Jimmy Webb Sings the Songs, Tells the Tales

Perhaps predictably, Jimmy Webb’s appearance at the Cinegrill on Monday turned out to be an evening largely devoted to his numerous hits.

Webb’s salad years were the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, when he was cranking out numbers recorded by artists such as Glen Campbell, Richard Harris, the Fifth Dimension and others. And his capacity to come up with a combination of offbeat lyrical ideas (“The Wichita Lineman”) and immediately memorable melodies (“Up, Up and Away”) crossed his work through genres ranging from pop and country to rock and jazz.

Accompanying himself before a surprisingly sparse crowd, Webb played the role of amiable raconteur. It’s always fascinating to hear the musical insights songwriters provide when they sing their own material. And it was even more intriguing when Webb offered anecdotal tales of recording with Campbell, cruising Ireland with Harris and writing songs (“If These Walls Could Speak”) with one performer (Waylon Jennings) in mind, only to have them recorded by astrikingly different artist (Amy Grant).

Webb’s program was oriented, he said, toward the male artists who have sung his songs, which allowed him to toss in a few less-familiar items such as “Marionette,” “I Got a Right to Disappear,” “P.F. Sloan” and “Crying in My Sleep” along with the expected renderings of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Galveston,” “MacArthur Park” and “Wichita Lineman.” Sung in Webb’s gruff voice with his minimalist piano accompaniment, they afforded amiable echoes of a rapidly receding pop-music era.

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* Jimmy Webb at the Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., 8 p.m. $20 tonight and Thursday, $25 Friday and Saturday, plus $10 minimum. (323) 769-7273.