Thursday, Dec 7 at Melbourne Recital Centre
Sunday, Dec 10 at Sydney City Recital Hall
An Evolving Career Spanning Genres and Generations
Legendary, multiple Grammy-winning songwriter Jimmy Webb returns to Australia for
two very special solo concerts in Sydney and Melbourne this December.
Jimmy has topped the charts from pop to country to soul and even disco with
interpretations by some of the industry’s greatest singers, including Glen Campbell, Art
Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, and Richard Harris, with covers by everyone from Frank
Sinatra, Waylon Jennings, Donna Summer, and Isaac Hayes to Guns n’ Roses, Josh
Groban and Little Big Town.
In concert, Jimmy performs songs which are timeless touchstones for a generation, such
as “MacArthur Park”, “Wichita Lineman,” “The Highwayman”, “All I Know”, “Honey, Come Back”, “The Worst That Could Happen”, “Where’s The Playground, Susie”, and
“Galveston”.
Since Webb’s Grammy sweep in 1968 when his own “Up, Up and Away” and “By the
Time I Get to Phoenix” vied for Song of the Year (and “Up” won), through to the use of
his “Do What You Gotta Do” in Kanye West’s “Famous,” the man often praised as
“America’s Songwriter” remains an icon in popular music – and continues to challenge
his artistic boundaries with projects like a classical nocturne.
Now in his touring show “An Evening with Jimmy Webb” touring Australia in
December 2023, and his literary memoir, THE CAKE AND THE RAIN (paperback and
audiobook) Webb brings fans of his music a unique connection to their favorite songs,
revealing the stories behind his hits as far back as his first songwriting job at Motown
through a career trajectory that took a teen preacher’s son from a farm town in
Oklahoma to the top of his longed-for profession, with pitfalls and blessings in equal
measure between.
In concert, the man who gave the world what has been called “the first existential
country song” (“The Highwayman”) and confounded generations of radio listeners with
the brilliance of a lyric about a cake left out in the rain enhances his virtuoso
performance of iconic tunes with riveting tales of the inspiration behind some of pop
music’s biggest songs and singers, and a humorous tour into the days and nights of a
songwriting prodigy, a lesson in pop culture, an insider perspective on the musical
giants of the Sixties, the Rat Pack heyday, the London Mods, Laurel Canyon and more,
told by a charming yarn spinner who hasn’t lost sight of his roots despite decades of
international fame.
More than a concert, an evening with Jimmy Webb in performance is a master class you
can sing along with. As Webb performs five decades of music on this tour, the songs
and stories resonate with his longtime fans as well as new devotees introduced to the
music through covers by modern chart toppers including Five for Fighting (“All I
Know”), Rumer (who stormed the UK in 2012 with her take on “P.F. Sloan”) or any
number of reinterpretations of “Wichita Lineman” by R.E.M., Urge Overkill, Keith
Urban, and more. Songs made famous as recorded by an impressive and ever-widening
range of artists are discovered anew with revelations by the man who first brought them
to life on the piano.
A close read of Webb’s memoir reveals gems like the genesis of songs like “P.F. Sloan,”
and “Mac Arthur Park” as the details are woven into the stories he tells of his days in
London and Los Angeles, navigating a world that fueled his lyrics and nearly broke him
on more than one occasion. His songwriting style expanded in the longer format of a
memoir, Webb gives the reader access to pivotal moments during the music scene of the
1960s and 70s — riding Mr. Sinatra’s private elevator for a one on one meeting, elbow to
elbow with Elvis, an urgent request from John Lennon, the first meeting that sparked
his decades-long partnership with Glen Campbell and more.
Photographer: Sasa Tkalcan / Helsinki Festival