Caught Up In The Webb

As deserving as Larchmont might be, it's rare that we are graced by the presence of a genuine legend. That will all change  Sunday night, when songwriter Jimmy Webb makes a rare  appearance at The Watercolor Cafe. The kid from Oklahoma, who in the 1960s married the sophisticated melodies of pre-rock songwriting to the taut narratives of a short story writer and remade the music world in his own image, will be singing his classics, past and future, solo at the piano.

You know them: "Wichita Lineman," "MacArthur Park," "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" and "The Highwayman." He gave The Fifth Dimension their song of the year ("Up, Up And Away"), wrote tunes for Sinatra, and is worshipped by everyone from REM to Jackson Browne.

He's an engaging man to talk to, as well, quick to laugh and recall an anecdote. But he begins our conversation with his growing concern about Internet piracy and the "apocalyptic"  consequences he feels this spells for the record biz.

"I'm on the Board of Directors of ASCAP," Webb says, "and we're in a life-and-death struggle now because these music sites don't want to have to pay for content. In terms of future safety for songwriters and their getting royalties, man, the barbarians are at the gate. We're trying to get serious legislation passed worldwide that will require companies to pay songwriters and musicians."

As concerned as he is about this issue, it's not hard to get Webb to talk about the breathtaking way he waltzed into Los Angeles in the mid-sixties, and within two years, had it for the taking. Of course, when you combine the melodic reach of George Gershwin with the lyrical acuity of Johnny Mercer, such things can happen. But as Webb talks about how "MacArthur Park" happened, you realize that the now stagnant record business was once wide-open and freewheeling.

"I didn't really have any ideas for Richard Harris," says Webb, reliving those groovy times. "I just wanted to hang out with him. Richard was the most charming, crazy guy, with whom you could have unimaginably good times, especially if you were 21. Anyway, I wrote that crazy song about the cake for him. And because I was considered to be Jesus Christ, the Second Coming, at the time, they let me make the record. The amazing thing is, because it was a hit, it just engendered evermore open-mindedness and experimentation on everyone's part."

Hits are great, of course. But for the cognescenti, it's Webb's run of solo albums like the 70s classic "El Mirage" and the more recent "10 Easy Pieces" that make him as idiosyncratic and moving a singer/songwriter as friends Randy Newman and the late Warren Zevon.

"I don't have a huge fan base," says Webb. "A few hundred folks will come out to hear me, however. And they're loyal. Plus, they are also interested in hearing my lesser-known songs, such as "PF Sloan" or "Crying In My Sleep."

And despite the record-breaking number of hits, Webb isn't resting on any laurels.

"In 2007, I did a tune for my home state of Oklahoma that evolved into something called 'Centennial Suite' that was an instrumental. I'm currently working on some things you'd probably have to place in the operetta vein. Then, there's my new album coming in June."

Webb sounds particularly stoked when he discusses his new project, "Just Across The River."

"I'm very excited about it. I've got Mark Knopfler playing on it, and singers like Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson and Vice Gill," he says. "Normally, I refer to this process as 'cloberation' because every idea you have gets clobbered. However, this has been a delight. Jackson, particularly, did a great version of my tune 'P.F. Sloan;' it's a song about the 60s songwriter (who wrote "Eve of Destruction" and "Secret Agent Man") who was one of the first guys who ever tried to sing his own stuff, and he encountered amazing resistance because of it."

Webb-cheerfully-rants about the vapidity of Miley Cyrus, the way both record companies and listeners "polarize" music and don't listen to enough different kinds, and then there's that pesky royalties issue. But he thinks, as far as the music industry is concerned, things could still  go either way.

"I saw Natalie Merchant on TV today. She said that the record business is going to be thought of, someday, as some bright and shining moment that existed in the past. But if we can get all these companies and countries to start having strict copyright laws, we might just turn things around. As for me, I'm clinging to a flickering hope that for songwriters, just maybe, things will turn out okay."

Jimmy Webb will be performing at The Watercolor Cafe on Sunday, April 18th at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $40. For more information call  914-834-2213.