Customer Reviews

Webb Sessions: 1968-69

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't know what to even compare these songs to, they are that unlike anything else. This release contains both Albums; "A Tramp Shining" and "The Yard Went On Forever". For me the songs from "The Yard Went On Forever" are the best. These aren't just pop ballads, they are touching and poetic works of art.

The mixing of the incredible lyrics of Jimmy Webb and the distinctive and emotion filled voice of Richard Harris and the lush and almost "Camelot" feel to the orchestration make for one of the most pleasurable listening experiences I've ever had. The "Yard Went On Forever" portion of this CD has long been unavailable, and it's great to have another lost treasure from the late 1960s return. "MacArthur Park" is but the tip of the iceberg in this set of songs. If you liked the experience of that song than you will love this CD set. It will become one of your favorites.

It's shameful that both "A Tramp Shining" (1968) & "The Yard Went On Forever"(1969) have both been out of issue for so many years in America. "The Web Sessions 1968-69" contain the entire content of collaborations between arranger/composer Jimmy Webb and Irish born singer Richard Harris in the late sixties. Often critically maligned, the sessions deserve a second hearing. Both albums are complex and enigmatic musical statements that have never been fully appreciated, on their own terms, as musical acheivements.

A venerable reissue label in New Zealand, Raven Records, has remedied the situation by reissuing both albums on a single CD, at a very reasonable price. The title is the "Webb Sessions 1968-69" by Richard Harris. Both "A Tramp Shining and "The Yard Went On Forever" are presented in their exact sequence as the original vinyl issues.

"A Tramp Shining" (1968) became a surprise international best seller (#2 in the USA) on the strength of songs like; "MacArthur Park", "Lovers Such As I", "Didn't We", and the title track, "A Tramp Shining". With the exception of "MacArthur Park", all of the songs fall within the reach of conventional songwriting.

The unconventional structure and impressionistic lyrics of "MacArthur Park" were a precursor to the content of the second collaboration, "The Yard Went On Forever" which was recorded the following year.

I've always thought the second Webb/Harris collaboration "The Yard Went On Forever" was better of the two. It can be argued that Webb over-reached with his bold, experimental approach,and doomed the album to commercial failure. It certainly wasn't the kind of album that Webb's fans expected from him.

Many of the song structures are amorphous with abrupt changes in both tempo and melody. The lyrics are inscrutable and surreal. It seems Webb wrote the lyrics entirely for texture and effect, not meaningful content. I found myself liking "The Yard Went On Forever" for the exact same reasons that many people disliked it. It's allure is it's unconventional form and ambiguity of it's content. The songs defied the elegant lyricism of "By the Time I Get To Phoenix" or Witcha Lineman" which fans regarded as signature Webb compositions.

The songs of "The Yard Went On Forever" sound like the result of an encounter between the Billboard Top 40 and the psychedelic underground. The end result is an endearingly eccentric album that's a near perfect pastiche of the divergent paths of popular music in the late Sixties. The result did not please critics, or anyone else for that matter. The album was greeted with overwhelming apathy by all.

In hindsight, "The Yard Went On Forever" is one of those rare albums where the visionary ideas of the artist are at odds with his own talent to unerringly appeal to commercial sensibilities. It is a far nobler deed to champion a flawed masterpiece, rather that praise an mediocre album that is the fashionable statement of the moment. A single magnificent failure holds far more interest, than a dozen textbook successes. In that context, "The Yard Went On Forever" is one of the most interesting and unorthodox albums of its era.

The scene is Lake Tahoe and the year is 1968 and Richard Harris has put out an LP, the title is "AND THE YARD WENT ON FOREVER". The front cover had Harris sitting on a couch in a large yard, and a picture of Harris on the back with a red bandana and cowboy hat on... and the songs were Jimmy Webb's and all of us working in the casino's at the Lake, knew the story of how those mind bending haunting song's were written and why.

Jimmy was head-over-heels in love with a chorus-line girl in Las Vegas. He dated her, wooed her, but she didnt respond to his heart-felt love. Jimmy was in agony and if you caught a glimpse of him in those days you could see it on his face. He had a broken heart when he found out that the love of his life was just plain not interested. You can hear and feel his agony in the album. The reference to the mother of his love,'she rode the couch as a coach an nine', refering to the watchful eyes of the mother when he went to visit. This is not an urban legend and I cannot remember just how far they went, but McCarther's Park would suggest they might have had wedding plans. I can still feel the deep meaningfulness of every song and I'm so happy to be reunited with the Webb Sessions. Jim faded out for a few years then came back to do some specials and score's for TV and Movies. I would rate this a 10 if they went that far...
ciao yaaah69

So it's the 60's with the Beach Boys, the English Invasion and the advent of hard rock. And then Jimmy Webb, some unknown kid, out of nowhere, writes profoundly different music, complete with orchestration that remains some of the most romantic and passionate music about lost love that has ever been penned. Miracle of miracles, some producer or record company exec. took a huge gamble and allowed it to be put to vinyl and released. It would have never happened later on. Secondly, somebody talked the late Richard Harris into using his considerable, but unique, musical talent on this album, the initial debut of a kid genius nobody had ever heard of. Richard gambled also.
Now it's almost 40 years after Jimmy Webb first wrote the music and as I listen to the double album, I'm once again overwhelmed by the passion and beauty of the Webb/Harris Sessions.
Once in a lifetime, Staggering Brilliance!

