Jimmy Webb

Jimmy Webb (born August 15, 1946, Elk City, Oklahoma, U.S.) is an American singer-songwriter who wrote multiple easy-listening hit pop songs beginning in the 1960s. Two of his early songs, “Up, Up and Away” (1967) and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (1968), won several Grammy Awards in the late 1960s—Webb himself won the 1967 Grammy for song of the year, for “Up, Up and Away,” making him an established songwriter by age 21. By the end of the 20th century, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” had become one of the most popular cover songs of all time, having been performed or recorded by a vast array of artists, among them Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, and Pat Boone.

Early life

Webb learned to play piano and organ at an early age, and by the time he was 12 he was accompanying the choir at the church where his father was a minister. About that time he also wrote his first song, “It’s Someone Else,” which was recorded by American singer Art Garfunkel about two decades later. In 1964 Webb’s family moved to California; following his mother’s death a year later, his father decided to return to Oklahoma. Webb, however, remained in California to study music at San Bernardino Valley College. He soon dropped out of college and found work transcribing music for a small publishing company.

Hits of the 1960s

After signing a songwriting contract with Motown’s publishing company, Jobete Music, Webb made his first commercial recording, a song by the Supremes titled “My Christmas Tree” (1965). Webb also sold the song “Honey Come Back” to Jobete in 1965. His big break came, however, when he met recording artist and executive Johnny Rivers. In 1966 Rivers recorded Webb’s song “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” The song became a hit when it was performed by Glen Campbell the following year. Rivers also paired Webb with the 5th Dimension, a group he had just signed to his label. They earned a Grammy for record of the year in 1967 for the top-10 hit “Up, Up and Away.”

Webb’s success continued for the rest of the decade. The 5th Dimension made the Top 40 with “Paper Cup” and “Carpet Man,” while Campbell had hits with “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston.” The group Brooklyn Bridge earned a gold record with Webb’s “Worst That Could Happen.” Webb wrote all of the songs for the Richard Harris album A Tramp Shining (1968). One of the songs, “MacArthur Park,” became an international hit and enjoyed popularity again when recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1969 and Donna Summer in 1978. Webb also composed music for the 1969 films How Sweet It Is and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.

Later hits and works

Webb turned to performing his own works in the 1970s, drawing mixed reviews for his solo albums, which include Words and Music (1970), Letters (1972), El Mirage (1977), and others. Several songs from his solo albums had greater commercial success when recorded by other artists.

Webb’s greatest hit of the 1980s was “Highwayman,” a Grammy-winning country song performed by Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson; the song inspired the group’s name, The Highwaymen. In 1986 Webb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which was followed by his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1990.

Other projects include collaborations on Broadway musicals, film soundtracks, and television productions. In 1993 Webb released the critically acclaimed solo album Suspending Disbelief and was honored in two New York tribute concerts, which featured popular artists and friends performing his songs. Later solo albums include Ten Easy Pieces (1996), Twilight of the Renegades (2005), Just Across the River (2010), and Still Within the Sound of My Voice (2013).

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Webb also wrote Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting (1998) and published the autobiography The Cake and the Rain: A Memoir (2017).