Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb, 2011
Background information
Born	(1946-08-15) August 15, 1946 (age 65) Elk City, Oklahoma US
Genres	Popular, country, rock
Occupations	Songwriter, Composer, Singer
Instruments	vocals, piano
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Epic, Reprise, Asylum, Atlantic, Columbia, Elektra
Website	www.jimmywebb.com

Jimmy Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum-selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park".^[1] His songs have been performed by many popular contemporary singers, including Glen Campbell, The 5th Dimension, Thelma Houston, The Supremes, Richard Harris, Johnny Maestro, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes, Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, America, Linda Ronstadt, R.E.M., Michael Feinstein, Donna Summer and Carly Simon. According to BMI, his song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was the third most performed song in the fifty years between 1940 to 1990.^[2] Webb is the only artist ever to have received Grammy Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration.^[3][4]

Early life[link]

Jimmy Layne Webb was born August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma. His father, Robert Lee Webb, was a Baptist minister and former member of the United States Marine Corps who presided over rural churches in southwestern Oklahoma and west Texas. With his mother's encouragement, Webb learned piano and organ, and by the age of 12 was playing in the choir of his father's churches, accompanied by his father on guitar and his mother on accordion. Webb grew up in a conservative religious home where his father restricted radio listening to country music and white gospel music.

During the late 1950s, Webb started writing songs, influenced by the church music he played and also by some of the new music he heard, including Elvis Presley. In 1961, at the age of 14, he bought his first record, "Turn Around, Look at Me" by Glen Campbell. Webb was drawn to the singer's distinctive voice.^[5]

In 1964, Webb and his family moved to Southern California, where he attended San Bernardino Valley College studying music. Following the death of his mother in 1965, his father made plans to return to Oklahoma. Webb decided to stay in California to continue his music studies and to pursue a career as a songwriter in Los Angeles. As father and son said goodbye in San Bernardino, Webb would later recall his father saying, "This songwriting thing is going to break your heart." But seeing that his son was determined to be a success, he gave his son $40. "It's not much", he said, "but it's all I have."^[5]

Early songwriting success[link]

After transcribing other people's music for a small music publisher, 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.^[6]

In 1967, Rivers turned to Webb for songs for a new group Rivers was producing called The 5th Dimension. Webb contributed five songs to their début album Up, Up and Away. The song "Up, Up and Away" was released as a single in May 1967 and reached the Top Ten. The group's follow-up album, The Magic Garden, was also released in 1967 and featured eleven Jimmy Webb songs, including "The Worst That Could Happen".^[6] In November 1967, Glen Campbell released his version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", which reached No. 26 and became an instant pop standard.^[7] At the 1967 Grammy Awards, "Up, Up and Away" was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "Up, Up and Away" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" received eight Grammy Awards between them. Webb's success as a new songwriter underscored what became the central dilemma in his career. While his sophisticated melodies and orchestrations were embraced by mainstream audiences, his peers were embracing counter-culture sounds. Webb was quickly becoming out of sync with his times.^[7]

In 1968, Time acknowledged Webb's range and proficiency when it referred to his string of hits, noting "Webb's gift for strong, varied rhythms, inventive structures, and rich, sometimes surprising harmonies."^[4] That year, the string of successful Webb songs continued with The 5th Dimension's "Paper Cup" and "Carpet Man" reaching the Top 40, Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" selling over a million copies, and Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge scoring a gold record with "The Worst That Could Happen", a song originally recorded by The 5th Dimension.^[7] Webb formed his own production and publishing company that year, Canopy, and scored a hit with its first project, an unlikely album with Irish actor Richard Harris singing an album of all Jimmy Webb songs. One of the songs, "MacArthur Park", was a long, complex piece with multiple movements that was originally rejected by the group the Association, whose producer had been pushing them to include a Jimmy Webb composition on an album they were working on. Despite the song's seven minute, twenty-one second length, Webb released "MacArthur Park" as a single, and it quickly reached Number 2 on the singles chart. The Richard Harris album A Tramp Shining stayed on the charts for almost a year. Webb and Harris produced a followup album, The Yard Went On Forever, which was also successful. At the 1968 Grammy Awards, Webb accepted awards for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", and "MacArthur Park".^[7]

In 1969, Glen Campbell continued the streak of Jimmy 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."^[5] That same year, two Jimmy Webb songs became hits for the second time with Isaac Hayes' soulful version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and Waylon Jennings' Grammy-winning country version of "MacArthur Park". Webb finished up the year by writing, arranging, and producing Thelma Houston's first album, Sunshower.^[6] As the decade came to a close, so too did Webb's string of hit singles. He began to withdraw from the formulaic process in which he worked and began to experiment with his music. He started work on a semi-autobiographical Broadway musical called His Own Dark City, which reflected the emotional displacement he felt at the time. He also wrote music for the films How Sweet It Is! and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.^[7]

MacArthur Park was reprised by Donna Summer in a multi-million selling vinyl single disco version that was number one on the American pop music sales charts for three weeks during 1978.

