In 1964 following the death of his mother – who had encouraged his musical ambitions from an early age – a teenage Jimmy Webb decided not to follow his father back to Oklahoma but stay to pursue a music career in Southern California. With the words of his father ringing in his ears as he left saying “This songwriting thing will break your heart.” By the age of 21 Webb was well on his way to fame and fortune having not only signed a songwriting deal with Tamla Motown – where he learned his craft – but also a publishing deal with influential musician Johnny Rivers.
Rivers who was a highly successful interpreter of other people’s material worked closely with Webb on his 1966 album ‘Changes’ that included the first recorded version of ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix.’ As Webb has often lamented the difference between a miss and a hit is an intangible fraction of an inch. Rivers’ version stiffed, but a year later country star Glen Campbell’s definitive version hit the US Top 30 and brought Webb to national attention.
The pictures in the mind painted by Webb intrigued Campbell. When they met for the first time their politics, religion and image couldn’t have been more different. An unlikely alliance, Campbell took one look at Webb’s hirsute appearance and beatnik threads and uttered “Ever thought of getting your hair cut?” So began a lifelong friendship that placed the young songwriter’s musical travelog in the hands of a pitch perfect, golden tenor and master musician. A combination that created a worldwide appreciation for their timeless art.
Commercially there is no doubt that Webb’s reputation was largely built on the string of hits he wrote for Campbell and many others in the late 60s. Superficially those hits were more polished than the melancholy originals and for a while there he was the go to tunesmith for many a middle of the road artist hanging on to be relevant as the contemporary music scene spread its tendrils ever wider. As the decades have worn on however, songs like ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Galveston’ have become standards and led to a re-evaluation of his place in the pantheon of great American songwriters.
This seven CD set brings together all the albums he recorded for Reprise in the 70s and includes the hard to find ‘Outtakes and Demos’ and ‘Live at The Albert Hall’. The excellent sleeve notes pose a question – “ Why didn’t Jim Webb’ transition from writer to successful solo artist ala Carole King or Randy Newman? Luck always plays a significant part but listening to this collection it becomes blindingly obvious. Instead of ploughing one particular furrow he wore many hats stylistically speaking – too rock for the audience who lapped up ‘Didn’t We’ and too introspective at times for the mass market.
Whatever the reasons for not making the anticipated impact expected for a Grammy award winning artist we can nevertheless enjoy the walk through his arguably most productive period. Released in 1970 his debut album ‘Words And Music’ saw Webb nodding back to the psychedelic 1960’s with the opening ‘Sleep In The Daytime.’ With its Carole King influence it could have been a pop-tastic hit had it been cut down to three minutes, but a swirling interlude – a forerunner to ‘McArthur Park’ perhaps – put paid to any AM radio play. ‘P.F.Sloan’ an upbeat paean to the ‘Eve Of Destruction’ singer songwriter was met with critical acclaim with scribe Jon Landau no less touting it to be a “ masterpiece that could not be improved on “. A promising start.
1971 saw the release of the uneven ‘And So On’ album. While not exactly treading water the album contained only 4 songs written that same year, the rest were curated from an aborted musical and sessions dating back to 1967. Less than cohesive the record perversely became a storehouse of material for other artists to cover. Highlights included the mournful ‘ All Loves Laughter ‘ originally written for Ed Ames in 1968 and later a big hit for Art Garfunkel and the poignant ‘Met Her On A Plane’ covered by Ian Matthews.
Later that year the release of ‘Letters’ is a contender for Webb’s most consistent LP. Returning to ‘Galveston’ this is not the up tempo pop classic we all know in Glen Campbell’s hands, but a sombre and powerful number that removes the gloss that obscured the true sentiment of the song about a man afraid of dying once he arrives in Vietnam. Elsewhere ‘Hurt Me Well’ sees an impassioned vocal from Webb that ranks as one of his best on record. Just the right side of hysterical the swirling outro puts the listener in mind of Nillson’s ‘Without You’ should’ve been a hit. A decidedly more rock’n’roll release with fuzz guitar driven sounds like the Elton John Band and the saucy ‘Once In The Morning’ echoing Billy Joel this could have been the breakthrough he was looking for.
2 years after leaving Reprise, 1974 saw Webb return with renewed optimism armed with a new record deal with Asylum. Home of big hitters like the Eagles and Joni Mitchell and aided and abetted by Ringo Starr and Elton John hopes must have been high when Webb flew to England to record, Alas ‘Lands End’ was less than the sum of its parts. Containing some lovely melodies the album perhaps reflected Webb’s lack of focus due to various substances. A lacklustre effort and perhaps influenced by his stablemates, the record drifts along pleasantly enough but in large part ultimately comes across as a poor man’s Poco. ‘Just This One Time’ despite it’s ridiculously overblown Phil Spector like arrangement had the potential to be a big hit and stars an impassioned if slightly overwrought vocal but takes too long to get to the chorus.
After the failure of his previous outing it took 3 years before Webb licked his wounds and tried again on the Atlantic label. Produced by famed Beatles producer George Martin ‘El Mirage’ was a welcome return to form and contained some of his best material in years. Strong songs were aided by Martin’s ability to coach Jimmy’s best ever vocal performance and of course his nouse as an arranger. Now 30, Webb showed a maturity in his overall approach and delivered some knock-out punches. Inspired by a dream the opening time travelling ‘Highwayman’ saw him back among the Grammys thanks to a version by Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings that reached No 1 on the Country Charts. ‘If You See Me Getting Smaller’ was another standout – a tale of fame slipping through the fingers of the long distance rock star.
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and so is the record business. Sadly despite the rave reviews, packed concert halls and awards Jimmy Webb has never troubled the Top 30 in his own right. But having Grammy’s for song writing, production and arranging – the only artist to have won all 3, the third most recorded song of all time – ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ – he more importantly has the respect of his peers. There are rock’n’roll grifters, there are Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths and then there are a select breed who are simply craftsmen of their art. They will be playing Webb’s songs in a hundred years from now.
Lyndon Noon.
www.cherryred.co.uk
