Jimmy Webb
TEN EASY PIECES
Ten Easy Pieces Guardian
Records (CDC 7243 8 528 26 2 1) 1996
Galveston (4:49) Highwayman (4:30) Wichita
Lineman (4:16) The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress (3:54) By
The Time I get To Phoenix (3:54)
If These Walls Could Speak (4:02) Didn't We (3:18) Worst
That Could Happen (3:41) All I Know (3:52) MacArthur
Park (7:43)
Another Great Album, but
then again, aren't they all?
This album has arrangements that are truer to the way Mr. Webb performs
them live, (or so I think I heard him say on a NY radio program a couple
of years ago) but the most interesting thing about it is that he records
for the first time his interpretation of his compositions that were recorded
and made famous by other artists. Galveston
was a hit for Glen Campbell back in the 60's and is one of the songs that
sent Mr. Webb on his way. He recorded it earlier on Letters. This
version shows the change in his voice since that album, but I prefer the
version on Letters. Highwayman
was recorded as The Highwayman
on El Mirage
as was The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. I
never heard Mr. Webb sing his version of By
The Time I Get To Phoenix, another Glen Campbell
60's hit. Mr. Webb does a fine job and brings out more meaning
in the words, making it more a song of lament then a pop ditty. I
believe Linda Ronstadt recorded If These Walls
Could Speak, but I'm not sure since I'm not
a fan of hers, even when she does Mr. Webb Songs. She's too
mechanical for me; no emotion in my book. Mr. Webb on the other
hand, offers a version filled with angst. You can tell that
when he wrote the song, it had to be from the soul. Didn't
We was originally done by Richard
Harris on A Tramp
Shining. Mr. Webb's version is
real good but I'm too prejudiced for his arrangement on the Richard
Harris album. Worst
That Could Happen was a hit for
Johnny Mistroe and The Brooklyn Bridge in
the late 60's. Mr. Webb BLOWS them away. Again, he shows
the beauty and desperation of the lyric and gives much more meaning to
the melody that only the composer of the song can do. The Mistroe
version turns it into bubblegum music. All
I Know was originally recorded by Art
Garfunkel on his original solo record Garfunkel
(Columbia CQ 31474). I actually
have this album in Quadraphonic SQ, the precursor to Dolby Surround Sound. Again,
although Garfunkel does
a lovely job (sometimes a bit TOO lovely), Mr. Webb Blows him away. And
to put icing on the cake, if you'll pardon my pun, Mr. Webb ends the album
with MacArthur Park.
I've heard him say on a few occasions that he's tired of this song and
being asked what "Someone left the cake out in the rain" means. He
doesn't show it here. Although I'm also prejudiced for the Mr.
Webb produced and arranged Richard Harris
hit version, Mr. Webb gets 4 stars from me on this version.
I've heard him do this version on TV and on radio a couple of times, but
he must have been in the right mood when this recording was made, because
this is the one that does it for me.
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