Singer-songwriter years[link]

Webb's solo career got off to a rough start with the 1968 "counterfeit" solo album Jimmy Webb sings Jimmy Webb (Epic), which was produced, according to Webb, "by a bunch of ruffians from some old demos of mine and tarted up to sound like 'MacArthur Park'. It was quite a piece of crap and was received with great anticipation and crushing disappointment at the radio level."^[8]

Beginning in 1970, Webb recorded six original albums of his own songs: Words and Music (1970), And So: On (1971), Letters (1972), Land's End (1974), El Mirage (1977), and Angel Heart (1982). Despite the critical reception that followed each of these projects, Webb has never been as successful as a performer as he has been a songwriter and arranger. Each album was noted for its inventive music and memorable lyrics.^[5]

Webb's debut album as a performer, Words and Music, was released in late 1970 to critical acclaim. Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau called one of the album's cuts, "P.F. Sloan," a "masterpiece [that] could not be improved upon." The tune and the lyrics may have been allusions to the singer-songwriter P. F. Sloan, who had helped Webb early in Webb's career; a dispute between the two later led Webb to insist that he made up the title, implying that the title and the name of his former friend were mere coincidences.^{[citation needed]} Webb's 1971 follow up album, And So: On, proved equally appealing to critics. Rolling Stone declared the album "another impressive step in the conspiracy to recover his identity from the housewives of America and rightfully install him at the forefront of contemporary composers/performers." His 1972 album Letters met with similar praise. Peter Reilly of Stereo Review wrote, "Jimmy Webb is the most important pop music figure to emerge since Bob Dylan."^[5]

Throughout the 1970s, Webb lived in Encino, Los Angeles, California, fraternizing with Joni Mitchell and Harry Nilsson. He also struck up a lifelong friendship with actor Michael Douglas. Webb's song "Campo de Encino" chronicled his adventures and misadventures in his park-like hacienda. In 1974, Webb married Patsy Sullivan, a model-cover girl and youngest child of screen actor Barry Sullivan. The couple met posing for the cover of Teen when she was twelve years old. Patsy is featured with Webb on the cover of Webb's 1982 solo album Angel Heart. They have five sons and a daughter together. Two of their sons later formed a rock band, "The Webb Brothers" which later included the couple's third son, James. The Webb Brothers achieved much critical success and had a substantial following in Europe and continue to work in the music industry. Patsy and Jimmy divorced after 22 years of marriage.

Serious composer[link]

Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, Webb's songs continued to be recorded by some of the industry's most successful artists. In 1977, the initial release of Art Garfunkel's Watermark album consisted exclusively of Webb's works, and in 1981, Garfunkel recorded "Scissors Cut", "In Cars", and "That's All I've Got to Say" on his album Scissors Cut. In 1980, Thelma Houston recorded "Before There Could Be Me", "Breakwater Cat", "Gone", "Long Lasting Love", and "What Was that Song" on her album Breakwater Cat. Leah Kunkel recorded "Never Gonna Lose My Dream of Love Again" and "Let's Begin" for her album I Run with Trouble. The latter was performed live in 1980 by the born-again Bob Dylan. Tanya Tucker recorded "Tennessee Woman" on her album Dreamlovers. Arlo Guthrie recorded "Oklahoma Nights" on his album Power of Love. In 1982, Linda Ronstadt recorded "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" and "Easy for You to Say" on her album Get Closer. Joe Cocker recorded "Just Like Always" on his album Sheffield Steel. The Everly Brothers recorded "She Never Smiles Anymore" on the album Living Legends.

From 1982 to 1992, Webb turned his focus from solo performing to larger-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 Webb's songs. That same year, he composed the soundtrack to all episodes of the TV series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

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 the cantata The Animals' Christmas, with Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, and the London Symphony Orchestra, which 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 recorded by Amy Grant that year) and "Our Movie". Two songs from 1982's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers also appear on the album. The record also included the songs "Other People's Lives", "Wasn't There A Moment", "I Don't Know How To Love You Anymore", and "Is There Love After You". Several of these songs later ended up on Webb solo albums.

