Jimmy Webb’s discography reads like a multi-generational synopsis of various awards shows. Just a sampling of his work includes the Glen Campbell classics “Wichita Lineman”; Galveston”; and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,”; the Fifth Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away”; and “MacArthur Park”—recorded by a variety of artists including actor Richard Harris, Waylon Jennings, and Donna Summer.
Webb holds the distinction of being the only artist ever to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration. Additionally, he is a member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1993, he received the National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award.
Videos by American Songwriter
On this day (August 15) in 1946, James Layne “Jimmy” Webb was born in Elk City, Oklahoma. In honor of his 80th birthday, we’re diving into his illustrious six-decade career in the music industry.
The Early Signs of Creative Genius
Growing up as the son of a Baptist minister in Laverne, Oklahoma, Jimmy Webb learned to play organ and piano at his mother’s encouragement.
By age 12, he was regularly performing in the choir of his father’s churches. However, his creative streak was beginning to manifest itself even then, as Webb frequently improvised, rearranged, and re-harmonized the hymns.
At first, religious music was his sole influence, as his religiously conservative father only permitted the playing of country and white gospel music in the home.
However, Webb’s tastes soon began to shift toward the secular, drawing inspiration from artists like Elvis Presley who were popular on the radio at the time.
At 14, he brought his first record, “Turn Around, Look at Me” by Glen Campbell. Fascinated by the singer’s distinctive voice, Webb would go on to pen multiple hits for Campbell.
Jimmy Webb Ignored His Father’s Advice
In the 1960s, Jimmy Webb headed to Southern California, where he studied music at San Bernardino Valley College and made plans to pursue a career in the industry.
Shrugging off his father’s warning that “this songwriting thing is going to break your heart,” Webb took a songwriting job at Jobete Music, the publishing arm of Motown Records.
“I had an idea about my future as a songwriter, even though then it was just a dream,” Webb said in 2022. “I was lucky enough that the dream came true.”
His Breakout Hit
As he shopped his work around various publishing houses, he penned an aching romantic ballad called “By the Time I Get To Phoenix”.
Webb drew from his recent split with former girlfriend Susan Horton, now married to Bobby Ronstadt, cousin of singer Linda: By the time I get to Phoenix / She’ll be risin’ / She’ll find the note I left hangin’ / On her door.
Initially, singer-producer Johnny Rivers recorded the track. Then one day, country singer Glen Campbell heard Rivers’ version on the radio and thought, “I could cut that record and make a hit out of it.”
So he did, taking “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” to number two on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Legendary crooner Frank Sinatra once dubbed this oft-performed number “”the greatest torch song ever written.”
It marked the first in a string of Jimmy Webb-penned hits for Glen Campbell, including “Wichita Lineman” (1968) and “Galveston” (1969).
The accolades poured in. Between “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and the Fifth Dimension’s number-one pop hit “Up, Up, and Away”, Webb’s work picked up eight Grammy Awards in 1968.
A Legendary Career
Jimmy Webb turned to performing his own works in the 1970s, but his greatest success has always come from other artists recording his work.
His biggest hit of the 1980s was “Highwayman,” an iconic Grammy-winning collaboration between Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson.
In 1986, Webb became the third-youngest person inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has since served as its chairman.
Webb has also collaborated on Broadway musicals, film soundtracks, and television productions. His works include The Last Unicorn (1982) and the 1984–85 TV sitcom E/R.
[RELATED: 5 Massive Hits You Didn’t Know Were Written by the Ultimate Troubadour, Jimmy Webb]
“I like words,” Webb said. “I like the way they clash around together and bang up against each other, especially in songs.”
Featured image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images
-
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 01: Buck Owens performs on stage at the Country Music Festival held at Wembley Arena, London in April 1989. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns) -
NASHVILLE,TN – OCTOBER 21: Aubrey Haynie and Hoot Hester perform with The Time Jumpers at 3rd and Lindsley on October 21, 2013 in Nashville,Tennesse. (Photo by Beth Gwinn/Getty Images) -
1977: Country singer Tompall Glaser performs live in 1977. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
Charley Pride, who had multiple No. 1 hits with Glenn Martin's songs -
Portrait of Les Paul, Fat Tuesday, New York, N.Y., ca. 1980s. (Colorised black and white print). Creator: William Paul Gottlieb. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)
