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JIMMY WEBB TUNESMITH FULL
Very highly recommended! Read full review Bottom line, this book was so interesting & informative on so many levels, a real page-turner. Every page is interesting, but I was really amazed how incredibly knowledgeable he is about many subjects, is incredibly well-read(which he uses in hi s craft), & writes prose as well as he writes songs! A sidelight that really blew my mind was in his preface, he signed it in an obscure place in my home State of Maine! I was amazed as to how Jimmy Webb, who has been everywhere, would end up in a place in my state I've never even heard of, amazing! It's a small world out there sometimes. He goes through the songwriting process minutely, but in a very interesting & organized way. This book is even better than i expected(and I expected a lot!). When I heard about this book he wrote in 1998 about songwriting, I had to get it. I had not followed him for several years, but recently rediscovered him again from some amazing songs I didn't play way back in the 60's. I've been amazed by the complexity of his music & lyrics, absolutely in awe of his songwriting ability. (Sept.I've been an admirer of Jimmy Webb for almost 50 years, his 1st burst of success was in my teenage years, his music was the soundtrack of my young life.
For those interested in the latter, Songwriters on Songwriting: The Expanded Version (Da Capo, 1997), a collection of interviews between editor Paul Zollo and a variety of songwriters, including Webb, is the ticket. And Webb's nuts-and-bolts approach somehow undercuts every songwriter's need for that spark of absolute inspiration. While Webb's fans will revel in the behind-the-scenes details of his career and a candid view of his artistic process, others may wish that the asides, finger pointing (at arrogant co-writers) and Webb's own pet peeves (e.g., no-talent spouses who insist on songwriting credits on their partner's records) had been left out. Of greatest value, perhaps, are the exercises suggested for developing song ideas, which will help anyone stumbling through a period of writer's block. In addition to salient comments on today's music scene, Webb cites numerous examples from the past and includes sections on writing for the stage and film. Here he seeks to impart the tools of the trade to songwriters ""who may be attempting the delicate transition from amateur to professional."" Covering technical matters from basic chord theory and rhyme schemes to the protocol of pitching songs, Webb draws on a trove of personal anecdotes from a career spanning more than two decades. The only artist to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration, Webb has written many of the most memorable songs performed by the Fifth Dimension (""Up, Up and Away""), Donna Summer (""MacArthur Park"") and Amy Grant (""If These Walls Could Speak""), among others.
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