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".

In 1994, Webb teamed up 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.

Solo artist[link]

Since 1993, Jimmy Webb produced four critically acclaimed solo albums: Suspending Disbelief (1993), Ten Easy Pieces (1996), Twilight of the Renegades (2005), and Just Across the River (2010). He has continued to expand his creative landscape to include musicals, commercial jingles, and film scores. More recently, he has written music for television, including the show E/R.

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.^[9] One book reviewer described it as "a companion every serious songwriter should read, and read again, and keep handy for referral."^[10]

In the 2000s, Webb has talked more openly about his return to the Christian faith of his upbringing and the role it has played in his music. In addition to his cantata, The Animals' Christmas, he has always included religious songs in his albums—"Psalm One-Five-O", "Jerusalem", and "I Will Arise" are a few examples—and his lyrics have included biblical verses and allusions. In an October 2007 interview with Nigel Bovey, editor of The Salvation Army newspaper The War Cry, Webb was quite explicit about his renewed faith.

I couldn't write a song without God. Sure, I could hack out hackneyed phrases and clichés, but to write anything meaningful I have to be in tune with God. He is the great source, my inspiration, the current that I have to connect to. Sadly I've not always used the gift He's given me—the answered prayer—as best as I could or should have. I've made mistakes. I've done things I wish I hadn't done.^[11]

Webb has stated, "I am a strong believer in God... God is important to me. God is bigger than any one particular denomination. I don't like it when people try to confine Him. I don't put any limits on God." Webb reads the King James Version of the Bible.^[11]

In 2004, Webb married Laura Savini, who appeared nationally for several years on PBS in pledge-drive programs. From 1996–2011, Savini was Vice President of Marketing and Communications at WLIW, a PBS station in New York City.^[12] The couple first met backstage on New Year's Eve 1999 at Billy Joel's 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert at Madison Square Garden. They met again when Savini interviewed Webb for her local television show and the two soon started dating. They settled on the North Shore of Long Island. The couple do not have children.

In 2007, he released a live album of his show, Live and at Large (2007), which was recorded in the United Kingdom. The album included personal stories and anecdotes about Richard Harris, Waylon Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Glen Campbell, Art Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, and Rosemary Clooney.

In June 2010, Webb released Just Across the River, an album of newly-arranged Webb song that featured guest appearances by Vince Gill, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Jackson Browne, Glenn Campbell, Michael McDonald, Mark Knopfler, J. D. Souther, and Linda Ronstadt.

In 2011, Webb was unanimously elected Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, replacing Hal David who retired after ten years in that position.^[13]

Webb continues to record and perform in the United States and abroad.^{[citation needed]}

Honors and awards[link]

• 1967 Grammy Award for Song of the Year (for "Up, Up, and Away")
• 1969 Oklahoma Baptist University Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia honorary membership, Pi Tau Chapter
• 1986 National Academy of Popular Music Songwriter's Hall of Fame inductee
• 1990 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee
• 1993 National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1999 Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee
• 1999 ASCAP Board of Directors member (As of June 2009^[update])
• 2000 Songwriters Hall of Fame Board of Directors member
• 2003 Songwriters Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award
• 2006 ASCAP "Voice of Music" Award

Discography[link]

• Jimmy Webb discography

Original albums

• Jim Webb sings Jim Webb (1968)
• Words and Music (1970)
• And So: On (1971)
• Letters (1972)
• Land's End (1974)
• El Mirage (1977)
• Angel Heart (1982)
• Suspending Disbelief (1993)
• Ten Easy Pieces (1996)
• Twilight of the Renegades (2005)
• Live and at Large (2007)
• Just Across the River (2010)

Albums of Jimmy Webb songs

• Up, Up, and Away (1966) by The 5th Dimension
• The Magic Garden (1967) by The 5th Dimension
• A Tramp Shining (1968) by Richard Harris
• The Yard Went On Forever (1968) by Richard Harris
• Sunshower (1969) by Thelma Houston
• The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb (1972) by The Supremes
• Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (1974) by Glen Campbell
• Watermark (1977) by Art Garfunkel
• The Animals' Christmas (1986) by Art Garfunkel and Amy Grant
• Still Within the Sound of My Voice (1989) by Glen Campbell
• Light Years (1988) by Glen Campbell
• Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind (1989) by Linda Ronstadt
• The Last Unicorn (1998)
• And Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain... (1998)
• Reunited with Jimmy Webb 1974–1988 (1999) by Glen Campbell
• Tunesmith: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (2003)
• Only One Life: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (2003) by Michael Feinstein
• Cottonwood Farm (2009) by Jimmy Webb and The Webb Brothers

