"Jimmy Webb In The Seventies"

[Joe]

Why? Well...

Raised in Oklahoma and west Texas, Jimmy Webb launched a celebrated songwriting career while still in his teens (his “Up, Up And Away” topped the charts for The Fifth Dimension in 1967). During the Flower Power era, his lush, romantic pop songs -- “MacArthur Park” for Richard Harris and “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” for Glen Campbell, to name a couple -- represented everything creatively vital about a Tin Pan Alley that was fast being overshadowed by songwriting performers like Dylan and The Beatles.

Success or no, Webb quickly saw the writing on the wall. “One thing I always knew was that once they know who you are, you’re dead,” he explains in Ben Edmonds’ liner notes to this release. “I saw that I was rapidly pigeonholed, strapped into an electric chair called ‘middle of the road songwriter.’ I couldn’t let that happen.”

In 1969 Webb embarked on a performance career noted for its studio innovation, large-scale ambition, and delicate song craft. While his 1970 debut, Words And Music, was tailored to the rock audience, Webb subsequently re-consolidated his orchestral gains, culminating in the back-to-back extravagance of Land’s End (1974) and El Mirage (1977), the latter produced by George Martin. Webb consistently impressed critics though he sold few records. But his peers have always recognized his genius, bestowing prestigious songwriting awards as well as Grammys for music, lyrics, and orchestration (Webb remains the only artist to be awarded in all three categories).

This five-disc limited-edition boxed set contains the albums Words And Music (1970), And So: On (1971), Letters (1972), Land’s End (1974), and El Mirage (1977), as well as never-before-available live performances from 1972 and a disc’s worth of previously unreleased outtakes.

The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress: Jimmy Webb In The Seventies will be available on 12/14/2004 for $79.98 in an individually numbered limited edition of 2,500 copies. Pre-order it at:

http://www.rhinohandmade.com/browse/Produc...sso?Number=7820

Long been interested in hearing Webb perform his own music -- what can I say, I'm a sucker for "Wichita Lineman" -- but this set is NOT cheap, so any caveat emptors or "hell yeah"'s (or anything in between) would be most welcome.

Much grass,

Joe

Edited December 9, 2004 by Joe

[J.A.W.]

I have a few of Jimmy Webb's albums. The best in my opinion is El Mirage, released by Atlantic in 1977.

I pre-ordered the set from CDUniverse at $62.99.

Edited December 9, 2004 by J.A.W.

[jazzhound]

his web site has some interesting cds not often found in the stores. angel Heart which some consider too commercial is an interesting document of the LA sound at its zenith with many great studio musicians and

recorded by

Bill Schnee.