In all fairness, had I not been offered an extra ticket, I would have been one of many to not know just what I was missing. Interestingly, it wasn’t until five minutes into the musical set that I began to piece together a number of seemingly unrelated events that made my attending this event all the more impactful. I’ll reflect on that momentarily. This unexpected ticket allowed me to join a very small crowd of about 50 people at the Jazz FM headquarters in Liberty Village and sit about 20 feet away from the musician that has been called “America’s Songwriter.” While his name was vaguely familiar I couldn’t point to one song and say, that’s a Jimmy Webb song. Turns out I was very wrong. I could, I just didn’t know it. Odds are you could too. To explain this I need to back up a bit.
A few weeks ago on a bitingly cold Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were driving back to Toronto from Markham. While the air was absolutely frigid outside, the blindingly bright sun was rendered powerless by the whims of the February chill. Being a person of many musical tastes I felt the moment called for some jazz. As I discovered many years ago, Toronto has been blessed with a radio station that has dedicated itself to all things jazz. When I found it, I made a point to lock in 91.1FM in my mind no matter what car I was in so that when I needed that jazz fix that only a Miles Davis trumpet, Charlie Parker sax or Buddy Rich drumming could provide, I always knew where to go. So there we were driving towards the oft-dreaded 401 and upon turning to 91.1FM I suddenly found emanating out the radio an intensely soulful, instrumental guitar strumming that was backed only by drum-brushes. The song gently wafted throughout the car, hypnotically and sorrowfully. It was nuanced guitar playing, like the kind of restrained sounds you would hear in the bluesy portions of Jimi Hendrix songs like “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Little Wing” or “Hey Joe.” There was something distantly familiar about it; perhaps it was a Stevie Ray Vaughan cover? It even evoked memories of the opening of “Red Dust” by Zero 7, yet it was a completely new melody to me all the same. All I knew is that the moment I heard it, I loved it. The melody hooked me in and I had my wife quickly scramble for my smartphone so I could use the “soundhound” app that hears the music and identifies it for you and if it has enough time, it will find you a YouTube link and show you even where you can buy it. Knowing the song was must be near its end, I was dying to know if I would ever be able to place this melancholy track. When the device buzzed, it revealed the mystery to be a guitar player known as Johnny A. Until I researched who this man was, I had no idea Johnny A (i.e. Johnny Antonopoulos) was the revered guitar legend that he is, I just knew he had the intelligence and subtlety to masterfully play a song called “Wichita Lineman.” A song up until this particular day, I did not know it even existed. A dedicated fan of musical history, I knew it was time to pull back the curtains of American music and delve a little deeper. It was then I discovered this song originally written by the aforementioned singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb and recorded by Glen Campbell in 1968 and it sold a million copies, outdoing even the Beatles that year.
Over the years “Wichita Lineman” has taken on a life of its own, having been covered by more than 25 other singers or bands like REM, Billy Joel, James Taylor and Keith Urban to name just a few. It has been referred to as “country music’s first existential song.” There is an unmistakable, palpable sadness that hangs over this track — it was written by Mr. Webb, who back in the 1960s observed the solitary telephone linemen, putting up poles and wires all along lonely desolate American highways. The song lingered with me and later when I got home, I went to my laptop and called it up on YouTube and kept it on repeat for longer than I care to admit and did some work primarily to the solo guitar version by Johnny A playing in the background. If you were to ask me if only a couple weeks later I would get to hear the man who penned this remarkable song live, a song that I only heard arbitrarily for the first time so recently and then get a chance to take moment to meet this great artist, I would have thought that to be absurd. However, that is exactly what happened. It is a fantastic thing once in a rare while to be able to appreciate in real time truly brilliant, original, fastidiously crafted art. More significantly it is even better to actually get to tell the creator of said art, who dedicated all that time and effort to pour themselves into this pursuit, to simply share with them that it was worth it. Their work is great; it is appreciated and thank you for doing it. This appreciation typically is expressed through applause, through music sales but it is indeed unique to speak directly to the artist and share these sentiments.
As previously mentioned, prior to the Saturday performance, there were three other experiences that recently tied into making this night one that resonated more than it otherwise would. I randomly saw three movies relating to music and songwriting in a short span of time that were unwittingly guiding me towards a fuller appreciation of the Jimmy Webb concert.