Compilation albums

• Tribute to Burt Bacharach and Jim Webb (1972)
• Archive (1994)
• The Moon's A Harsh Mistress: Jimmy Webb in the Seventies (2004) (a limited edition boxed set, including Live at the Royal Albert Hall from 1972)
• Archive & Live (2005) (including Live at the Royal Albert Hall from 1972)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jimmy Webb official website
• Audio interview with Jimmy Webb on the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast
• Jimmy Webb on National Public Radio in 2010

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

Art Garfunkel
Garfunkel in concert in Dublin, Ireland, circa 1981.
Background information
Birth name	Arthur Ira Garfunkel
Born	(1941-11-05) November 5, 1941 (age 70) Forest Hills, New York City, U.S.
Genres	Folk rock, soft rock, rock, pop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, poet
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, violin
Years active	1956–present
Labels	Atco, Columbia
Associated acts	Simon & Garfunkel
Website	Official site

Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is a Grammy-award winning American singer-songwriter, a poet, and a Golden Globe winning actor. He was also half of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, which split in 1970, at the height of their popularity.

Highlights of his solo music career include a top 10 hit, three top 20 hits, six top 40 hits, 14 Adult Contemporary top 30 singles, five Adult Contemporary number ones, two UK number ones and a People's Choice Award. Through his solo and collaborative work, Garfunkel has earned six Grammys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award.^[1] In 1990, he and former musical partner Paul Simon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life and career[link]

Art Garfunkel was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, the son of housewife Rose and traveling salesman Jacob "Jack" Garfunkel on November 5, 1941. Art has two siblings; the older one named Jules and the younger one named Jerome, who was an actor in his earlier years in Dayton, Ohio,^[2] before becoming a travelling menswear salesman.^[3][4][5] He is Jewish. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Iași in Romania. His cousin on his mother's side is founder of 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, Lou Pearlman.^[6][7][8] Garfunkel attended the Forest Hills High School. According to the Across America DVD, Garfunkel's love for singing "came in the first grade. When we were lined up in size order, and after everyone else had left, I'd stay behind and enjoy the echo sound of the stairwell tiles and sing 'Unchained Melody' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone', learning to love this goose-bumps song from the tender age of five." Later, Garfunkel's father bought him a wire recorder and from then on, Garfunkel spent his afternoons singing, recording and playing it back, so he could listen for flaws and learn how to improve.

At his bar mitzvah in 1954, Garfunkel performed as a cantor performing over four hours of his repertoire to his family.^[9] As a young teen, Garfunkel was struck with a lung infection, leading to a love for basketball. He explained in a 1998 Interview: "In the summer of ’55, I had a lung infection. I couldn’t run around, but I love basketball and there was a hoop nearby. Much of the summer I spent methodically hitting 96, 98 foul shots out of 100. Then 102! I never played on a team after Junior High School. Just 3 against 3, half court pick up games in the schoolyard."^[10] He met his future singing partner Paul Simon in the sixth grade – PS 164, Queens, when they were both cast in the elementary school graduation play, Alice In Wonderland.^[11] It has been said by Garfunkel that Simon first became interested in singing after hearing Garfunkel sing a rendition of Nat King Cole's "Too Young" in a school talent show.

Between 1956 and 1962, the two had performed together as "Tom & Jerry", occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were The Everly Brothers, whom they imitated in their use of close two-part vocal harmony. In 1957, Simon and Garfunkel recorded the song "Hey, Schoolgirl" under the name Tom & Jerry, given to them by their label Big Records. The single reached number forty-nine on the pop charts. Garfunkel ("Tom Graph") chose his nickname because he liked to track, or "graph" hits, on the pop charts.^[12] He also released some singles as a solo artist under the name Artie Garr, a shortened version of his name. In interviews, Garfunkel has noted himself how these early singles distinguished him as a folk-styled crooner,^{[citation needed]} with songs like "Beat Love" and "Dream Alone" (both released 1959).

