Search - :: Moon's A Harsh Mistress: The 70's

Pearl of Great Price

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 05/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jimmy Webb would be on most short lists for the best composers of the 20th century. His distinctive melodies and equally moving lyrics place him at the very top of the best. As moving is Webb the performer. As a vocalist, Webb's voice often quavers with emotion as he shoots to the heart of his incredible song craft and mines the emotional motherlode from the lyric. For those of us who played his discs frequently since the 70s, Rhino's package is a godsend, the pearl of great price.



The live disc from the Royal Albert Hall is a terrific performance. Webb pays great attention to detail. His amazing string arrangements play full force. "Sleepin' In the Daytime" is like a vocalized pop symphony that concludes with a dueling match between Fred Tackett's electric guitar and the orchestra. Webb records a tongue-in-cheek version of Frank Zappa's "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" that is a raucous live show stopper. His familiar hits like "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "MacArthur Park" and "Wichita Lineman" are moving. But nowhere does the impact of Webb the performer become quite so clear as on the glorious "Galveston" that he explains was a song written during the Vietnam war for his many friends who served in the armed forces. The lyric, "I cleaned my gun & dreamed of Galveston" resonates today as we think of many of our soldiers overseas who must also be sitting somewhere thinking about the homes they left behind.



The booklet reads like a biographical novella, rich in detail and information. I particularly enjoyed Webb recounting the nude concert he attended with Joni Mitchell that gave birth to the lyric for "Campo De Encino." It will be hard to listen to that song in quite the same way again! :)



Of Webb's albums, each is always my favorite at the time it plays. "Words & Music" was on my turntable from the time of its release with "Jersualem" taking my breath away. "And So: On" was long my favorite for its raw electric rock of "Laspitch" & "Highpockets" and the sweet melody of "All My Love's Laughter." "Letters" has probably been his most often played set, one that I return to year after year with its softer melodies. The long guitar intro that erupts into "Galveston," the raw realities of "Song Seller," the humor of "Once in the Morning" and exquisite songs "Piano" & "When Can Brown Begin" make this set go from high point to high point, like walking across a musical range like hiking a sonic version of the Rocky Mountains. Then came "Land's End" on Geffen's Asylum label with the breathtaking orchestration of "Asleep on the Wind" and the delightful pop of "Just This One Time" & his bulldozer emotionally moving vocals on "It's A Sin." This is followed by "El Mirage" with "Moment in a Shadow" & "Where the Universes Are." All of this music is exquisite. Rhino does an amazing technical job with the recordings.



Apparently, Rhino has only printed 2,500 of these discs. You will not want to wait on this exquisite set. Bravo!"