Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb (“Wichita Lineman,” “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” “Galveston,” “MacArthur Park”) has just released his memoir, “The Cake and the Rain: A Memoir,” and will be heading to Christian Community Church (1635 Emerson) in Naperville for a book signing and Q&A on April 20.
Tickets are $30 and include a copy of the book. Advance tickets can be purchased at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, or at the event site beginning at 6 p.m. The event begins at 7 p.m.
The book spans a snippet of Webb’s highly-charged life. from 1955 to 1970, from his upbringing as a preacher’s son in Oklahoma, to the highest echelons of the music industry.
The book’s title comes from Webb’s most loved/hated song, “MacArthur Park,” made famous in the 1968 recording by actor Richard Harris. As Webb has often explained of the song’s lyrics, the sights and persons mentioned were based on real-life happenings at the famed Los Angeles park, a tony locale he frequented and which he also mentions in the book.
In the memoir, Webb writes of his earliest days in the music business:
Writing hit songs was so damn easy I fantasized I could write one whenever I wanted or needed to. My songs dominated easy listening pop radio. … i was one of the first guys since Burt Bacharach and Hal David to be famous for writing songs. I wasn’t a Beatle. I wasn’t a bandleader or an arranger. And I was definitely not a performer. I used to joke around with other songwriters that they had to be very careful and not sing a demo to well. Great singers loved to have a terrible demo that needed their particular brand of refinement.