Outstanding set of two complete albums and a rare single from a terrific actor, and very good singer, Richard Harris. "MacArthur Park" is still fantastic after all these years, and the rest of the songs are all excellent as well. Jimmy Webb is a great songwriter, and Richard Harris does a fine job of interpreting those songs. Bravo!

Anyone who wishes to know what made the music of the 60's so special need look no further than this album. From the simple elegance of 'Didn't We' and 'Dancing Girl' to the complex imagery of 'MacArthur Park" and 'The Yard Went On Forever' this album displays the talents of one of the finest songwriters of the 20th Century sung by someone who really understands the music and lyrics. There may be individual songs by Jimmy Webb that others have interpreted better, but you will never find a more perfect combination which highlights Webbs's genius than this compliation of two great albums. It is one of those rare albums that does not date: reflecting both its time and yet still managing to be relevant today. Anyone interested in the best music of the 60's would have to have this CD.

I sat there unable to move while the stereo phono pickup arm lifted off the last track of "The Yard" and the record slowed to a stop. I had just discovered a nearly-forgotten old treasure. So glad to find The Yard and A Tramp Shining" included on this CD re-issue a few years later.
Like some other works, the concepts of time, place, and love-interests tend to blend together; the passages can be interpreted along different lines on separate listenings. The "in medias res" presentation order in The Yard lends to the overall dramatic feel, as the flashbacks explain the separate stages of their lives: the innocent games of childhood, the turbulent dating years, revealing especially the various points of indecision in the seeming opposing reflections from one track to the next.
I think the "Yard" album peaks the first time with "Gayla", a perfect metaphor for the loss of innocence that can occur at the onset of puberty. Both the narrator (Richard/Jimmy) and the protagonist (Gayla) call upon the choicest of words to express their mutual horror at what is happening at this stage of life that causes irreversable changes in one's personality, usually not for the better in the short term. This explains an earlier concept in "Watermark" whereby Richard sounds as if the person in the photograph no longer exists (at least in that form). Such an intense passage is "Gayla", that at the end, the backing vocalists gently repeat their comforting and rhetorical album-opening question to the audience "Is everybody safe..."
Fans of late-sixties MOR and romantic melodrama would do well to check out both "The Yard..." and "A Tramp Shining" sections of this CD.

I heartily recommend this compilation of all cuts from the albums "A Tramp Shining" and "The Yard Went On Forever", documenting the (unexpectedly) successful collaborations of singer/actor Richard Harris and songwriter Jimmy Webb. "The Yard ..." now appeals to me much more than when I first bought the vinyl version, over thirty years ago. Probably the intensity of the lyrics isn't as threatening now. If you like Jimmy Webb, it doesn't get better than this (except for "The Magic Garden" by the Fifth Dimension, now finally available on CD).

This is a work of genius. Jimmy Webb writes to the heart of what is inside all of us. No other singer than Richad Harris could capture the scale of emotions to express what Webb was saying. Webb grew up in the late 50's and early 60's when young life was innocent-unlike the present. But he knew that since the fall in "The Garden" that people were not innocent. He captures the baser side of humanity as well as the joyous emotions that love brings. Each cut on this album has deep meaning. Each song leads to the next to tell a story. It follows a young man's fancy,in love for the first time, through his old age. It follows his foolish decisions, he would like to reverse, to the better decisions he made. But what is tragic is his lack of commitment to a single woman. Time takes its toll and he finds himself alone, just a shadow of what he thought he was. This album could be a warning of the futility of a narcisstic life style. One could receive a PhD in sociology analyzing this work. It is the FINEST work I have ever heard. It cuts to the quick while being very entertaining. Melodies are upbeat. I have been a serious music listener, of all types, for over 50 years. This by far blends all types of music into one, and does so with meaning. The true description of this work is too deep for words--IT'S HEAVY MAN!

This CD "Richard Harris, The Webb Sessions" is a lovely album, but I don't listen to it as often as I should. Another reviewer mentioned there are a couple of songs missing, yes that is annoying but I guess not all of the songs would fit on the CD and they had to leave something out.....anyway, I wanted to share with everyone the meaning of the imagery behind the lyric about "someone left a cake out in the rain". There is a Disney movie called "So Dear To My Heart" which was kind of a period-piece of the early 1900's and was about a little boy and his pet, a black lamb who always gets into trouble. In the opening musical montage for this film, animated scenes are shown of old-timey things from that era, and a picnic scene is shown, with no people around, because it has started to rain. The cake that is set out with the picnic food has begun to melt in the rain, and it is kind of sad when you think about it, how long it took somebody to make that cake and now there it goes, all ruined, and that must have been what Jimmy Webb was thinking of in his subconscious mind at least, when he wrote that famous line in his masterpiece song, MacArthur's Park. So thanks for letting me share that bit of trivia with all of you, rent the movie if you must see it to believe it yourselves.
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