Biography
As one of the most innovative songwriters to emerge during the countercultural boom of the late 1960s, Jimmy Webb contributed an enormous amount to the pop canon, with many of his songs becoming pop standards through countless artists' recordings. Along the way he managed to establish an esteemed solo career as well. Born on August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma, Webb first played music at the church of his father, a Baptist minister. He relocated to California with his family in 1964, and soon began pursuing a songwriting career in L.A. He got a publishing deal with Motown's Jobete Music in 1965. In 1966 he had a new deal with pop star Johnny Rivers' company, and Rivers was the first to cut Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" that year, however unsuccessfully. Things took off for Webb when The 5th Dimension had a huge hit with his song "Up, Up and Away" in 1967. Shortly afterwards, Glen Campbell scored big with "Phoenix." In 1968 Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge hit with Webb's "The Worst That Could Happen," Campbell connected with another Webb tune, "Wichita Lineman," and actor Richard Harris had a surprise hit with Webb's ambitious "MacArthur Park." By this point, Webb was the wonder boy of the West coast; his sophisticated harmonic sensibilities and unconventional song structures helped push pop to the next level, and all of the aforementioned songs would be covered endlessly for generations to come. It was quickly ascertained that Webb was capable of singing his own tunes too, and he released his first solo album, Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb, in '68. Though Webb would never gain much commercial traction with his own records, his '70s albums in particular were always highly regarded. Webb released only one solo LP in the '80s, but during that period he expanded his scope to TV and film work. In each of the next three decades he released two more solo albums. In 2017 Webb chronicled his career in the book The Cake and the Rain: A Memoir.
