lot of his more widely-known stuff mostly solo, is for the most part incredible — the version of "Galveston" that opens it is positively Schubert-ian in its conception and execution.

i really love comparing the george martin-produced "the highwayman" to the version by the highwaymen - you get candy-coated strings with martin, and that 80's country drum sound with messrs. cash, jennings, kristofferson and nelson....

http://image.com.com/mp3/images/cover/200/drf300/f383/f38380r9k0d.jpg

Pretty sure it's him -- Jimmy liked to go by "Jim" for a bit in the 70's, and that's his scene.

that glen campbell youtube of him doing wichita lineman in '07 (?) is great. nice guitar solo by glen. although, i hate to say this but... did glen have a stroke? his voice has that oddly clenched quality you sometimes hear in the speech of people who have suffered from strokes.

the comments (all 300+ of them!) on that youtube are funny. though, i must say, nostalgia is a fucking disease. dig:

I am 40-year-old mother of 4 and I was raised on this beautiful music...memories of how it used to be. Such a good simple time..no cell phones, no ipods, no remote controls, no cable...only HeeHaw on Saturday evenings and my dad cooking dinner. Wish my kids could go back in time and experience this wonderful time.

ah yes, the "simple" times of the mid-1970s....

S. Macarthur Park by Donna summer, Tony Christie, Four tops, Vic damone, Waylon Jennings, Grimethorpe colliery band. Wicheta Lineman, By the time I get to Phoenix, Galveston, Up, up and away. Both fifth dimension albums (esp paper cup, carpet man but most of the others too) , If you see me getting smaller I'm leaving, both Richard Harris albums (the yard went on forever and the aforementioned Macarthur park), loads of other great Glen Campbell stuff (check out the two early 70's albums for some hidden gems) Quite a few of his solo albums right up until the mid/late 70's have songs of real merit. Loads of other great stuff...Sinatra did some great versions of his songs, as did fellow genius Neil Sedaka. Glen Gregory does a pretty good version of Wichita lineman, as do, bizarely, the Kings singers, also, David Snell from his album, Harp transplant and Johnny Harris from his album, Movements although both are very hard to find. John Denvers version of By the time I get to Phoenix is better than you'd think, Isaak Hayes version is barely recognisable but superb and Kurt Edelhagen's version is odd but haunting and actually changes the song radically while still keeping its essence.
D. Very little really...some of the 80's stuff is a bit iffie and the general rule of thumb is to avoid anything by artists you already hate. The Mantovani version of Macarthur park is grim, as is the Nina version of Phoenix from her golden hour album.

I've got over 300 different versions of Jimmy Webb tracks on all formats so I guess you could call me a fan!

He's a genius...simple as that. If pop is slowly eating itself, Jimmy Webb (or the best part of him) remains at the back of the freezer, yet to be discovered and devoured...

― Kris England, Thursday, 5 May 2005 19:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

This was me years ago and I still love Jimmy Webb.

12 Easy Pieces is great and the Jools Holland live performances which are on Youtube are well worth a watch. So fragile, it seems the songs are going to collapse completely at any time but they never do.

Love how Richard Harris always addressed him as "Jimmy Webb."

happy birthday, jimmy webb

the richard harris story is great

jfc at that last paragraph

Here is a fact I learned from Gergely Hubai's book on rejected film scores, "Torn Music":

Jimmy Webb was originally contracted to write the soundtrack to "Love Story". What he turned in featured a composition for oscillator-repitched car horns. They decided not to go with it.

He later reused the recording as the intro to "Music for an Unmade Movie: Songseller".

scary revive

― unpaid intern at the darvo institute (Simon H.), Saturday, 15 August 2020 01:08 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Whenever I see an old artist thread revived, I assume they’ve either died or been accused of sexual misconduct. Glad to see Jimmy fits neither category.

re: that last one... um
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jimmy_Webb&oldid=971178788#Relationships_and_family

I keep finding myself saying "well that all sounds about right" in response to some really gross stuff which is probably insensitive, but, well that all sounds about right

Um indeed.

Well, it was the 60s and 70s...

"Up, Up and Away" creepy af now with that knowledge

I've theorised in my head before about the meaning of that song, knowing about his history with marijuana.
I decided to stop thinking about it that way though, because I realised it's supposed to be perceived as a soul-pop feelgood song and not a drugs song about a guy getting high.

I have a server on Discord for discussions about Jimmy Webb. I'll leave the invite here in case anyone wants to join. https://discord.gg/dst3AWC

Another good Jimmy Webb song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OitDIBHO0ew

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/725709361455956010/725709642176659486/webb-campbell-nilsson.jpg

I, for one, would love to know what Harry was going on about here.

They all look like they're about to hop into a Cadillac and head out to Malibu to teach that nosey Jim Rockford a lesson.

Lol.

lmao

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5oAh4CbpvjgGAoWVVfwdf8?si=998NIcpsTcW_3lOcBXAMGw

I don't know how many of you use Spotify, but tell me what you think of my choices.

Another good song written by Jimmy here
https://youtu.be/CFq8RnPiM6Q

I think this place is dead again...

I love "Saturday Suit" but I think I'd take Art Garfunkel's breezy melancholia over Cass's, which (though still vg obv) feels a bit overdone by comparison. I am always a sucker for an electric piano.

Yeah that version is great. I just thought I'd share Cass Elliot's version because of how underrated/unknown it is.

Oh yeah, I was very pleased to hear that version, I didn’t know it existed.

