Just Across the River

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Artist: Jimmy Webb
Label: E1 Music
Category: Music

List Price: ~~$17.98~~
Buy New: $9.99
as of 9/8/2010 08:16 EDT details
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Seller: -importcds
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

17 reviews
Sales Rank: 105

Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4

UPC: 099923206828
EAN: 0099923206828
ASIN: B003H093SK

Release Date: June 29, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Tracks:

•	Oklahoma Nights (Vince Gill)
•	Wichita Lineman (Billy Joel)
•	If You See Me Getting Smaller (Willie Nelson)
•	Galveston (Lucinda Williams)
•	Do What You Gotta Do
•	Cowboy Hall Of Fame
•	P.F. Sloan (Jackson Browne)
•	Highwayman (Mark Knopfler)
•	By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Glen Campbell)
•	I Was Too Busy Loving You (J.D. Souther)
•	Where Words End (Michael McDonald)
•	It Won t Bring Her Back
•	All I Know (Linda Ronstadt)

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 17

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Wonderful Record September 2, 2010
Robert (Los Alamitos, US, Canada)
While I certainly understand those who feel Webb missed an opportunity here to move forward instead of looking backwards, I disagree with the sentiments expressed that this CD is a wasted effort. The arrangements, Jimmy's voice itself, and the choices he made for the duets make this as enjoyable an any other of his albums I own (this goes back to 1970's "Words and Music"). The acoustic vibe with the added banjo and mandolin is a welcome addition to his legendary songs. If you're a Webb fan, you probably already own this, if not, "Just Across the River" will show you why he's among our greatest living songwriters. Favorites: "Where Words End" , "If You See Me Getting Smaller" (with Willie Nelson) and "All I Know" with a perfect harmony by Linda Ronstadt. Thank you Jimmy.

5 out of 5 stars

A must have for any collection & lover of music !! August 29, 2010
Dr. Nuts (Wappingers Falls, NY USA)
Thank you to WFUV 90.7 in NYC for introducing me to Jimmy Webb. I am a huge lover of music but had never heard of Jimmy Webb. Although I'm not a fan of country music, rather a big fan of music which has been influenced by country music, Just Across The River has something special. Many of the other reviews here on Amazon touched on a lot about this record so I won't be redundant. After each listen, I come to appreciate it more and more. Very heartfelt songs. A must have for any music collection.

5 out of 5 stars

A truly great album August 4, 2010
S. Moore (Redwood City, CA United States)
Although I've always liked many of the songs Jimmy has written, as performed by other artists, I can't say I've ever been a fan of Webb the performer...until now! Even though many of the songs here have been recorded by many others, Webb & his all-star guest vocalists breathe new life into each and every one.
I can't stop playing this CD! Every song is great! A couple of favorites include the haunting remake of
Galveston, with Lucinda Williams. Jackson Browne lends his considerable vocal talents to the very catchy P.F. Sloan. All of the celebrity vocalists harmonize perfectly with Jimmy, but they also share in singing their own verses. This album definitely has a real country/Americana flavor to it. Definitely in my top 10 for the year!

5 out of 5 stars

The Webb Is Woven Again, With A Little Help From His Friends July 31, 2010
Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The man might not be blessed with the greatest voice of any singer, let alone singer/songwriter, on the planet; but over a period of five different decades, Jimmy Webb has made an enormous impact on his profession, with an avalanche of songs that have been recorded by dozens and dozens of different artists over time, whether it has been the much reviled and misunderstood "MacArthur Park", or such monstrous Glen Campbell hits as "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", or "By The Time I Get To Phoenix." And so, this son of an Oklahoma Baptist minister whose songwriting genius so many can and should still take notes from has managed to revive a lot of those songs again, with a little help from his friends, on JUST ACROSS THE RIVER.

Recorded in Nashville for the most part, and utilizing that music community's folk/country/Americana session elites, Webb re-imagines all of his songs in this particular format; and even if some of his guests here are not known for being in that genre (such as Billy Joel, who helps on "Wichita Lineman"), it doesn't dissipate the final result. Lucinda Williams does a good guest turn on "Galveston", even as her lazy Louisiana drawl of a voice is an admittedly acquired taste. Glen himself reunites with his old friend for a sort of Nashville lounge version of "Phoenix"; Michael McDonald guests on "Where Worlds End" (whose lyrics provided this album's title); Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler's Dylanesque vocals and guitar are featured on "Highwayman" (the #1 C&W hit for the Highwaymen [in 1985] for Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings); and Willie himself helps out on "If You See Me Getting Smaller." Southern California rock stalwarts J.D. Souther (on "I Was Too Busy Loving You") and Jackson Browne (on "P.F. Sloan"), also do well.

It is really on the final track, however, a reworking of "All I Know", a Top 10 hit for Art Garfunkel in 1973, that things get quite poignant. Here, Webb managed to get Linda Ronstadt, perhaps the best interpreter of his material after Glen Campbell, to harmonize with him, and not surprisingly it works. At the same time, however, it's a bit sad to listen to in light of the possibility that this may be the last time anybody hears Linda's voice either on record or in concert. Vocal problems supposedly caused by her two decade-long thyroid condition may have finally forced the Queen Of Country Rock to retire. It would be a catastrophic tragedy if this were true, but even if it is, it is a fitting way to end her unbelievably long career by working with a favorite songwriter of hers.

All in all, this is a very rootsy experience into the heart of one of the greatest songwriters of the modern era, and it is really worth getting.

5 out of 5 stars

Better with age -- were that we all July 31, 2010
Tim Ryland (San Marcos, CA USA)
Webb's voice has never been a notable instrument, but over the years he's gotten much better at singing within his own limitations, and if you don't think this is the best singing of his career, well, then either you don't know his earlier work or else you're not listening. There's something ineffably lovely about hearing a great songwriter who's not known as a great singer -- whether it's Webb or Carole King or Johnny Mercer -- interpret his or her own work. That said, Webb's voice is just fine, thank you. The added bonus here is the roster of nonpareil artists, each with his or her own long history with the composer and the song. (Don't settle for the digital download: Webb's liner notes are worth the extra cost.) And the mark of the greatness of these songs is that they not only bear reinterpretation, when it's done right -- as it is here, in bushels -- they yield new fruit. Take for only one example "All I Know." The elegiac rendering by Webb and Linda Ronstadt strips away the bombast of Art Garfunkel's original version and gets in a more poignant way to the childlike simplicity of lyric. My one quibble: I wish the guest vocalists who get only to sing harmonies -- Vince Gill, Michael McDonald and J.D. Souther -- had been given a verse or two of their own. But this is a fine album that ascends closer to greatness at each new listen.

Showing reviews 1-5 of 17

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