Back in March I ‘reported’ my intention to read ‘Tunesmith, Inside The Art Of Songwriting’ by Jimmy Webb, composer of, among other things, 'Wichita Lineman'. I also did some speculation on what I thought the book was going to be like, and quite frankly, whether I was going to be up to the task. I finished it a few weeks ago. So, is it ‘the finest book about songwriting of our time’ as the front cover purports?
If you’re looking for a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer to that question, it’s going to be… ‘no’. A conclusion like that does deserve some explanation though, because really I think the answer is, ‘No, not to me, right at this moment’. That may change. The book deserves more than that.
So who is it for?
If you consider the grand scheme of things, most songwriting books are aimed at trying to get the person who knows nothing, or has no belief in their musical ability, to give it a go. ‘How To Write One Song’ by Jeff Tweedy is such a book. You’ve then got books that really act like study guides, for people with some ability, keen to hone their creative process. ‘Writing Better Lyrics’ by Pat Pattison is such a book. Then there’s ‘Tunesmith’.
‘Tunesmith’ goes the whole way, forensically nit-picking at every aspect of the songwriting process. It’s far more opinionated about what constitutes good and bad work, which runs against the general 21st century concept of ‘as long as you try your best, everything’s brilliant, and nobody else’s opinion matters’. I’m not saying the book is wrong, but as we’ve all become aware of, the music industry, and the way music is created and consumed has changed immeasurably since the book’s publication in 1988. The dated nature of the book means that a lot of the references Webb uses when quoting other songwriters, associations and records would most likely fall on deaf ears for most people, although I’m sure they’re perfectly valid and accurate.
There is far too much to unpack from this book in one blog, and some of it, I’ll be honest, is beyond me in terms of technicality. I’d like it to not always be that way, but I suspect some of it will remain so. There are certainly ideas in there that I can apply to my own songwriting, but seeing a book that lays bare a huge selection of songwriting techniques with mathematical precision, does make me wonder whether I actually want to understand. Whether part of the magic for me is discovering something for myself, even if a million people have discovered it before. Ultimately for me I think it will be whether I can find a use for these ideas in my own work. Any musical idea, or even just a new chord, becomes much more relevant to me when I find a use for it.
In conclusion
My overall conclusion then, as you might have guessed, is that ‘Tunesmith’ isn’t for everyone, but bits of it probably are. If you’re a fan of the great American songbook and really want to deep dive on how it all works, it’s great, but you’re still not likely to fully appreciate all of it. It doesn’t mean to say you shouldn’t try, it just depends on how high your technical songwriting goals are.
The following video is an excerpt from Rick Beato’s interview with Jimmy Webb, specifically the section which involves the writing and recording of ‘Wichita Lineman’. The full hour long interview is also available on YouTube if you wish, but I think this in itself will help you to appreciate the skill and level at which Jimmy Webb operates as a songwriter.
In future blogs I’m going to explain a few of the points I found most relevant and interesting within the book, that will hopefully resonate or appeal to music appreciators as well as songwriters. For now though, just this… have a good weekend!
You can visit Jimmy's website here for pretty much everything....]Including tickets to his show next Tuesday night at Cadogan Hall in London...
Having listened to quite a lot of Jimmy Webb songs, I can honestly say I find most of them boring, especially 'Wichita Lineman'. Johnny Cash gave the best advice when it came to songwriting: "Tell a story".