Fred Molin, a producer and longtime
Jimmy Webb collaborator, cajoled the great songwriter to participate in this tribute.
Just Across the River features 13 classic
Webb tunes performed by the
Webb with an all-star band and guest appearances by friends, collaborators, admirers, and fellow recording artists such as
Linda Ronstadt,
Jackson Browne,
Billy Joel,
Willie Nelson,
Glen Campbell,
Michael McDonald,
Mark Knopfler,
J.D. Souther,
Vince Gill, and
Lucinda Williams.
Webb also performs three songs here unaccompanied by other singers. The band
Molin assembled includes a host of Nashville's best:
John Hobbs (keyboards),
Bryan Sutton and
John Willis (on guitars, mandolin, and banjo),
Larry Paxton (bass),
Greg Morrow and
Eddie Bayers (drums),
Stuart Duncan (fiddle, mandolin),
Jeff Taylor (accordion),
Pat Buchanan (electric guitar), and
Paul Franklin (pedal steel and dobro). There are instrumental cameos, too, including one by
Jerry Douglas, whose dobro adorns
"Wichita Lineman." Given
Webb's stature, none of this is surprising. What is, however, especially given the gorgeous sound of this set, is that the vasty majority of it was recorded live over two days in a Nashville studio -- vocals were overdubbed. Some of the highlights include
"Oklahoma Nights" with
Gill's beautiful tenor balancing the harmonies;
"The Highwayman," in which
Mark Knopfler underscores
Webb's vocal with his own, creating a dark, melancholy authenticity;
"Wichita Lineman" features
Joel, whose empathic feel for the duet is remarkable, and his voice contrasts beautifully with
Webb's. Shockingly,
Browne's help on
"P.F. Sloan" helps to make the song a real tragedy for an era, as well as a for a man, rather than a merely ironic one.
Webb's own re-recordings, especially on
"It Won't Bring Her Back" and
"Cowboy Hall of Fame," display him in excellent voice. The only real downers here are
Williams' breathy performance on
"Galveston," simply because she overdramatizes a song already so full of it, that it collapses under its lyric weight.
Campbell's duet on
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (of course) is too nostalgic and uninspired to resonate; but how could his original single ever be equaled, let alone surpassed? In addition, there are times when the string arrangements are just overblown (
"Where Words End"). These complaints aside, for
Webb's fans, this is well worth investigating. ~ Thom Jurek
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