Search - Jimmy Webb :: Just Across the River

The Great American Songwriter

Constant Listener | New Jersey | 06/29/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"People talk about the Great American Songbook of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, etc. There is a second Great American Songbook, populated by the likes of Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Burt Bacharach, and so on---writers who came of age in 60s and 70s, and whose work resonates deeply to this day.



Jimmy Webb is at the top of that list. He has made many great records of his own (Ten Easy Pieces and Land's End in particular) but never achieved status as a performer to equal his immortality as a songwriter, even though he tours regularly. This album goes a long way in re-connecting Jimmy with some of his greatest songs, and the connectors are a group of amazing voices. Some of the guests are artists who have sung his songs and had huge hits with them, like Glen Campbell and Linda Ronstadt and Willie Nelson. Others have loved and been influenced by Jimmy's work, like Jackson Browne and Lucinda Williams. And Billy Joel. His version of Wichita Lineman is a revelation! Everyone on the record obviously loves Jimmy and sings at their best. They inspire Jimmy to do his best singing ever. I feel like all of the versions of these songs are fresh and compare favorably with the original hits.



The production is great. Really transparent and supportive of the songs and the singers. The supporting musicians are some of Nashville's best, like Jerry Douglas. The whole album hangs together like albums used to do. It feels a little bit country, a little bit classic singer-songwriter pop, and never goes too far over the top and sentimental. These songs work best with a subtle touch.



If you've been into the James Taylor/Carole King album and tour, there's no way you won't love this record. Jimmy Webb's music comes from the same timeless place."

Not a very original idea, but solid overall...

kerouac's ghost | the void | 06/30/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It is hard to be truly unique in popular music. Jimmy Webb comes about as close as anyone. He is the Godson of Brian Wilson, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and, just a tad, Hank Williams...and the step brother of Tom Waits. Webb's songs, if they can be defined by one characteristic (and they really can't - I am over simplifying), are centered in melancholy. Structurally, stylistically, they can be downright weird. In the most beautiful way. Listen to "Wichita Lineman" (Glen Campbell's towering, sonic version). He also represents an era long gone, try as some youngsters might to replicate it. Jimmy Webb is southern California. The Beach Boys. The Mammas and the Pappas. Tie dye t-shirts and sandals. Blonde bikini'd girls who break your heart. "Drinkin' margaritas all night in the old cantina." Jimmy Webb is laid back southern California pop's soul (though I understand he now lives in New York...yikes!).



On this record, some of Webb's classic (and some not so classic) numbers are taken on by some notable artists. To get the not-so-good stuff out of the way. "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", with Webb's best collaborator of days passed, Glen Campbell, is an obligatory version. Campbell should have been given something meatier to sink his teeth into (what could he possibly do with a song he has probably sung - literally - thousands of times). "Oklahoma Nights", with Vince Gill, sounds like Webb was forced, at gunpoint, to write a song for modern country radio. Ugh. Most disappointing is Billy Joel's contribution to the song that is widely considered Webb's masterpiece, the aforementioned "Wichita Lineman". Maybe we know too much about Joel, a man who made his bones singing with New York attitude and, often, with New York subject matter, to hear him sing about a lonesome lineman working on the desolate plains of Kansas. It just doesn't work.



Now, Jackson Browne's contribution to the absolutely wonderful-weirdo-quasi-psychedelic-sentimental mini masterpiece "P. F. Sloan" is fantastic. In addition, Webb sounds especially fired up on this tune and stretches his limited vocal range to exemplify his belief in what he is singing. When you hear Browne's always earnest voice kick in "I have been seeking P.F. Sloan"...well, it's almost enough to make you believe again. The very underrated singer J.D. Souther (more widely known for his songwriting contributions to the Eagles) brings a wonderful touch to a little known, but beautiful, Webb country flavored song, "I Was Too Busy Loving You". Willie Nelson chips in admirably with Webb on his delightfully weird "If You See Me Getting Smaller" ("We have spent a million dollars to find out what we've made"). That song, as much as any, is representative of Webb's weirdo-hippie-beautiful lyrical style:



God bless old Philadelphia

They were standing in the rain

Out in front of the Main Point

A wet and lonely train

Who knows who they came to see

A mad man full of beer

A four piece band and a charter bus

My border-line career



Sing those lyrics to a quasi-blue grass arrangement and, well, it's good to know Jimmy is still a little weird. It's absolutely beautiful.



Webb does a great solo job on "Do What You Gotta Do". Lucinda Williams' weather beaten voice on "Galveston" brings a new variable to that anti-war classic...and a different perspective. "All I Know" is given wonderful minimal pop effect by Webb and Linda Ronstadt (after Glen Campbell, maybe the best interpreter of Webb's music). After repeated listening (I was not sure at first) Mark Knopfler's input on "The Highwayman" brought something new to that great tune.



Some lesser known, but beautiful, Webb tunes like "Postcard From Paris", "Adios" and "No Signs of Age" (the latter still waiting for a definitive version to be recorded) are left out. "Macarthur Park" is also omitted. That much debated song has been the object of ridicule and praise for forty years. No one was up to taking it on for "Just Across The River".



Not sure who could be considered the heir to Jimmy Webb's songwriting style. He was one of many back in the day, though he was better than almost all the others - truly a poet writing pop songs. This record celebrates that accomplishment. Not a home run - there are even some strike outs here - but a very solid work altogether and certainly a work that provides impetus to look into Webb's unique career even further.



(Note: Webb's songs have been covered by everyone from Sinatra to Elvis. He has written hits for The 5th Dimension, Art Garfunkel, Waylon Jennings, Donna Summer, The Highwaymen...to name a few. That said, if you want to get to the heart of Webb's beautiful songwriting, the man to see is Glen Campbell. Campbell's deft interpretations of Webb's unusual songs are unmatched by any other artist. There are the well known sonic classics "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", but lesser known gems like "Where's The Playground, Susie", "Still Within The Sound of My Voice", and "Light Years" resonate almost as strongly. Particularly worthy of investigation is the great "Reunion" LP from 1974. If you are interested in Webb's songs, Glen Campbell is the place to start.)"

Thank you, Amazon!

the fly | San Diego, CA USA | 06/29/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thanks to Amazon - Not only for the low price for this collection, but also for putting Jimmy Webb on the front page of their latest "New Releases" e-mail. Jimmy has been writing incredible songs for over 40 years and it's about time he made the front page! He certainly deserves to be applauded as one of the greatest songwriters of his time. The care taken with these tracks is worthy of his composing skills."