The first was the award-winning Beware Mr. Baker an award-winning documentary about the rock star drummer for Cream, Ginger Baker. While he is regarded as one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, he still prefers to be called a jazz drummer and always sought the jazz community’s validation throughout his career. For rock history and drumming aficionados, I highly recommend it.
For no other reason than hearing good things about the next film, I watched the highly acclaimed Whiplash. This film was an intense study in jazz drumming excellence and the complex relationship between student and teacher and how to bring the best talents to the surface. It was a gripping film that had me thinking back to my own introduction to drumming at age 11, through a jazz drumming instructor. At 11, all I wanted to do was learn how to play rock rhythms, what did I know about jazz and its importance to drumming and music? I learned quickly, that the most technically skilled drummers in the world were not usually the Billboard 100 artists, but in jazz bands.
Lastly, a film title that randomly caught my eye on Netflix entitled Still Alive. This story covered the unlikely life of one of the most successful songwriters of the 1970s and 1980s, Paul Williams. You might not know the name, but you might recognize the songs he wrote for Sinatra, Elvis, Streisand and the Carpenters as well as his own big hits. This combination of musical films was fast reminding me of just how unappreciated the songwriter role often is by the public at large. Singers need writers to craft songs just like actors need screenwriters in order to do what they do. Songwriters tend to not get the recognition of the one who sings their song but they are quite rare and so gifted at what they do, naturally singers seek them out time and again. Looking at the life of Paul Williams, he won almost every conceivable award in music and yet many don’t know just how enormous his impact in music and culture has been, even after 50 appearances on Johnny Carson — though these days, a generation will grow up saying Johnny who? Nevertheless, all of this musical history review unbeknownst to me was connecting me to that song I heard a couple weeks ago and was going to if nothing else, elevate my appreciation for the work and artistry of Jimmy Webb.
It would be colossally incorrect to call Jimmy Webb an unsung musical hero simply because many fans of modern music may not know his name. Quite the opposite, he has been recognized by the industry and his fellow artists for years. In fact, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at age 40. He has written songs for the biggest names in American music history. On Saturday, I learned just how towering a figure Glen Campbell actually was in the world, and he had actually recorded 200 of Jimmy Webb’s songs.
Having said all of this, when we arrived at Jazz FM’s Long & McQuade Performance Hall that was going live to air that night from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., there was nothing in the room but a large Steinway & Sons piano and four to five rows deep of chairs. I knew Jimmy Webb was the featured artist that night but otherwise I didn’t know much beyond that.
The format was reminiscent of MuchMusic’s old “intimate and interactive” approach of having the artist play, talk and be interviewed. This turned out to have worked out incredibly well.
As Jazz FM President and CEO Ross Porter welcomed everyone in, the live to air show began and noted that he was co-hosting with another enormously successful singer-songwriter Marc Jordan. Porter then went on to explained the format of the night. Webb was introduced and Porter mentioned that Jordan co-hosting the event afforded the perfect opportunity to have two amazingly accomplished songwriters discuss their craft as only they could, live on the air.
Formalities out of the way Webb played out an effortless introduction on the Steinway and broke into none other than the song that had leapt onto my radar only two weeks prior, “Wichita Lineman.” I was rather taken aback. This was the very composer of the song I had literally just discovered and he was now singing it live in a high-ceilinged but intimate environment. At 68, Webb’s voice still hits all the notes and his piano playing demonstrated complete mastery of the instrument. It’s not often, but occasionally, you will see a musician who plays his instrument deceptively easily, such that it seems they were born just always doing that, like breathing. Between songs, Marc Jordan would offer genuine compliments to the performance of Webb who with real humility was truly grateful for the kind words. After the first song, Jordan noted that while he had heard Webb play “Wichita Lineman” at least 12-13 times, he had never heard it played the same way twice and was that intentional? Webb smiled, acknowledging this and that he felt there is always an improvisational aspect to the live performance. What was also particularly interesting was that Jordan described Webb’s songs as being cinematic or like short movies or vignettes. Jordan explained he heard Webb’s songs like that because he was dyslexic he tended to see pictures first before words and would often see the images before they could be turned into song. Remarkably, Webb admitted he shared this very process as he too had a form of dyslexia and also saw the images of things before he ever had words. It was indeed a transcendent moment. I am certain that those who have battled against this disorder could not have found two better examples of how to turn something seemingly negative into an abundantly positive attribute that translated into high level artistic expression. Further, through these two songwriters their music has impacted millions of people around the world in more ways than they know. In a world where we see certain struggles or disabilities as disadvantages, it was clear that this challenge they both faced also gave them a unique perspective into the art of songwriting. It was an unexpected moment of profound insight.
