Today I’m going to smash the system by writing about a book I haven’t read yet.
At a songwriting workshop last week we were talking about all the usual stuff, and a new participant, (we will call him Darren, because that’s his actual name), waxed lyrical about how good a book he’d read called “Tunesmith” by Jimmy Webb was. One of the phrases Darren used was “It’s not what you think it’s going to be”. Intriguing, eh? So when I got home, I went on Ebay, and with no particular thought, I ordered myself a second hand copy. Got to be worth a go, hasn’t it? I think most books I read these days are, in some form or another, based on a recommendation, why should this be any different?
Well, yesterday it arrived. It’s definitely second hand. It’s a bit curly around the edges and it’s got that ‘old musty paper’ kind of smell. The kind of smell that says that the pages haven't seen the light of day in a while, possibly this century. I have no issue with that, books are meant to be read, guitars are meant to be played, neither are of any use gathering dust. The cover sports a man sitting at a piano looking exhausted, and the tagline declares it to be ‘Perhaps the finest book about songwriting of our time’ - Musician. I’m assuming ‘Musician’ in this case refers to the magazine about American popular music, and is not just….I dunno, some bloke… somewhere, who had a clarinet, once…
Speaking of ‘some bloke, somewhere’ it now occurs to me I have no idea who Jimmy Webb actually is. Understanding that this might make me some kind of musical philistine, the temptation to google him becomes huge.….and ultimately proves irresistible.
His Wikipedia entry is significant. Scanning quickly…..Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the age of 21, Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt, The Supremes, Art Garfunkel….Songwriters Hall of Fame……blah, blah…..lifetime achievement award, Ivor Novello……only artist to ever receive a Grammy for music, lyrics and orchestration. I think we can safely conclude the man knows his beans.
Giving the book a cursory flick through, I spot a lot of staves, and some quite detailed diagrams on musical relationships. This book might have some theory! I find it interesting the level that some of these books are pitched at. Some books, like Jeff Tweedy’s “How To Write One Song” are very much aimed at getting you over the songwriting threshold, and almost giving yourself permission to have a go. This book looks like, on face value, that it might be aimed at the musician with a bit of knowledge…
Do I have that knowledge? I don’t know! I basically play music for a living but I haven’t had any real music lessons since I learnt to play ‘London’s Burning’ on the recorder at primary school. Anyway, I’ll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, here's a video of 'Galveston', a song Jimmy Webb wrote for Glen Campbell. It was rated #8 in CMT's '100 Greatest Songs in Country Music'.
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