In the intimate confines of the Cabaret at Germano’s, Jimmy Webb sat at the piano, sang his songs, told stories and made us feel like we had dropped in on him at home.

Listening to Webb’s generous concert makes one aware that he has one of the most under-appreciated and versatile songbooks of the mid-rock era, as he reeled off hit after hit, such as “MacArthur Park,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Up, Up and Away,” and so many more.  And that doesn’t include the substantial portions of his catalog that he didn’t perform, such as “Didn’t We” and “Wichita Lineman.”  A special delight of the concert was Webb’s performance of lesser-known songs from his catalog such as “All I Know” and the hysterically funny “What Does a Woman See in a Man?”

Webb performs in a manner typical of many songwriters—great diction and clarity of thought with occasional abbreviations of musical phrases and vocal lines.  In one charming moment, he asked the audience to supply the high notes in “Up, Up and Away.” But his interpretations were well worth noting for what he emphasized in his material.

The highlights, though, came with the songwriter’s anecdotes about his life experiences and his insights to his music and the writing process.  He was a charming raconteur, whether the topic was pub-crawling in Ireland with Richard Harris or dating Miss Universe.

He offered his insight that “songs have a will of their own,” and modestly stated, “all great writing is imitative of great writing—and I’ve imitated the hell out of them.”  Perhaps so, but Webb’s show proved that his approach yielded great success, both for himself as a writer and for generations of listeners.

Michael Miyazaki
Cabaret Scenes
September 20, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org