POP MUSIC REVIEW : Audience Won’t Let Jimmy Webb Move On

Jimmy Webb has a dilemma. One of the most notable songwriters of his generation, the 49-year-old artist has never quite been able to convince the larger audience of his abilities as a performer. One solo album after another, produced by the likes of George Martin and Linda Ronstadt, have drawn little attention, despite Webb’s easygoing manner and intriguing songs.

At the opening of his four-night solo engagement at the Cinegrill on Wednesday, one of the reasons for the dilemma became clear. Like many successful artists, Webb is inextricably associated with his greatest hits. Although he was in fine voice and more than willing to present some of his current numbers, his enthusiastic listeners seemed eager to simply hear the cream of the Webb crop.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. Songs such as “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Up, Up and Away” are not just good tunes, they’re part of the collective memory of the ‘60s and ‘70s. But Webb’s newer material--the seasonal “A Snow Covered Christmas,” the whimsical “If You Love Me, Love My Dog,” the lovely ballad “Is There Love After You”--is as well-crafted and emotionally moving as his earlier work. It, too, deserves a hearing.

Webb tried hard to avoid it, but he finally was obliged to finish his show with an obligatory tour through “MacArthur Park.” To his credit, he managed to find a reasonably new perspective for its familiar images.

* Jimmy Webb appears tonight and Saturday at the Cinegrill in the Radisson Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., 8 and 10 p.m. $15, two-drink minimum. (213) 466-7000.