Customer Reviews

Words & Music

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Yes, Martha, the Jimmy Webb who wrote "Up Up And Away", "Galveston" and "MacArthur's Park". His solo career was sure a different manner.

His 3 Reprise albums (this one, "And So On" and "Letters") were among the poorest selling albums Reprise has ever issued.

In 1970, when this first album came out (don't count the Epic album of overdubbed demos), "hip" radio had no interest in playing any of this album. Vocals too country. Music too odd. But not really odd enough.

Webb, of course, didn't do much to promote them either. He never played the Fillmore.

This albums is comprised of 9 excellent songs and one medley. Highlights are the opening cut, "Sleepin' In The Daytime", "P.F. Sloan" (oh, jeez, Rhino....put out the amazing Jennifer album produced by John Cale and containing her take on this cool song.....), and the undecribable "Psalm One-Five-O".

If you ever had any interest in singer-songwriters, this one is right up your street.

Check it out!

I was thrilled to find this album on CD. Quite successful as a writer for other artists, for some reason many of Webb's own recorded efforts haven't been big sellers, and albums such as this one are currently only available on import. This is somewhat hard to fathom, since Webb possesses not only exceptional musical and lyrical abilities but also a strong, expressive voice and a lot of originality and ambition packed into the arrangements on his tracks. You'll find plenty of songs here that will feel immediately like classics (they are), such as "P.F. Sloan", "Love Song", "Careless Weed", and "Once Before I Die". But the centerpiece of this work is the trio of songs that work together, "Song Seller", "Dorothy Chandler Blues" and "Jerusalem". "Jerusalem" is especially terrific; in it Webb paraphrases a well-known biblical passage as angels warn: "Take your wife and family and anyone you love... boy, you better get out of L.A... and the Lord said, right now!.." This great album deserves to be heard by a much larger audience than it initially found in the early 70's. Buy this CD for yourself and another copy for your best friend!

Thirty-five years after purchasing this record I still consider it to be one of the best, one of my all-time favorites. "Love Song", "Careless Weed", "Once Before I Die." Jimmy writes straight from the heart. These emotional tunes are beyond words. I'm happy that I own the 1970 33 RPM record. I only wish I could get a nice CD Jimmy Webb collection, an anthology that includes these favorites, as well as, a lot of his better known classic pieces. Thank you, Jimmy. LaMonte Heflick, Pup Fiction Books, Indiana.

For those of you who don't know who Jimmy Webb is, he was one of the premiere singer-songwriters of our time--starting in the 60s--and is one of the few artists to win a Grammy award for music, lyrics and orchestration. "Words and Music" is his second album, originally recorded in 1970 and just released to CD.

Among Webb's greatest compositions:

MacArthur Park
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
All I Know
Galveston
Up, Up, and Away

Artists from the soul group 5th Dimension to country and western performers such as Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, etc. have covered Webb's songs.

This probably isn't the CD you'd want to start a collection of Jimmy Webb music with. Save for the gorgeous medley (Let it be me/Never my Love/I want to be free), this is a collection of some of Webb's less-known music. If you are new to Webb, you might want to begin with "Archive" or "Ten Easy Pieces" to get a taste of his work and ease you into his style.

"Careless Weed", "Songseller" and "P. F. Sloan" are three of my favorite songs on this CD. They're all well done with original orchestration. My only complaint is that the sound is still sounding very high-fidelity. I do wish they would have digitized this collection.

this is music very much of its time. it sounds VERY late 60's, early 70's. released in 1970 this is somewhat experimental pop music for its time, with organ, accordian, african drums, saxophone and trumpet all blending in with the standard guitar, bass, and drums of the the time. a very enjoyable release if you are into the music of this period, especially if you are into music that is a little on the cheesy side here and there. not for everyone, for sure (can't see many young metal-rockers going for this stuff), but fun stuff for 1970 nostalgia buffs. mr webb's debut shows a talented man searching for his sound.

I stumbled on this vinyl album in the $1 bin at my local independent record store and purchased it because the price was right for an album by a songwriter I've admired the work of and because it contained a song I know & like (PF Sloan). Much to my pleasant surprise this version of PF Sloan surpasses the El Mirage album version which is more polished than the version on this record. This version is rawer/more emotional to my ears.

I was also quite intrigued by the female voice joining Mr. Webb on many of the songs. I really wish I knew who she was because if she had any recordings I would be buying them. Sadly, the only female credit on the album is a thank you to "Susan".

Some other memorable selections include a song commenting on the state of the music industry (some things never change apparently) and a clever interweaving of the 3 songs Let It Be Me, Never My Love, and I Wanna Be Free.

Although Jimmy Webb is/was an excellent songwriter, I had forgotten how religious this album is. I gave my CD away after one listen.