Songwriter Jimmy Webb will be honored with a special tribute show at Carnegie Hall this Wednesday, May 3, 2017. “A Celebration of the Music of Jimmy Webb: The Cake and the Rain” features a initial lineup of artists, many of whom have personal ties to the songwriter: Ashley Campbell (daughter of Glen Campbell), Art Garfunkel, Graham Nash, Amy Grant, Toby Keith, Judy Collins, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. of the Fifth Dimension, Johnny Rivers, B.J. Thomas, Hanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Shelea, Liz Callaway and Dwight Yoakam are all confirmed to perform, with more artists to be announced.
Webb himself will be performing at the event, as well. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association and the I’ll Be Me Foundation in honor of Jimmy’s dear friend Glen Campbell. The show will be presented by City Winery and is expected to feature many of Webb’s biggest hits.
Related: Our review of the concert
According to a press release, “The tribute event coincides with two milestones: Jimmy’s new memoir, The Cake and The Rain, set for publication on April 18 through St. Martin’s Press, and the upcoming 50th anniversary of ‘Wichita Lineman.’ The Cake and the Rain is written as powerfully as his lyrics and provides a snapshot of Webb’s unlikely rise in the 60s, whipsawed from the proverbial humble beginnings into a moneyed and manic international world of beautiful women, drugs, cars and planes.”
Related: BCB’s interview with Jimmy Webb
Webb’s songs have topped the charts in multiple genres by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Barbra Streisand, the Supremes, Donna Summer, Richard Harris, Nina Simone and many more. His numerous accolades include the Ivor Novello International Award (2012) and the Academy of Country Music’s Poet Award (2016). He received his first gold record at the age of 18 and was the youngest inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2016 Webb premiered his classical piece “Nocturne for Lefty” and had his music featured prominently on Kanye West’s Grammy-nominated “Famous.”
Webb is the former chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and long-time board member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Webb has released 10 solo albums since the 1970s, while continuing to write for other artists. 2010’s Just Across the River features duets on some of his biggest songs with Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, JD Souther and Glen Campbell plus Lucinda Williams, Michael McDonald and Mark Knopfler. A followup featuring Brian Wilson, Art Garfunkel, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Carly Simon, Keith Urban and more was released in Fall 2013.
Watch Jimmy Webb perform “Galveston,” one of his biggest hits
[easy_sign_up title=”Sign up For the Best Classic Bands Newsletter”]