After graduating from Forest Hills High School, Garfunkel studied at Columbia College at Columbia University in Manhattan in the early 1960s, where he was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.^[13] Garfunkel was a team member in tennis, skiing, fencing, and bowling at the college.^[10] He was also a member of the all-male a cappella group on campus, the Columbia Kingsmen.^[14] In 1962, Garfunkel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in art history, followed by a master's degree in mathematics, while Simon attended Queens College. Garfunkel also completed coursework toward a doctorate in Mathematics Education at Teachers College, Columbia University during the peak of Simon and Garfunkel's commercial success.^[15]

Simon & Garfunkel[link]

A red vinyl promotional copy of Simon & Garfunkel's single "I Am a Rock", from 1966.

In 1963, he and Simon reformed their duo under their own names as "Simon and Garfunkel" and released their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. on Columbia Records in October 1964. It was not a critical success, and the duo subsequently split again. The next year, producer Tom Wilson lifted the song "The Sounds of Silence" from the record, dubbed an electric backing onto it,^[16] and released it as a single that went to #1 on the Billboard pop charts.

Simon had gone to England in 1965 after the initial failure of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., pursuing a solo career. But he returned to the US to reunite with Garfunkel after "The Sounds of Silence" had started to enjoy commercial success, and went on to become one of the most popular acts of the 1960s. Together they recorded four more influential albums, Sounds of Silence; Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme; Bookends; and the hugely successful Bridge over Troubled Water. Simon and Garfunkel also contributed extensively to the soundtrack of the 1967 Mike Nichols film The Graduate (starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft). While writing "Mrs. Robinson", Simon originally toyed with the title "Mrs. Roosevelt."^[17] When Garfunkel reported this indecision over the song's name to the director, Nichols replied, "Don't be ridiculous! We're making a movie here! It's Mrs. Robinson!"^[18] Simon and Garfunkel returned to England in the Fall of 1968 and did a concert appearance at Kraft Hall which was broadcast on the BBC, and also featured Art's solo performance of "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her", which received a standing ovation.

While Garfunkel was not a song-writer per se, he did write the poem "Canticle" as a re-write of Simon's "Side of A Hill" from his debut album, for "Scarborough Fair/Canticle".^[19] He also worked as the vocal arranger for the duo, working out who the songs would be sung by and how each song was produced. He is also credited as having written the arrangement on "The Boxer", and creating the Audio montage, "Voices Of The Old People" on "Bookends". Citing personal differences and divergence in career interests, they split following the release of their most critically acclaimed album, Bridge over Troubled Water, in 1970.

Both Simon and Garfunkel pursued solo projects after the duo released their popular album Bridge over Troubled Water. Occasionally they would reunite, as in 1975 for their Top Ten single "My Little Town", which Simon originally wrote for Garfunkel, claiming Garfunkel's solo output was lacking "bite." The song was included on their respective solo albums; Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years, and Garfunkel's Breakaway. Contrary to popular belief, the song is not at all autobiographical of Simon's early life in New York City, but of Garfunkel's childhood in Queens.^[20] In 1981, they got together again for the famous concert in Central Park, followed by a world tour and an aborted reunion album Think Too Much, which was eventually released (without Garfunkel) as Hearts and Bones.

Together, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 2003, the two reunited again when they received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This reunion led to a US tour—the acclaimed "Old Friends" concert series—followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Colosseum in Rome. That final concert drew 600,000 people.^[21]

1970–75: Hiatus and first album[link]

During a three-year hiatus after Simon & Garfunkel's break-up, Garfunkel starred in two Mike Nichols films, Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge. He also spent late 1971 to early 1972 working as a mathematics teacher at Litchfield Private School, in Connecticut (by request of his fiancée Linda Marie Grossman).^[10]

However, in late 1972, with Simon & Garfunkel having released their Greatest Hits album, Garfunkel felt ready to return to his musical career. His first album was 1973's Angel Clare, which contained "All I Know" along with "I Shall Sing" and "Travelling Boy" as singles. The album was received with mixed reviews, reaching no.5 in the U.S. In 1974, Garfunkel released the hit record, "Second Avenue".

On his next album, 1975 Breakaway, Garfunkel briefly reunited with Paul Simon for the 1975 hit "My Little Town". The album also included the singles "Breakaway" (B-Side: "Disney Girls") and "I Only Have Eyes For You" (a 1934 song written by Harry Warren),^[22] which is noted as being Garfunkel's first UK Number One.

