Early success, 1965–1969 After transcribing other people's music for a small music publisher in Hollywood, Webb was signed to a songwriting contract with Jobete Music, the publishing arm of
Motown Records. The first commercial recording of a Jimmy Webb song was "My Christmas Tree" by
The Supremes, which appeared on their 1965
Merry Christmas album. The following year, Webb met singer and producer
Johnny Rivers, who signed him to a publishing deal and recorded his song "
By the Time I Get to Phoenix" on his 1966 album
Changes. that was originally rejected by the group
the Association. Despite the song's seven minutes and twenty-one seconds length, Harris's version reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 on June 22, 1968, and No. 4 on the
UK Singles Chart on July 24. The album,
A Tramp Shining, stayed on the charts for almost a year. Webb and Harris produced a follow-up album,
The Yard Went On Forever, which was also successful. Further raising Webb's stature as a songwriter, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was performed by
Frank Sinatra on the latter's 1968 album
Cycles. Sinatra would go on to praise "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" as "the greatest
torch song ever written". At the 1969
Grammy Awards, Webb accepted awards for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", and "MacArthur Park". In 2019 "Wichita Lineman" was added to the
National Recording Registry. In 1969, Glen Campbell continued the streak of Webb hits with the gold record "Galveston" and "
Where's the Playground Susie". Webb and Campbell had first met during the production of a
General Motors commercial. Webb arrived at the recording session with his
Beatle-length hair and approached the conservative singer, who looked up from his guitar and said, "Get a haircut."
Large-scale projects, 1982–1992 From 1982 to 1992, Webb turned his focus from solo performing to large-scale projects, such as
film scores, Broadway musicals, and
classical music. In 1982, he produced the soundtrack for the film
The Last Unicorn, an animated children's tale, with the musical group
America performing five new Jimmy Webb songs: "The Last Unicorn", "Man's Road", "In the Sea", "Now That I'm a Woman", and "That's All I've Got to Say". The rest of the album contains instrumental music composed, arranged, and conducted by Webb. That same year, he composed the soundtrack to all episodes of the TV series
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The theme music for the 1984-85 TV sitcom
E/R was written by Webb. Then in 1985, Glen Campbell recorded Webb's "Cowboy Hall of Fame" and "Shattered" for the album ''It's Just a Matter of Time
. And heavyweights Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson recorded "Highwayman" on the album Highwayman
. In 1988, Toto recorded "Home of the Brave" on the album The Seventh One. Kenny Rankin recorded "She Moves, Eyes Follow" for the album Hiding in Myself
. And in 1989, Linda Ronstadt recorded the album Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind, which featured four Jimmy Webb songs: "Still Within the Sound of My Voice" (with Webb playing piano), "Adios" (with orchestral arrangement by Webb), "I Keep It Hid" (with Webb playing piano), and "Shattered". In 1990, John Denver recorded "Postcard from Paris" on the album The Flower That Shattered the Stone''. In 1991,
Kenny Rogers recorded "They Just Don't Make Em Like You Anymore" on the album
Back Home Again. In 1986, Webb produced a
cantata, ''
The Animals' Christmas'', with Art Garfunkel,
Amy Grant, and the
London Symphony Orchestra. The cantata tells the
Christmas story from the perspective of animals. In 1987, Webb produced the soundtrack for the film
The Hanoi Hilton. That same year, he reunited with Campbell for the album
Still Within the Sound of My Voice, for which he wrote the title song. They followed this up in 1988 with an album composed almost entirely of Jimmy Webb songs,
Light Years. The album included the title song, as well as "Lightning in a Bottle", "If These Walls Could Speak" (which was also recorded by Amy Grant that year) and "Our Movie". Two songs from 1982's
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers also appear on the album. In 1992, Webb completed a musical called
Instant Intimacy, which he developed with the
Tennessee Repertory Theatre. The musical contained new songs that he and others would later record, including "What Does a Woman See in a Man", "I Don't Know How to Love You Anymore", and "Is There Love After You". That same year, Webb performed live at the club Cinegrill, performing "What Does a Woman See in a Man" and introducing several additional new songs, including "Sandy Cove" and an old folk hymn, "I Will Arise".
Solo artist, 1993–present Since 1993, Webb has produced five critically acclaimed solo albums:
Suspending Disbelief (1993),
Ten Easy Pieces (1996),
Twilight of the Renegades (2005),
Just Across the River (2010), and
Still Within the Sound of My Voice (2013). He has continued to expand his creative landscape to include
musicals,
commercial jingles, and
film scores. In 1994, Webb teamed with
Nanci Griffith to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the
AIDS benefit album
Red Hot + Country produced by the
Red Hot Organization. In 1997, Webb co-produced
Carly Simon's
Film Noir album and contributed his vocals, orchestration, and piano skills to the project, which was filmed for an AMC documentary (which premiered in September 1997). He also co-wrote the song "Film Noir" with Simon and reprised his role as arranger and co-producer on Simon's 2008 album,
This Kind of Love. In 1998, Webb completed his first book,
Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting, which was published by
Hyperion Books. It was well-received by songwriters and performers and became a best-seller. One book reviewer described it as "a companion every serious songwriter should read, and read again, and keep handy for referral". and country music singer
Keith Urban cites Webb as his earliest songwriting inspiration. Webb continues to perform throughout the United States and abroad. In 2024, Webb's song "
MacArthur Park" by both
Donna Summer and
Richard Harris was included in the
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soundtrack. In 2026,
Alysa Liu used the Donna Summer version in her 2026 Gold-medal-winning Olympic skating performance, causing increased popularity and streams to increase over 1200%. ==Emotional content of songs==