Jimmy Webb....U.K. Tour.

[blueonblue]

Just found out that Jimmy Webb is touring the UK next month.
Jimmy's appearing at the following venues :

April,
7th...Leeds City Varieties Music Hall...Leeds.
8th...Durham Gala...Durham.
9th...Band on the Wall...Manchester.
12th...Shrewsbury Theatre Severn...Shrewsbury
14th..Apex... Bury St Edmunds
15th...Alban Arena...St Albans
17th...Tivoli Theatre...Wimbourne Minster
18th...Cadogan Hall...London.

Tickets may still be available.

Up,up and away,

"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

I hope attendees at any of these gigs will report back here.
If there is a rival for Burt`s position as immortal pop composer of the age, surely it`s JW. Unfortunately, the latter has been dragging around the same ten or twelve over-exposed hits and tired stories for over a decade now. The only exception was at his final appearance at the late, deeply missed Bottom Line a dozen years ago when he spontaneously began pulling out obscurities like "Marionette", "Love Me, Love My Dog", "Old Man at the Fair", "Someone Is Standing Outside" among others that had the hard-core fans stunned and exuberant. Not once anywhere since has he felt comfortable enough to play a set like that again. Nor has he released an album of anything but re-hashed hits since the criminally under-heard Twilight of the Renegades a decade ago.
So, if you`ve never seen him perform, go! No question, you`ll love it. However, if you saw him the last time he passed through...chances are that you`re going to see exactly the same show again.
I will be delighted and encouraged beyond words if I`m wrong.

[nowmedical]

I got a ticket for Cadogan Hall.

[blueonblue]

This version was a huge hit in the U.K. during the Sixties......

[blueonblue]

Last night I witnessed one of the greatest performances I've ever seen, Jimmy Webb's rendition of "MacArthur Park" he played it like a man possessed by Demons....absolutely astounding !!!
It was the first time I've been to a Jimmy Webb concert and it was a truly wonderful experience !
One that I'll never forget !
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/a ... n-campbell

And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line........

"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

Blue, I`m glad you enjoyed the JW performance. He is, indeed, a brilliant showman.
Nevertheless, parsing the Guardian report, it seems he averaged roughly 2 and 1/3 songs (no doubt nearly all roughly fifty years old) per half hour wedged between stories he`s been repeating for over a decade.
Granted, I`ve seen him more than once; but he`s just coasting. I hope someone on this England tour will, at some point, yell out, "Play a new song, for godsake!"
He`s boasted in recent interviews that he considers himself a better writer now than ever. Who, other than his wife and dog, are hearing these things?

[Blair N. Cummings]

From the days when he wasn`t afraid to play something new, this is now roughly twenty years old - probably more:

And a couple rarities from the early seventies:


And, finally, this with Glen Campbell on guitar from (I`m guessing) the `80s:

[blueonblue]

Thank you Blair,
I've never heard any of those tracks before ?
A superb collection of songs !

"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

If you don`t have this album, here are most (unfortunately, not all) of the tracks:
JW was at the peak of his arranging and orchestrating talent here. Listen to the classical quotes, and the beautiful codas to "Didn`t We" and "This Is Your Life".
It`s stuff like this that pisses me off about the wasted recent years (decades).
And screw "Up, Up and Away". Listen to this utterly unknown full album written, arranged and produced by JW:

[blueonblue]

Blair,
The Thelma Houston album "Sunshower" is incredible, I'll have to buy it !
I've always loved The 5th Dimension Album "The Magic Garden" it's Jimmy at the height of his creative powers...one of the most underrated albums in pop history !

Thanks for sharing !

"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

One of the songs he pulled out that last night in New York was "Someone Is Standing Outside".
It was the first time (and last) that I cried in public.
(Okay, I was drunk, but still...)

[blueonblue]

Blair,
Yes, some songs can have that effect.

"blue"

[blueonblue]

One of my all-time favourite Jimmy Webb songs...



"blue"

[blueonblue]

Hugo Montenegro's "re-working" of a Jimmy Webb Classic.



"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

In `74 JW made a short but criminally under-heard album with Glen Campbell called (appropriately enough) Reunion.
Several years ago, it was re-issued in an expanded form to include subsequent Webb-penned songs recorded by GC over the years. For those only familiar with the hits, this should be required listening especially since JW is now pathologically averse to playing anything that hasn`t already been driven into the ground with repetition.
Not even his "tribute" performances to Glen will include any of these songs; a real shame.