1976–1979: Diversity and disaster[link]

In 1976, Garfunkel recorded background and duet vocals for several artists, including Stephen Bishop's Careless album, James Taylor's In The Pocket album and J.D. Souther's Black Rose album. Also, beginning in December 1976, right through until September 1977, Garfunkel worked on his next album.

Garfunkel's next release was the 1978 album, Watermark (US #19, UK #26), which upon initial release, failed to make an impression on the public. Its main single, "Crying In My Sleep" ("Mr. Shuck 'N' Jive") (UK #25) failed to reach the US Top 40, but after a two-month hiatus where it was taken off the market, it was re-released in January 1978, with Garfunkel's cover of Sam Cooke's "(What a) Wonderful World" (B-Side: "Wooden Planes"), which reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #17 pop, as the new single. Paul Simon and mutual friend James Taylor had contributed backing vocals to the song, making the song a huge hit on the US A.C. charts.

Garfunkel's last release of the 1970s was the 1979 album, Fate For Breakfast (US #67, UK #2), was his first US flop album. the album first single, "In A Little While (I'll Be On My Way)" (B-Side: "And I Know") (US AC #12) failed to break the top forty, as did his second single, "Since I Don't Have You" (B-Side: "When Someone Doesn't Want You") (US #53, US AC #5, UK #38). But in the UK the album was a huge success, scoring a number one hit with "Bright Eyes" (B-Side: "Sail on a Rainbow") (US AC #29, UK #1) (a song written by Mike Batt). A version of "Bright Eyes" also appeared in the movie (based on the famous novel) Watership Down. However, tragedy struck at this time when his longtime girlfriend, Laurie Bird, committed suicide in June 1979, at their Manhattan apartment, just three months after the album's release in March. Garfunkel later admitted that the incident left him in a deep depression for most of the 1980s, hence the lack of musical output during the majority of the decade.

1980–95: Depression and disappearance[link]

Garfunkel's next album was a low point in his career. The 1981 album, Scissors Cut (US #113, UK #51) (dedicated to Laurie Bird), contained three singles, "A Heart in New York" (B-Side: "Is This Love") (US #66, US AC #10), "Scissors Cut" and "Hang On In", with the latter two failing to chart.

Following disappointing sales of Scissors Cut, Garfunkel reunited with Simon for The Concert in Central Park and a world tour. They had disagreements during the tour. In 1984 Stereo Review Magazine reported that Simon mixed out Garfunkel's voice from a new album, initially slated to be a Simon and Garfunkel studio reunion, but ultimately released as a Simon solo album (Hearts and Bones). In 1986, Garfunkel played the part of the butcher on the Mike Batt concept album The Hunting Of The Snark. Garfunkel again left the music scene during which time his father died, leading further into depression. But in the fall of 1985 he met his future wife, Kathryn (Kim) Cermack. Garfunkel's retirement lasted a full seven years, until his 1988 album, Lefty (US, #134), which produced three singles, "So Much in Love" (US #76 AC #11), "When A Man Loves A Woman," and "This Is The Moment."

Garfunkel released his first compilation album in 1984, The Art Garfunkel Album (UK #12), never released in the US,^[23] which contained the minor hit "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" (UK #77, US AC #25). This was followed by 1988 Garfunkel and 1993 Up 'til Now, neither of which received significant critical or commercial success.

1996–2006: Resurgence[link]

His live 1996 concert Across America (UK #35), recorded at the registry hall on Ellis Island features musical guests James Taylor, Garfunkel's wife, Kim, and his son James.^[24]

Garfunkel performed the theme song for the 1991 television series, Brooklyn Bridge, and "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" for a 1998 episode of the children's educational television series Arthur, where he was depicted as a singing/narrator moose.^[25] Garfunkel's performance of Monty Python member Eric Idle's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was used in the end credits of the 1997 film As Good as It Gets.

In 2003, Garfunkel made his debut as a songwriter on his Everything Waits to Be Noticed album. Teaming up with singer-songwriters Maia Sharp and Buddy Mondlock, the album contained several songs which were originally poems written by Garfunkel. The album is recognized as his first effort at songwriting since his teenage years with Tom & Jerry.

In 2003, Simon and Garfunkel reunited again for a successful world tour that extended into 2004.^[26] In 2005, his song "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" from The Art Garfunkel Album (1984) (written by Mike Batt) was re-recorded by ex-ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog on her album My Colouring Book.

