Bob and Jimmy Webb

[royb404]

I am taking a college course at SMU on music. I can not read it or write it but I do hear it very well. I also have been around it for decades.

We are studing a book named "TUNESMITH" by Jimmy Webb on the art of songwriting. It is a hard and complicated but super read.

The very and I mean very first words in the 1st chapter is a verse from Bob's "Elusive Butterfly" And the following chapter is about unknowns and how hard they have to work to be accepted as real songwriters.

I was wondering if Bob had ever met Jimmy? Jimmy seems to have a respect --as he should -- for Bob.

I have seen him perform 3 times in 1 1/2 years and go again in Sept and Oct here in Texas. As well I am attending a lecture he is giving at SMU on Sept 6th.
Just wondering
Roy Harmon Dallas Texas

[Lind]

Hey Roy,
I do indeed know him. Elsewhere on this board, I talk at length about my respect for Jimmy and his work. I don't think you could be studying a better book than TUNESMITH. Jimmy has a unique way of working. It's not the way I work, but it's perfect for him. And he's done some deep thinking into the process of composition and lyric writing.
Yes, he's very respectful, not only of me, but of other writers who don't follow the paint-by-number routine in their art.
We did the Troubadour together a couple times and I can't think of a more gracious, feet-on-the-ground dude. He's one of the most successful songwriters who ever lived. He has every right to come on like a superstar but he doesn't. I think it's an important key to his phenomenal success that he's not jealous or defensive about other good writers. He's not too cool to learn from anyone.
I'm proud of my 200 covers; Jimmy probably has over 2,000. But he's quick to appreciate what I do and doesn't hesitate to praise it publicly. With that generosity of spirit, no wonder he's reached the stature he has.
If you attend the lecture in September, please tell him I said hello.

[bob_32_116]

I read about this book "Tunesmith" some time ago. The comments here have motivated me to hunt it down.

Jim Webb has been to Oz a few times but I have never managed to catch him. On one occasion he played at the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival - don't ask me how he gets lumped in to that category. I thought about travelling up from Sydney, but in the end decided I really didn't want to go all that way and sit through a blues festival - not my cup of tea - just to hear Jim Webb perform for 20 minutes or so. It's not as though it would have been an intimate affair, there would have been no chance of meeting and greeting him or getting anything signed afterwards.

He has even visited Perth - so there you go Bob, maybe you should accompany him next time.

I regard him as one of the greatest songwriters of our time, along with Bob Lind, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell, perhaps a couple of others. It is, however, almost impossible to compare Bob's songs with Jim Webb's or to state a preference for one over the other; the styles are so different. JW's songs have a complexity that you don't find in Bob's songs - that doesn't make them better or worse, just different.

[Danny Harris]

Yep - two of my faves are "Tunesmith" itself, and "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress" (love both Judy Collins AND Joe Cocker's versions...)

Geez, that WOULD be a double-bill : Bob Lind and Jimmy Webb!

[mg in kc]

Danny,

Linda Ronstadt does a great cover of that tune, and Webb's rendition ain't bad at all.

BTW, did you ever hear Webb's "I'll Fly Away"? It's one fine arrangement of a classic gospel hymn he probably learned when he was playing the organ at his Oklahoma church as a boy.

mg

[Danny Harris]

No, mate - haven't heard "I'll Fly Away" - nor LR or JW's "Mistress" - must dig around for 'em...

Thanks for the tip...

(I hope BL ain't too tetchy that we're gossiping about other artists on HIS forum...!)

[bob_32_116]

If you get the chance, have a hear of Jim Webb's album Land's End. I used to have this on vinyl, don't know if it ever made it to CD. There are some great songs, and it's quite different from what you might have been expecting if you were mainly familiar with his work via Glen Campbell and Richard Harris. Joni Mitchell makes a surprise appearance on one track!

[royb404]

I sort of hate to talk about Jimy here but of all the songwriters I grew up admiring-remember I worked for the Rolling Stone Mag for about 15 years off and on-Bob,Jimmy and Paul Williams are my faves.
Yers I am almost positive "Land's End" is on CD.
Roy

If you get the chance, have a hear of Jim Webb's album Land's End. I used to have this on vinyl, don't know if it ever made it to CD. There are some great songs, and it's quite different from what you might have been expecting if you were mainly familiar with his work via Glen Campbell and Richard Harris. Joni Mitchell makes a surprise appearance on one track!

[Lost In The Crash]

I have been around the music scene since i was 13. I Have worked for "Rolling Stone"mag about 15 total but not now..But i know the record companys pay them for GOOD reviews.
I saw Jimmy, Sept 6th, as I do everytime he in near-next Dec 15 in Denton Tx-I have never and I mean never met a more humble guy or as real "real person" in the music feild.
I have been ther when he has stayed 2 1/2 after a show to sign things but mostly to talk to the people that are in front of him.
I have NEVER face to face meet Bob-my loss not his. I will soon I hope.
Jimmy has a respect for Bob I heard in his voice as we had a short conversation last weekend about Bob and the gig in NYC.
If you know about n the CRAP that goes on in the music "Biz" you will know this is not rare and totally unhear.
Bob wrote me this:
" As you know, if you spoke with him at any length, there's not a jealous or competitive bone in his body"
Real people with talent that are not full of "themselvs" are rare. Here I mention 2.
I now know 1 in person and 1 by email.
BOB we will meet soon.
Roy Harmon
Dallas

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