Just Across the River

Jimmy Webb | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: E1 Music
• ASIN: B003H093SK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,348 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The critical acclaim composer Jimmy Webb has received during his more than forty years of success is as remarkable as the accomplishments they honor: Webb is the only artist to ever receive Grammy awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration; he is a member of the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriter s Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriter s Hall of Fame; and, according to BMI, his By The Time I Get To Phoenix, (sung on the new album in duet with Glen Campbell---the first time the two have ever recorded together) has been the third most performed song in the last fifty years. Webb s Wichita Lineman (performed here with Billy Joel and Jerry Douglas) has been listed in the Top Fifty of MOJO Magazine s worldwide survey of the best one hundred singles of all time, and was singled out in the Oct/Nov 2001 issue of Blender as The Greatest Song Ever.

Webb was known initially for the instant classics he provided for such artists as Campbell, Richard Harris ( MacArthur Park, Didn t We ), the Fifth Dimension ( Up, Up and Away, This Is Your Life ), and Johnny Maestro s Brooklyn Bridge ( Worst That Could Happen. ) Jimmy also topped the Country charts when Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson hit #1 with The Highwayman, a ballad which won him yet another Grammy for Best Country Song of the Year, and a CMA Award for Single Of The Year. On Just Across The River, Jimmy shares the mike with Mark Knopfler on this tune. Linda Ronstadt, who has recorded a multitude of Webb songs throughout her recording career, included four of his efforts on her double platinum album, Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. She s on board here for a heartwarming, intimate closing duet on All I Know, the Webb standard made famous by Art Garfunkel. And that s just the beginning. As a performer Jimmy has released numerous critically-acclaimed albums over the years, earning distinguished reviews in all of the major publications, and unqualified praise following his appearances in concert halls and top cabaret venues. But he has never attempted a project like Just Across The River, where his singing AND songwriting is celebrated by the collaborations of his peers, like Jackson Browne and Willie Nelson, as well as artists who have revered his music for years, like Lucinda Williams, Michael McDonald, and Vince Gill. There has never been a songwriter like Jimmy Webb. And there has never been an album of his songs like Just Across The River.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great American Songwriter, June 29, 2010

By 

Constant Listener (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Across the River (Audio CD)

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.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a very original idea, but solid overall..., June 30, 2010

By 

kerouac's ghost (the void) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Just Across the River (Audio CD)

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.)

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, Amazon!, June 29, 2010

By 

the fly (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Across The River (MP3 Download)

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.