![]() ![]() Then he adds, “If you make records that stay fresh and people still enjoy listening to, I think that’s the stuff of legends.”įortunately, he’s nowhere near ready take that retiring-legend ride off into the sunset. Webb claims that it’s not awards, but hearing your songs in elevators and supermarkets, that confirms legendary status. He’s like the Hoagy Carmichael of rock and roll.” Johnson wants to see Webb’s signature etched among those in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for one thing, he says, “He’s the bridge between the Gershwins and rock and roll. Which brings us back around to the notion of being a legend. “It’s kind of a sad time, but it’s also a great time to get some of these performances.” “There are so many acts out there today that are just cresting the hill and saying, ‘Well, so long, y’all,’” Webb says. The last remaining original-era member, Gordon Stoker, died in March. It was also the Jordanaires’ final performance. “The sound that we most associate with Elvis, that Jordanaires sound, we actually had the real thing in there, and that gives me chills,” Webb says. The backing vocalists for Elvis Presley, in their ’80s, sang on Webb’s “Elvis And Me.” “One of the coolest things we did was get the Jordanaires back together,” he continues. If we don’t ever make a dime off of them, I’m glad we did them. “Many little moments on these records are precious, and I’m glad we do ‘em. “With his acting ability, it’s magic,” Webb says of Kristofferson’s rendition. Producer Fred Mollin suggested Kris Kristofferson for “Honey Come Back,” which, Webb says, Campbell always refused to do because he hated the talking interlude. ![]() On the new one, Brian Wilson contributes backing vocals to a more subdued, nuanced “MacArthur Park” Garfunkel sings “Shattered” Amy Grant delivers “Adios” David Crosby and Graham Nash share “If These Walls Could Speak.” Simon, Lyle Lovett, Marc Cohn, Joe Cocker, America, Keith Urban and younger voices Justin Currie and Rumer also contribute. Both feature him performing his iconic and lesser-known tunes with a variety of equally iconic singers. In the last 15 years or so, Webb, who’s done film, stage and TV scores and produced albums for artists including Carly Simon and Art Garfunkel, has been spending more time on the road, particularly since releasing Just Across The River in 2010 and Still Within The Sound Of My Voice, its follow-up, this past October. Webb was 21, the same age his now-good friend and sometime chauffeur, “Young John,” was when they met in 2009 they’re now arranging an October tour. How can I win? I’ve got two songs nominated.’ And he leaned over to me real close and said, ‘Kid, it’s in the bag.” And he said, ‘Well, kid, are you excited?’ And I said, ‘No, I know I’m not gonna win. He was always chewing a stogie and he had big black horn-rimmed glasses he was really a stereotype. “So I was very sanguine about the whole ceremony … And I’m sitting with Jay Lasker, an old-time record mogul type at ABC-Dunhill. “I was sure I wasn’t going to win,” Webb recalls. Both were nominated for the top song award. They earned eight Grammys altogether, including the latter’s Record and Song of the Year. But it was Campbell’s cover, and the 5th Dimension’s lofty “Up, Up And Away” harmonies, that carried Webb to stardom the following year. When Rivers recorded “Phoenix” in 1966, the song was already two years old. “Before they left, they not only bought my contract, they had the choice of four songs and they took ‘Didn’t We,’ ‘Up, Up And Away,’ ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ and ‘The Worst That Could Happen,’” Webb says. But Gordon had told him to hang in there, and showed up one day with Johnny Rivers in tow. He remembers contributing piano on a 15-hour Rod McKuen session, earning $52 – a buck per song – before sweeping up and closing the place. Shuffled out of Jobete with his mentor, Mark Gordon, Webb went to work at a recording studio. (In 2003, he received its Johnny Mercer Award.) “All the technical aspects of songwriting, I learned right there at Motown,” says Webb, who now chairs the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In two years there, he wrote 45 songs the first one recorded was “My Christmas Tree,” on a Supremes Christmas album. When he headed from Oklahoma to Los Angeles, he was still a “skinny country boy” in his teens – just bold enough to “take a shot in the dark” at the West Coast office of Jobete Music, Motown’s publishing house. Rewriting hymns led to more experimentation. The son of a Baptist minister, Webb played organ in his dad’s church. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |