Jimmy Webb, Part 1 (Up, Up & Away)

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm your host, Bill Price.  In this edition of Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts, I’ll be spotlighting songwriter, composer and singer Jimmy Webb.  Jimmy’s career in the music industry is impressive, having accumulated a string of pop classics, recorded by several well-known artists.  Be sure to check back for another episode:  Jimmy Webb, Part 2.  In Part 2 I will examine the story behind the song “MacArthur Park”!

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Transcript

In this edition of Rock and Roll Flashback, I’ll be spotlighting songwriter, composer and
singer Jimmy Webb. Jimmy’s career in the music industry is impressive, having
accumulated a string of pop classics, recorded by several well-known artists.

Jimmy Layne Webb was born on August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma, and later grew
up in Laverne, Oklahoma. By the age of twelve, he learned to play the Piano and the
organ. Since his father was a Baptist minister in rural churches in Oklahoma, Jimmy
started playing in the choir of his father’s churches. Then by the late 1950s, he
improvised and re arranged hymns, and started to write religious music. However, in
spite of the restrictions on the type of music heard at home which was mainly gospel and country; he became interested in the popular music he heard, which at the time 
included Elvis Presley.

In 1961, at the age of 14, in some degree of a prophetic moment, he bought his first
record, “Turn Around, Look at Me,” by singer Glen Campbell And in just a few years
later, Webb would write hit songs for Campbell. By 1964, his family moved to San
Bernardino in Southern California. When his mother died from a brain tumor, his father
and remaining family members decided to return to Oklahoma. Jimmy however, made
the decision to stay in Southern California to pursue a career in music. His father thought songwriting would break his son’s heart, but gave him the last $40 he had, then returned to Oklahoma.

While attending Colton High School, Webb met fellow student Susan Horton, and began a romantic relationship. She would later be the inspiration for some of Webb’s iconic compositions. After graduating from high school, Webb attended San Bernardino Valley College to study music.  It was at the time that Jimmy was attending Valley College, that he wrote “Up, Up and Away”. According to one account it was written in the parking lot of Robert Hall, which was a clothing store located just down the road from the college. The inspiration for the song came from a hot air balloon that Webb’s friend William F Williams flew doing promotions for local rock station KMEN. In another account, he finished the song at one of the music practice rooms next to the college’s KVCR FM radio studio. In the fall of 1967, I enrolled at San Bernardino Valley College, however by that time Jimmy had left the college to pursue a music career.

Webb moved to Los Angeles where his first job entailed transcribing songs written by
other people. Later he joined Jobete Music, the publishing division of Motown Records.
In 1966 he met Johnny Rivers, who signed Webb to a publishing deal. Rivers recorded
Jimmy’s “By The time I Get to Phoenix” for his album “Changes”, which became a
modest hit. Rivers also released the album “ Rewind”, that featured seven Webb songs,
including "Do What You Gotta Do" and "Tunesmith”. A year later Glen Campbell
recorded “By The time I Get to Phoenix” .The song became a number two hit and a gold
record. It would be the start of a string of hits for Campbell written by Webb, which
included "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," and "Where's the Playground, Susie."
Frank Sinatra included his version of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” on his 1968 album
Cycles. Sinatra, in fact, would praise “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” as “the greatest
torch song ever written.” A torch song is usually considered as one in which the
composer laments a lost love.

Jimmy’s initial encounter with Campbell started out a bit rocky. Jimmy met Campbell at
a recording session for a General Motors commercial. At the time Webb had Beatle-length hair. Campbell who was seated and tuning his guitar, looked up at Webb and said,
“When ‘ya gonna get a haircut?”

Johnny Rivers, who was also a producer, had a new group called The 5th Dimension.
Johnny asked Webb to begin writing songs for the new group. This resulted in the Up, Up and Away album, which featured the title track “Up, Up and Away.” The song was
released as a single in May 1967, and became a Top Ten hit. The song was first released
by a Los Angeles Pop group called The Sunshine Company, and was included on their
1967 debut album. The Sunshine Company was best known for "Back On The Street
Again”, which charted at number 36,

In 1967, the 5th Dimension’s second album, “The Magic Garden “ was released which
featured eleven Webb compositions, including “Worst That Could Happen”.  Later Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge recorded the song, which was released in
1968, and climbed to number three in the US and Canada.

Interestingly, after breaking up with Susan Horton in 1965, she moved to Lake Tahoe and met a guy. When Susan told Jimmy that she intended to marry that guy, it resulted in Webb writing “ The Worst That Could Happen”. This was just one of the songs inspired by the break up with Susan. Other Horton inspired songs include “By The time I Get to Phoenix”, "Where's the Playground Susie", and most famously “MacArthur Park”.
Susan’s first marriage however was short-lived. She and Jimmy did reconnected for a
time. However it did not last. Webb and Horton went their separate ways, married other people, but remained friends. Susan later married Linda Ronstadt’s cousin, Bobby in 1993.

At the 1968 Grammy Awards, "Up, Up and Away" was named the 1967 Record and
Song of the Year. "Up, Up and Away" and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix" received a
total of eight Grammy Awards. This elevated Webb as one of the most well known
songwriters.

Webb had successful collaborations with Glen Campbell, Michael Feinstein,
Linda Ronstadt, the 5th Dimension, the Supremes, Art Garfunkel, Thelma Houston, Carly Simon and Richard Harris.

In January 1970, “Honey Come Back” by Webb charted at No. 19 for Glen Campbell. In
April that year, “The Girls’ Song” by The 5th Dimension hit No. 43. And in September
1971, Motown’s Four Tops had a No. 38 hit with their version of “MacArthur Park.”
Barbra Streisand charted at No. 82 in December 1972 with “Didn’t We?” And in
September 1973, Art Garfunkel had a No. 8 hit with “All I Know.” British rocker and
bluesman, Joe Cocker, had a No. 5 hit in 1975 with Webb’s “It’s a Sin When You Love
Somebody.” In 1968 Nina Simone and Bobby Vee did versions of Webb’s song, “Do
What You Gotta Do”.

Webb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1990. He received the National Academy of
Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Johnny Mercer Award in 2003, the ASCAP Instrument “Voice of Music" Award in 2006
and the Ivor Novello Special International Award in 2012. Webb holds the unique
position of being the only artist ever to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and
orchestration.

In 1999 Broadcast Music, Inc. listed “By The Time I Get to Phoenix” as the third most
performed song between 1970 and 1990, and in 1999 was listed as the 20th most
performed of the 20th century.  Over the years, several covers of the song have been released. Isaac Hayes included the song on the album “ Hot buttered Soul”. The Mad Lads also covered the song in 1969 for Stax Records. Anne Murray and Glen Campbell recorded a medley of "I Say a Little Prayer" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" in 1971. Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick released the song as a medley with "I Say a Little Prayer" in 1977.

In 2008, Webb appeared in the documentary “The Wrecking Crew”, where he provided
insights into the session musicians of the 1960s.

In the next Jimmy Webb episode, we will look at the story behind the song
“ MacArthur Park”!