Jimmy Webb Weaves His Stunning Songs into The Suffolk

Jimmy Webb is America’s Songwriter having crafted a catalogue of stunning and profound songs that bridge the generations.

Long before Taylor Swift penned songs of unrequited love, Webb composed heartbreaking tales that captured our imagination like the haunting “MacArthur Park,” about his failed relationship with high school sweetheart, Susie Horton.

In 1967 at age 21, Webb won the Grammy Award for “Up, Up and Away” establishing him as a songwriter. His platinum selling songs include “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Worst That Could Happen” and “MacArthur Park,” which hit No. 2 on the Hot 100 in June 1968 and won Webb the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists.

Webb enjoyed successful collaborations with Glen Campbell, Frank Sinatra, The Supremes, Art Garfunkel and many more. He holds the distinction of being the only artist to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986.

Webb’s book, Tunesmith:Inside the Art of Songwriting (1998) is considered the ‘bible’ for aspiring songwriters guiding them through the creative process.

It was a delight to catch up with Webb before his current tour lands at The Suffolk in Riverhead on June 29.

A Chat with Jimmy Webb

Is Long Island your home?

Yes, Laura and I married in the church in Bayville about 20 years ago. We bought this little house that is very close to the beach and in the woods, so it’s kind of two worlds. The backyard is a fairy land, then with a short walk out the front door, we’re on the beach.

How old were you when you started writing songs?

My mother put me on the piano bench when I was 6 years old. She was insistent that I practice every day, but I had no great affinity for piano. At 12, I debuted as the pianist at the Baptist Church where my dad was the minister. All her dreams came true the day that I played “Amazing Grace” in the hymn service. At that time, I started mooning over girls and I wrote a song called “Someone Else.” That song was recorded by Artie Garfunkel some thirty years later. I was awkward, the kid who stands on the edge of the crowd. So, writing songs was intimately connected with my relationships with girls and my desire to be part of things. I was the guy who played piano. That’s when the first spark of maybe I could be a songwriter came to me which was heresy in my house, because my parents’ plan for me was to go to Oklahoma Baptist University and be musical director in a church. For years, my parents didn’t know I was sneaking out the window of the house and playing with a band.

When did you start to think seriously about becoming a songwriter?

After my mom passed when I was 16, my dad moved us to Colton, California, where he was pastor in a church. I cruised with friends down E Street listening to The Beach Boys and The Righteous Brothers. I’m comparing my songs with ones on the radio and honestly asking myself if my songs were as good. That summer I began to think of myself as a songwriter. My father went back to Oklahoma and I stayed in San Bernardino and went to college. After class, I’d jump in my car and drive to Hollywood trying to get into a record or publishing company. I went to Motown and the lady behind the desk took my song called “This Time Last Summer” inside the office and I heard it played. A guy named Frank Wilson called me inside. They literally opened the door for me. I got a cut on The Supremes Christmas album. By the time I left Motown, I had written a lot of songs and had some successes.

What was it like the first time you heard an orchestra play one of your songs?

Sitting there listening to your little song that you chopped out in the garage and now it’s being played with a full orchestra was spectacular and a dream-like experience. I flew my dad out from Oklahoma for one of those sessions, because I wasn’t getting a lot of encouragement from him. I remember the concert lighting that night making everything look warm with that beautiful sound from a big orchestra. It was like an ocean playing my music. After that session, my dad was a changed man.

How did you team up with Glen Campbell?

After Motown, I went to Johnny Rivers’ Soul City Records where my first job was writing for the Fifth Dimension. Johnny cut “By the Time I Get To Phoenix” right away, but the key to my success was when he invited Glen Campbell to the studio to hear it. He said to Glen why don’t you cut that; you’ll have a hit. He did, that was 1967. That year, I had two songs nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards. I pulled the lucky card that night and got a Grammy for “Up, Up And Away.”

In your memoir, The Cake and The Rain, you talk about your surprise first encounter with Elvis Presley. What was that like?

I went to Vegas and saw him for the first time. At the end of his show, the band played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as he put scarves around girls’ necks. When he got to me, he bent over and dropped a piece of paper on my table that read: Dear Jimmy, come backstage. Then I felt big hands of two Nevada state troopers gripping my shoulders from behind and carrying me through the crowd to the door backstage. I was suddenly standing in front of Elvis Presley. He was very kind, and I turned into a total Elvis freak.

I was up there probably six times that summer at his show called Elvis Presley Summer Festival. He started inviting me upstairs to the Nancy Sinatra Suite which was his room. I found out that I was in a long line of songwriters who had been given their walking papers. Tom Parker would announce, “Elvis has made his choice. It’s time for everybody to go.” When I got to the door that last night, Tom said to me, “We’re not going to see much of you around here anymore.” And I was never invited back. It was common knowledge that Elvis was gonna cut “MacArthur Park” and Tom wanted all the publishing. I wasn’t giving away all my publishing for a record even with Elvis Presley. My father would never have allowed me to do that.

Did you have concerns about Richard Harris, who was a dramatic actor, recording “MacArthur Park”?

No. Record producer, Bones Howe, asked me to write it for The Association, who turned it down because it was too long. With Richard, it was an unbelievable success.

Isn’t “MacArthur Park” being reprised?

Yes, there’s a new remarkable version of “MacArthur Park” by Micah McLaurin and Amber Riley with a 60-piece orchestra. It’s getting another life.

Visit thesuffolk.org for tickets.