Customer Reviews

Land's End

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I first heard Jimmy Webb as a teenager listening to my mother's albums. Oh, I couldn't believe what I stumbled upon. If this release is the same as the album I have, (the songs are not listed in th info) they are timeless. Starting with "Ocean in his eyes" dramatic as most of the songs on this album are - moving into the almost lighthearted - sort of along the lines of feelin groovy called :Feet in the Sunshine" and onto one of my favorites "Cloudman". Throughout the entire album the mood changes in the music and orchestration which changes the nuanance of almost every song from what it started as. Some are guitar and piano and others like the cresendo ending - "Asleep On The Wind" is fully orchestrated. I haven't listened to this album in years, but I just went and cranked up the old turntable and fell in love all over again. His song the "Lady fits her blues jeans" brings back memories of 1975. "Crying in my Sleep is another wonderful song. I put on the headphones, turn out the lights and remember the feelings his music on this album - the only one I've heard - and I go back in time to the first time I heard this and played it over and over and finally stole it(with her blessings) from my mother and I've had it ever since. I need this on CD!!! the music is incredible by album standards, I only hope to hear how much more powerful it will be on CD.

Take the romantic and haunting strains of a 1960s troubador, add the spice of Joni Mitchell's choir-like back-up and the result is an album that should have found its place among classics. Beautiful lyrics, excellent arrangements... I was introduced to 'Feet in the Sunshine' over 30 years ago by a friend who has since passed. The good vibe of that song led me to seek out the album and what a find that was. Excellent arrangements of wonderful songs make this a sure bet for romantics and Webbphiles alike.

I was turned on to Jimmy Webb's music many years ago. This is my favorite album of his, and I was very glad to find it available on Amazaon in CD!

This is an incredible collection of audio gems by the songmaster Jimmy Webb. The songwriting and production is unsurpassed. Cloudman and Asleep On The Wind will bring tears to your eyes. These are songwriting masterpieces; such beautiful imagery and sound that Jimmy has created in this amazing album. Very highly recommended Webb.

Richie Unterberger has provided liner notes for all Collector's Choice, Webb re-issues. These go a long way to placing and evaluating Webb's long and distinguished singer-songwriter career. Despite a passionate fan base that flocks to his touring performances, mostly of Webb's generation, it is unlikely he will improve his popularity, or surpass his initial reputation as a brilliant writer, or, by his admission, 'tunesmith' and at best an accomplished if not commanding performer of his material. 'Land's End' has Webb's typical urgency, primed in attempt to bridge that very gap between writer and performer, within one discreet suite of songs. But here, the commitment to orchestral settings was a distinctive departure from its predecessors. 'Letters' and,'Words and Music' was where I'd first heard him and was attracted to the intimacy of his earnest voice. How heartfelt was his,'Galveston', war drums beating an introduction, compared to Glen Campbell's huge 60s version? The big sound of 'Land's End' reminded me of his weird masterpiece of hippy excess,'MacCarthur's Park'. Those falling under its spell have probably scooped up the late Richard Harris's collection of Webb material,'The Yard Went on Forever'. It's the bigger end of the musical mix that appeals most here with Ringo's drumming and Webb's voice straining to outbid the orchestral effects, a fraility and desperation that defeats the banality of his weakest lyric sentimentality. Many of the songs are hampered by the corniness apparent at their initial hearing. Those that still 'live','Just this One Time', 'Crying In My Sleep', Land's End', and the lighter, rockier,'Feet In the Sunshine' are magnificent. I endorse whoever did the hit-picking for Webb's,'Archives' a superb collection which remains the best introduction to his 70s work, linking the youthful, optomistic perfection of,'P F Sloan and the genius of'Three Songs' to the awesome fragility and tentativeness of the aforementioned, transcendant songs.

I consider this album the "Pet Sounds" or "Revolver" of Jimmy Webb's solo efforts. This beautiful compilation of deeply personal, moving songs is at once spirited, mournful and soaring in its scope. The inspirational orchestration is lush in a gleefully, indulgent way...check it out. This album, now difficult to acquire, never received the recognition it deserved and provides a rare glimpse of the man who wrote, MacArthur Park, Up, Up and Away, All I Know, By the Time I Get to Phoenix and dozens of other timeless pop classics.

While Webb fans love both his songs and his performances, the general public is mostly aware of this amazing tunesmith's covers from artists as diverse as Glen Campbell's country versions of "Wichita Lineman" to The Fifth Dimension's soulful "Up, Up and Away."

Only one song from "Land's End" received a cover of significance. That's "Crying in my Sleep", which appeared on Art Garfunkel's "Watermark," which is a collection dedicated to Webb's work.

"Crying in my Sleep" is one of the best songs on this CD, but add to that, "Lady Fits Her Blue Jeans," which deserved more attention than it got, and the amazing orchestral "Lands End" closing with "Asleep on the Wind" which is a lovely story about birds that never touch the land.

"Land's End" probably isn't the best introduction to Webb's work, if you are only familiar with other artists' covers, but it's essential for any Webb fan who loves both Jimmy's performance and his orchestrations.