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The Cake and the Rain Hardcover – 18 April 2017
- Print length346 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSt Martins Pr
- Publication date18 April 2017
- Dimensions16.15 x 3.28 x 24.33 cm
- ISBN-101250058414
- ISBN-13978-1250058416
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Product description
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : St Martins Pr
- Publication date : 18 April 2017
- Language : English
- Print length : 346 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250058414
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250058416
- Item weight : 544 g
- Dimensions : 16.15 x 3.28 x 24.33 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 1,955,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3,183 inRock Music
- 5,543 inRock & Pop Musician Biographies
- Customer reviews:
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book readable and appreciate the author's descriptive writing style. Moreover, the storytelling receives positive feedback, with one customer highlighting the profusion of stories about entertainment figures. However, the pacing receives mixed reactions, with one customer noting issues with the narrative jumping between past and present.
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Customers find the book readable, with one describing it as an interesting and entertaining memoir.
"Superb read,highly recommend"Read more
"Brilliantly written summary of a brilliant career.Essential reading."Read more
"...he certainly is - but he is also a fantastic wordsmith so thisbook is a joy to read...."Read more
"Great reading"Read more
Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, noting its descriptive nature, and one customer describes the author as a fantastic wordsmith.
"Nicely written showing the quirky use of words that you would expect of a great lyricist"Read more
"Master melodist he certainly is - but he is also afantastic wordsmith so this book is a joy to read...."Read more
"Brilliantly written summary of a brilliant career. Essential reading."Read more
"...In common with many of his best known songs, Webb'swriting is almost cinematically descriptive with corresponding images coming readily to mind...."Read more
Customers enjoy the storytelling style of the book, with one customer noting its rich synopsis of the author's career.
"...about someone in the music industry with so many great,new stories that you’ve never heard before. Fascinating and entertaining!"Read more
"...But we do also, of course, have aprofusion of stories about the entertainment folk with whom Jimmy mingled, caroused and collaborated from the late..."Read more
"...However, there are plenty offascinating stories told with refreshing honesty and much self-deprecating humour concerning the making of his first..."Read more
"...As always Jimmy's recollections are clear enough to give arich synopsis of his career that still continues to pack concert venues...."Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it effective while others note issues with the narrative jumping between past and present.
"...exclusively on the years between 1955 and 1973 andjumps backwards and forwards chronologically I didn't find a problem at all and for me it was..."Read more
"...It's very repetitive & somehowjumping from past to present doesn't seem to work"Read more
"...Effective enough but I'd have preferred old-fashioned chronological storytelling..."Read more
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 June 2018Master melodist he certainly is - but he is also a fantastic wordsmith so this book is a joy to read. Especially so for lovers also of quality songs written by Maestro Jimmy's forebears, during the twenties to seventies periods
But we do also, of course, have a profusion of stories about the entertainment folk with whom Jimmy mingled, caroused and collaborated from the late sixties through the seventies
He employs a device of drifting back and forth between years/decades. Effective enough but I'd have preferred old-fashioned chronological storytelling
A total 'gasp' moment for me was the disclosure(s) of Jim's infatuation and physical mergings with the wife of an extremely well-known fellow songwriter. She was replaced in his hopeless affections by another Goddess (his perception) a few years after. Highly recommended - Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2017Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseDespite the almost obligatory profanity which we've now come to expect from musicians' memoirs, Webb's literary gifts are obvious from almost the first paragraph. In common with many of his best known songs, Webb's writing is almost cinematically descriptive with corresponding images coming readily to mind. The fact that this memoir focuses almost exclusively on the years between 1955 and 1973 and jumps backwards and forwards chronologically I didn't find a problem at all and for me it was refreshing as practically all the autobiographies that I've ever read start at the very beginning ('I was born at a very early age'), spend an inordinate amount of time on the formative years and then wind-up racing towards the finishing line with the last decade or two of often dwindling success covered in as little as a few paragraphs. The current trend for memoirists to 'tell all' regarding their sex lives, no doubt encouraged by the publishers, is something Webb doesn't shy away from and maybe I shouldn't have been surprised at just how complicated his various romantic entanglements were given the nature of the songs he wrote at that time. Still, all that plus the detailing of his hippie lifestyle, the heavy pot smoking and Cocaine use, his obsession with cars and sailplanes and particularly the long, drawn-out account of the sailing expedition on the Magnifico, all could have been trimmed down to allow room to include much more on his music career and in particular the writing and arranging of albums such as Up, Up and Away and The Magic Garden for the 5th Dimension, Rewind by Johnny Rivers and The Yard Went On Forever by Richard Harris, all of which barely get touched on. However, there are plenty of fascinating stories told with refreshing honesty and much self-deprecating humour concerning the making of his first record as a writer/arranger while still at music college with fellow students the Contessas, his time at Jobette Music, meeting his early mentor Johnny Rivers and their eventual falling out, the Monterey Festival, Richard Harris and the recording of MacArthur Park, his inspired musical partnership with Glen Campbell, 'Swinging' London, meeting the Beatles in the recording studio and Paul McCartney's seemingly calculated offhand behaviour, the making of the Sunshower album with Thelma Houston and his ill-starred transformation into a singer-songwriter. That he became heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell is obvious to those of us familiar with his first few albums as a performer, but just how much he fell under her spell as their friendship developed is made very clear in the book. Webb must have hesitated before deciding to include the rather sordid tale concerning Harry Nilsson and John Lennon during the latter's 'lost weekend' period and I for one wish he hadn't because it left a nasty taste in the mouth coming as it does at the very end of the book. Still, I'm sure the publishers were delighted with its inclusion and indeed the rest of the book and apparently 'Part Two' has already been commissioned.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 December 2021It was so good to read an autobiography about someone in the music industry with so many great, new stories that you’ve never heard before. Fascinating and entertaining!
