| From
Publishers Weekly
The only artist to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and
orchestration,
Webb has written many of the most memorable songs performed by the
Fifth
Dimension ("Up, Up and Away"), Donna Summer ("MacArthur Park") and Amy
Grant ("If These Walls Could Speak"), among others.
Here he seeks to impart the tools of the trade to songwriters "who may
be attempting the delicate transition from amateur to professional."
Covering
technical matters from basic chord theory and rhyme schemes to the
protocol
of pitching songs, Webb draws on a trove of personal anecdotes from a
career
spanning more than two decades. In addition to salient comments on
today's
music scene, Webb cites numerous examples from the past and includes
sections
on writing for the stage and film.
Of greatest value, perhaps, are the exercises suggested for developing
song ideas, which will help anyone stumbling through a period of
writer's
block. While Webb's fans will revel in the behind-the-scenes details of
his career and a candid view of his artistic process, others may wish
that
the asides, finger pointing (at arrogant co-writers) and Webb's own pet
peeves (e.g., no-talent spouses who insist on songwriting credits on
their
partner's records) had been left out.
And Webb's nuts-and-bolts approach somehow undercuts every songwriter's
need for that spark of absolute inspiration. For those interested in
the
latter, Songwriters on Songwriting: The Expanded Version (Da Capo,
1997),
a collection of interviews between editor Paul Zollo and a variety of
songwriters,
including Webb, is the ticket.
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