Jamie, your solo Webb playlist is really nice, with just a couple of glaring omissions. I would have included "Met Her On a Plane" from And So: On, which I think is an utterly perfect recording of one of the greatest psychedelic country songs--the truest "Cosmic American Music" by anyone not named Gene Clark. I also would add "Crying In My Sleep" from Land's End (his best album imo). It definitely goes hand in hand with "Just This One Time" from the same album--sad-bastard music par excellence, with some of his most emotional vocal performances.

I'm glad you included so many tracks from Suspending Disbelief, which is one of the only Webb albums I'm not familiar with, along with Angel Heart. I'm really digging it so far. Any thoughts on Angel Heart? Looks like the only album not represented on your playlist.

One fun thing about Jimmy Webb albums from the 70s is that they're full of amazing industry-clout flexes, despite their utter commercial failure. Like, "NBD, just having Joni Mitchell sing backup on a few songs, getting my buddy George Martin to produce" lol.

I'm glad you looked at it! I didn't add "Met Her On A Plane" because I was never really that fond of the vocals and humming in it. I just thought it was a bit exaggerated. I see why it can be much liked though; the lyrics are very poetic and the piano is really nice. "Crying In My Sleep" I never really grew to love that song because to me it feels slightly self-pitying, but I guess we all look at lyrics differently. And I think "Just This One Time" has to be one of his most powerful songs.
Suspending Disbelief is one of my favourite Webb albums. The production is amazing (thanks to George Massenburg and Linda Ronstadt) and the song lyrics are so meaningful. It shows just how much Jimmy had grown as a songwriter at that point and how well he can connect with listeners through music.
Angel Heart, on the other hand, has some really drawn-out and tiring songs on it. At least the first 2 times I listened to Angel Heart all the way through I was zoned out for half the time. I haven't really analysed the lyrics in the songs yet though, and that might change my opinion in the future.
Again, thanks for responding. I might change the playlist around if my taste changes and I start discovering more tracks I like.
And yeah, he was very all-in in the 70s lmao. Did you know he had Ringo Starr and Elton John's backing band accompanying him on his album Land's End?

Sorry for the late response, I don't really use this website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB81zWfxZGs
The band in this is amazing.

I've had 5:30 Plane stuck in my head all day. Such a good song.

Wichita Lineman is the song of his i love most

I still have problems with Webb as a solo artist in the 70s but I’m listening to this playlist and liking it.

Some funny things I’m observing: both And So: On tracks are ... kind of wild jammy guitar fests? I somehow never noticed this. Meanwhile, the production on the Land’s End tunes is kind of typical 70s but for some reason the tom toms are positively thunderous (I still can’t get with his vocal on ”Just This One Time,” it’s way outside his range – unfortunately I find Glen Campbell’s version on Reunion weirdly bombastic).

“Where the Universes Are” I didn’t really know, great tune.

There’s always a good excuse to share my favorite version of P.F. Sloan, the Cassell Webb version from the late 80s: https://youtu.be/Y8cBEZG0S7Q

The chorused (Dean Parks?) guitar and slapping backbeat on “Too Young To Die” are kind of shocking when they first hit. This is a great example of how he grew into his voice.

Tales from the Crypt, LOL (actually, a pretty good instrumental!)

Paul Gaugin in the South Seas – I’ve never heard this. Wow.

Thanks for sharing!

If you like the Clientele then you'll like their version of "Where The Universes Are", which sounds just like The Clientele.

https://mergerecords.bandcamp.com/track/where-the-universes-are

https://genius.com/Jimmy-webb-old-wing-mouth-lyrics

Okay I found a song on the Angel Heart album that I actually like! Very true message to this and I recommend looking into this.

Another very underrated Webb song, sung by Mary Kent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_oYv4eyWCo

Okay I found a song on the Angel Heart album that I actually like! Very true message to this and I recommend looking into this.

Yup, best song on that record by a mile. Great backing vocals from McDonald and Loggins too.

What do you all think of Jimmy's The Naked Ape soundtrack album? I've heard the movie's not that great but I think the music is great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5WXAUcAUrc

Does this link work for anyone? http://dianyingxin.com/watch/zd-acApBrfA?fbclid=IwAR2fO0b7fkJr0YFzijpHA1zPqJXRZUF9oFUq7nS8MGi6Q2Kb74FX03KA33g
It's supposed to include Jimmy singing Didn't We with K.T. Oslin in 1993 (according to Jimmy's Facebook page), but the link doesn't work for me. If anyone could maybe convert it to .mp4 and send it here, or reupload it to YouTube, I would really appreciate it.

I have to admit some of the stuff I’ve read about Jimmy’s personal life is pretty disturbing. I saw a few years ago that Sally Field discussed how he forced himself on her when she was passed out one time. But I just discovered that his first wife was a cover girl he met when she was 12 and married her where she was 16 or 17 and pregnant. And despite being married for 22 years he didn’t mention her in his memoir.

Yes it was the 60s and 70s and kill yr idols and all but this all bums me out.

Yes, I knew there was something a bit weird about his marriage but I couldn't remember what it was. A stalker-ish obsession with an ex-girlfriend seems to be present in a lot of his 60s songs.

I did a high school student exchange with one of his kids. He was never around and I never met him but I visibly remember the dark cloud that passed over people’s faces when his name was mentioned.

I love this cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81pP7zCMgI8

Wait, so you are saying you stayed in his kid’s room? In the house of his ex-wife?

Ooooh, had never read about his dark cloud personal life aspects before

xpost I guess so? I wasn’t aware he had a famous dad at the time but put it together later

Def changes that Gaughin tribute on that 10's album of his for me.