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2018I was really excited when I heard this book had been released. I love Jimmy Webb's songs and I felt sure he would have a good story to tell but I'm finding it hard going, to be honest. I don't feel like Jimmy's personality shines through.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 June 2022Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseBrilliantly written summary of a brilliant career. Essential reading.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2018I was looking forward to this but the format is a disappointment. It is in mp3 but the sections appear to 'locked' together. I would be happy to transfer them onto several CDs so that I could listen to them in the car or on several mobile players but unfortunately I can only listen to it at home on my computer. It'll take me ages to get through it this way. Is this the future of Audio Books, I certainly hope not. (I deducted 1 star for this reason)
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2018He wrote the songbook of my youth. Now he writes about what his life was like as he composed the songs that have become long term classics.
As always Jimmy's recollections are clear enough to give a rich synopsis of his career that still continues to pack concert venues.
No tone is left untuned so to speak of the master songwriter, as he is more than open about his drug use and the characters that surrounded him.
The story is only taking the reader so far in the book. I look forward to reading about his later life.
If you have any doubt about the relevance of Webb in the chronicles of Popular Music the extensive career information at the rear of the book spells it out to you. - Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 May 2019Great book
Top reviews from other countries
- Ken MarshallReviewed in Canada on 2 February 2020
5.0 out of 5 starsJimmy Webb and his writing songs for the artists in the sixties.
Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseReally good book . Another favorite on the writer in the sixties and on going - strat54Reviewed in the United States on 20 April 2017
5.0 out of 5 starsA Fun, Wild, Amusing Trip Through The Music Biz
This was an easy and captivating read. Anecdotes and stories from one of America’s greatest songwriters.
An insider’s tales of sex, drugs and Rock and Roll mixed with cars, planes, hotels, Vegas, you name it.
There is drama, comedy, tragedy, infidelity, betrayal, debauchery, love, loyalty, basically all the elements that could make a good soap opera.
He writes in a comfortable style that draws you in, you feel like a fly on the wall in a studio or a wingman sitting in the Super Snake.
Mr. Webb, always the wordsmith, writes in a poetic style like he writes his songs.
Many carefully chosen adjectives and phraseology that will stretch the lexicon.
I admit I had to look up at least a couple of terms.
The time jumps keep the pace from getting bogged down and remind me of the style of a Kurt Vonnegut Sci-Fi novel.
Except this is no novel, he lived it.
I would have liked a few more photos, of course. I also would love to see it made into a movie someday.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Bravo! - Barry (Bazza) GowardReviewed in Germany on 10 February 2022
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read from a gifted songwriter
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseJimmy Webb has written some classics in his time, as many will remember Galveston and Wichita Linesman and not forgetting the cake that was left out in the rain. He takes us with him on his musical trip through the hot hundreds of the past four decades, from backstage meet ups with Elvis, Sinatra and many top stars, and all the other characters that drifted in and out of the limelight. He's a survivor with a unique talent for blending unusual rhymes with moving melodies, inviting many top acts to chase the number 1 spot with one of his compositions. Very entertaining. - Guaracy BuenoReviewed in Brazil on 4 October 2018
5.0 out of 5 starsAutobiografia de um dos maiores compositores norte-americanos
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseÉ muito bom ler uma autobiografia, ainda mais se quem escreveu foi um dos meus maiores mentores musicais, Jimmy Webb, compositor do mesmo nível de Burt Bacharach ou de David Foster. Ele descreve com precisão momentos fantásticos de sua vida, seu auge artístico e profissional, que ocorreu na época musicalmente mais prolífera de todos os tempos para músicas instrumentais, os anos 1960-1970. - PhillipReviewed in Australia on 10 February 2024
4.0 out of 5 starsJimmy Webb - the music - the life
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThis is a share onto a brief period of Jimmy Webb’s life. A read that muso’s , lovers of his music and readers interested in the lives of those who impact us ordinary beings in our lives will enjoy.
The stories within are at best “eye opening” and at worst “really”.
Like all muso’s writings a shortfall , for us who like to read about the arduous task to brilliance ( maybe there was no arduous 10,000 hours), however the books make up with the opportunities falling their way which would only do so because of their skill, talent and brilliance. Hopefully it is Book 1 in a series of memoirs as Jimmy is still on the circuit. And his music is still on the playlist of cover bands.
My favourite bit in this memoir, is the story of MacArthur Park , the park, the cake, the rain , the love interest, the knock back by “The Association” but especially the manuscript taped together starting on the floor the left side of the piano across the piano and down to the floor the right side of the piano.
Yeh that’s a bit sad considering there are many many gems in the book.
Enjoy , and Jimmy is there a book 2 ? Please.
