Some of the world's most incredible songs are remembered strictly by the artist who recorded them. Too often, we overlook the fact that somewhere behind that song lives another voice. It's that of a songwriter whose sole purpose in life is to touch people with his music and words. When we listen to a song over and over we don't think about the fact that somewhere out there, is a tortured soul or elated heart who has poured his blood, sweat and tears into creating a piece that will, with any luck, touch the life of someone - Anyone.
Jimmy Webb was practically born into music on August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma. His mother loved to play the accordion and Jimmy began singing and playing the organ in his father's church at a very young age. He had an overbearing enthusiasm for music and it wasn't long before he began to pick apart songs, wondering if maybe he could have written a better rendition.
By the time he was old enough to drive a car, Jimmy started writing his own music and even formed his own rock and roll band. Before he graduated, he decided which paths his life would follow; he was destined to write music and touch the world with a song.
Webb attended school at San Bernadino Valley College, majoring in the obvious; music. Deeply impressed by a professor who, it is said, would cry when listening to Bach, he began to discover the power in music. By 1964 Jimmy started to bring in a songwriter's dream-salary when he started writing songs for artists like the Supremes and Brenda Holloway, after signing with Jobete Music - an affiliate of Motown Records. In 1966 his song, By The Time I Get To Phoenix was recorded by Johnny Rivers. (Glenn Campbell later recorded the song, which won him the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance in 1967. According to statistics, By The Time I Get To Phoenix is one of the most performed songs in music history.)
Rivers was impressed by Webb's ability and hired him as in-house composer/arranger for the new record company, Soul City Records. He worked with The Fifth Dimension, who eventually recorded the unforgettable Up Up And Away. The song sold over one million copies. And who can forget all those crazy TWA commercials, that for a long time, adopted Up Up And Away as their theme song?
Remember the song MacArthur Park; performed by Richard Harris in 1968? You remember the hook line - Who left the cake out in the rain? It's psychedelic lyrics marked another hit. Webb composed and arranged the music for Harris's next two albums as well. Later in '68 and then in '69 Glenn Campbell recorded two more Jimmy Webb classics - Wichita Lineman and Galveston. These, in addition to By The Time I Get To Phoenix are considered country music standards and are accredited with the early success of Campbell's career.
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