It was also fascinating to hear Webb describe some of his experiences of writing songs for various people like Art Garfunkel shortly after the Simon & Garfunkel duo had split and Art needed new music to launch his budding solo career. Outside the San Francisco studio where Garfunkel was holding auditions of sorts, Webb mentioned running into the iconic singers David Crosby and Graham Nash who had just been turned away by Garfunkel as they shook their heads saying “good luck.” Garfunkel had notoriously high standards. During Webb’s audition of at least a dozen songs, it was Webb’s gospel roots piano playing that had Garfunkel sit up and take notice and Webb ultimately went on to write Garfunkel’s first hit after going solo.
Some of the other banter that went back and forth was the way that many artists are not able to be properly subsidized in this day and age in the same way he was able to since we live in the age of the free download. The unfortunate implication of not paying for the art we all clearly love and consume raises serious questions. We knowingly acknowledge music and the arts make our lives richer and our culture more diverse yet we risk pushing a budding composer out of the arts with each free download we enjoy. It is a debate that has been going on for years but Jimmy Webb remains confident as he closed out his show that in the end, the arts and creative expression will win out. Let’s hope so.
In many ways the Saturday night show really was a gift for Torontonians. Webb recalled it was in this city where he recorded his first album that really jumpstarted his career. So to be able to sit and listen to someone who has spent decades at the top of their career, particularly one who is the only person to have won a Grammy award for music, lyrics and orchestration was something special. When you get the opportunity to see the end result of tens of thousands of hours practice and playing and perfecting their discipline, count yourself blessed to see it unfold before you live as it doesn’t happen often enough.
I had a chance to speak to Mr. Webb briefly after his set and he was gracious and kind. In our brief chat I spoke of the many covers of Wichita Lineman that I had recently discovered and he knew well the one that really caught my attention by Johnny A, which he described simply as “beautiful.” There were many out there that he liked and also mentioned his appreciation for James Taylor’s version.
Of course, that hour of music and discussion would have been more than a fine night in and of itself, however as an unusual cap to the evening there was another live act playing just down the street to complement the Jimmy Webb show. Playing at Brazenhead pub, just a quick walk down the street were the immensely talented duo Phil Naro and Johnny Rogers aka The Phil and John show. Completely different music, but talented musicians of a different genre. Once again, I had never heard or seen these two veterans of the Toronto music scene, but they have been at it since the late 1980s when Johnny Rogers was part of the rising band Brighton Rock and Phil Naro was playing alongside KISS legend Peter Criss among other greats. At the back of this Liberty village pub they belted out songs that were beyond just good covers of Zeppelin, Beatles, Tom Petty and Supertramp, instead they reworked the songs with just two electric acoustic guitars and a solid sound system. They seemed almost too skilled to be there as most of the patrons were diverting their attention to the ill-timed NBA slam dunk contest which brought in collective ooh’s and ahh’s in mid-song. Good natured and open to requests, like pros they powered through it all with jokes and smiles. The Phil & John Show play six nights a week around the city, are open to requests and are far more than background music when you see Roger’s blistering guitar solos. If you get a chance to see them, it is well worth it.
It is good to know that even in -30C weather in mid-February; Toronto offers amazing opportunities to see diverse and talented musicians like Jimmy Webb play live or Phil & John at a local watering hole. With Drake recently releasing his most recent ode to Toronto, we have never had a better time to taking in musical experiences all over this city; we are bursting at the seams with talent despite this dark and sometimes unrelenting winter and the music can indeed provide a warm respite from the savage cold.
