Jimmy Webb

To say that Jimmy Webb is one of the last of a breed would imply that there is or ever was anyone quite like him. 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 (“MacArthur Park”); who has topped the country, disco and pop music charts with a list of artists astounding in its diversity; and remains a trailblazer among songwriters 50 years after his first hit; now brings his multi-platinum
playlist on the road in an intimate evening of songs and stories not to be missed. At 66,Webb looks back on his days as a Midwestern teen navigating fame and fortune in Los Angeles with vignettes of a music industry coming of age, infused with an unexpected sense of humor from
the songwriter who made his biggest impressions on the charts with ruminations on love, loss and longing.

Whatever one’s preferred genre of music, chances are there’s a Jimmy Webb song on your personal playlist. As Webb performs five decades of music on this tour, the songs prove evergreen, resonating 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, Homer Simpson, and more. Songs made famous as recorded by an impressive and ever widening range of artists including Glen Campbell (“By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Galveston,” etc.), Linda Ronstadt (“Adios), Joe
Cocker (“The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”), Donna Summer (“MacArthur Park”), Art Garfunkel (“All I Know”), Barbra Streisand (“Didn’t We” is on her 1972 and 2012 releases), Frank Sinatra (“Didn’t We” among others), The Supremes, and countless others, are discovered anew in concert with the man who first brought them to life on the piano.

Each night during his live shows, Webb reminds audiences why this preacher’s son from Oklahoma has been a hit maker since the age of 16 and a beacon through five generations of the Great American Songbook. Webb 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. Getting to know the man behind such generational touchstones as “Worst That Could Happen” or “The Highwayman” in concert is also a lesson in pop culture, an insider perspective on the Nixon 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.