Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Song of the Day-All My Love's Laughter

Jimmy Webb is arguably on the shortlist for greatest living American songwriter.  He is a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. He won the Grammy for 1967's Song of the Year ("Up, Up and Away" which, IMHO, would not have been my choice in that watershed year, but still a fine pop tune). Wikipedia lists at least 18 collections of Jimmy Webb songs. That is, where one or more artists have recorded an entire album of Jimmy Webb songs. And that is the rub with Jimmy Webb. He considers himself as much a performer as a songwriter. He has released a dozen albums of his own material since 1968. He continues to perform live, peppering his shows with stories of how he wrote his trademark tunes. His versatility has extended to musical theater, film and tv scores, even commercial jingles. The one achievement he has not notched is a hit single or album in his own right. However, I come to praise Jimmy Webb, not damn him. He is probably most associated with Glen Campbell, but Art Garfunkel is nearly as well known as a Jimmy Webb interpreter. And our Song of the Day is a lesser known but beautiful love song called "All My Love's Laughter" which Garfunkel recorded on his 1978 "Watermark" release and Webb recorded it on his 1971 "And So: On" album.

I have put both up her for a "compare and contrast" but, either way, it's a great song!

1 comment:

  1. Garfunkel and Webb are magical together (All I Know), However I believe All My Loves Laughter is equal to the far more played All I Know....The Watermark version with Art singing and Webb on the Piano has a haunting feeling that will linger long after you hear the song....Nice Celtic feel at the end....A true hidden gem

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