Just Across The River

The critical acclaim composer Jimmy Webb has received during his more than forty years of success is as remarkable as the accomplishments they honor: Webb is the only artist to ever receive Grammy awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration; he is a member of the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame; and, according to BMI, his By the Time I Get to Phoenix, (sung on the new album in duet with Glen Campbell-the first time the two have ever recorded together) has been the third most performed song in the last fifty years. Webb's Wichita Lineman (performed here with Billy Joel and Jerry Douglas) has been listed in the Top Fifty of MOJO Magazine's worldwide survey of the best one hundred singles of all time, and was singled out in the Oct/Nov 2001 issue of Blender as the Greatest Song Ever. Webb was known initially for the instant classics he provided for such artists as Campbell, Richard Harris (MacArthur Park, Didn t We), the Fifth Dimension (Up, Up and Away, This Is Your Life), and Johnny Maestro's Brooklyn Bridge (Worst That Could Happen.) Jimmy also topped the Country charts when Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson hit #1 with the Highwayman, a ballad which won him yet another Grammy for Best Country Song of the Year, and a CMA Award for Single of the Year. On Just Across the River, Jimmy shares the mike with Mark Knopfler on this tune. Linda Ronstadt, who has recorded a multitude of Webb songs throughout her recording career, included four of his efforts on her double platinum album, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. She's on board here for a heartwarming, intimate closing duet on All I Know, the Webb standard made famous by Art Garfunkel. And that's just the beginning. As a performer Jimmy has released numerous critically-acclaimed albums over the years, earning distinguished reviews in all of the major publications, and unqualified praise following his appearances in concert halls and top cabaret venues. But he has never attempted a project like Just Across the River, where his singing AND songwriting is celebrated by the collaborations of his peers, like Jackson Browne and Willie Nelson, as well as artists who have revered his music for years, like Lucinda Williams, Michael McDonald, and Vince Gill. There has never been a songwriter like Jimmy Webb. And there has never been an album of his songs like Just Across the River.