In 2006, Garfunkel signed with Rhino Records (revived Atco Records), and his first Rhino/Atco album Some Enchanted Evening was released in America on January 30, 2007.^[27] The album was a dedicated celebration of pop standards of Garfunkel's childhood. In late February 2007 during a German television interview to promote the new album, he expressed interest in reuniting with Paul Simon on a new Simon and Garfunkel album.^{[citation needed]}

2006–12: Recent events[link]

In 2009, Garfunkel appeared as himself on the HBO television show Flight of the Conchords episode entitled "Prime Minister."

He continued to tour in 2009 with four musicians and his son.^[28]

On February 13, 2009, Simon and his band re-opened New York's legendary Beacon Theatre, which had been closed for seven months for a renovation. As an encore, Simon brought out "my old friend," Art Garfunkel. They sang three songs: "Sound of Silence", "The Boxer", and "Old Friends".

On April 2, 2009, the duo announced a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Japan for June/July 2009.^[29] On October 29–30, they participated together in the 25th anniversary of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden. Other artists on the bill included Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; U2; Metallica; Aretha Franklin; Stevie Wonder, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.^[30]

In March 2010, Simon & Garfunkel announced a 13-date spring tour, to kick off in April with a performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Most performances were scheduled for Canada, with four shows in the upper Midwest of the US. According to a press release, the set list would focus on their classic catalog, as well as songs from each of their solo careers.^[31] On June 17, 2010, Simon & Garfunkel canceled the tour, earlier rescheduled for July 2010, now postponed indefinitely as Garfunkel continues to recover from a vocal cord paresis.^[32]

In November 2010, Garfunkel said that, having quit smoking two and a half months before, he was recovering from paresis, and would be touring in 2011.^[33]

Voice classification[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2012)

Garfunkel's voice has been noted as changing over the past four decades, but virtually unnoticeably until his late fifties, when his voice began to lower after years of smoking. Garfunkel has been noted as being a natural voiced tenor who can lower his voice to a G2 on the keyboard (baritone range) and, as heard on the first chorus of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as high as Ab4, and up to an Eb5 on his 1973 rendition of "Old Man" (though this is falsetto).

Garfunkel has suggested his next album will have songs that are more vocal based.^{[citation needed]}

Acting career[link]

Garfunkel pursued an acting career in the early 1970s, appearing in two Mike Nichols films: Catch-22 (1970), in which he played the 19-year old naive Lieutenant Nately, and Carnal Knowledge (1971), in which he played the idealistic Sandy. His role as Sandy won him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1972.

He later appeared in Nicolas Roeg's Bad Timing (1980) as Alex Linden, an American psychiatrist who serves as the film's main antagonist. The film received the Toronto Film Festival's highest honour, the People's Choice Award, in 1980 and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director.

He appeared in Good to Go (1986) directed by Blain Novak, starring as a Washington, D.C. journalist who struggles to clear his name after being framed for rape and murder. Garfunkel then appeared in the medical crime drama Boxing Helena (1993), directed by Jennifer Lynch, as Dr. Lawrence Augustine.

Garfunkel's most recent film is The Rebound (2010), directed by Bart Freundlich, playing Harry Finklestein, the slightly senile and comedic relieving father of the film's main character, played by Justin Bartha.

Garfunkel has said he turned down numerous film offers in the 1970s. He reportedly turned down the role of Billy Pilgrim in the adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and the role of Tom Hagen in The Godfather in the same year (1972). According to the response of this matter recently issued on his official website, Garfunkel has not ever turned down the role of Tom Hagen in The Godfather.^{[citation needed]}

Poetry career[link]

Garfunkel, an avid reader and bibliophile, has admitted that the Garfunkel household was not a literary family, but it was not until his entrance to Columbia College in 1959, that he began to "read a million books and became a reader". It was through this he began an interest in poetry.^{[citation needed]}

Garfunkel's poetic career began in 1981, while on the Simon & Garfunkel 1981-1982 tour in Switzerland, he was riding a motorcycle and began writing a poem describing the countryside. In 1989, Still Water, Garfunkel's collection of prose poetry was released to acclaim.^{[citation needed]} Topics included his depression over the loss of his father; Laurie Bird, his companion who committed suicide; the friendship of Paul Simon; and the joy of returning to music.^{[citation needed]}

He reportedly has plans to release a second book in the near future.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Garfunkel married Linda Marie Grossman in 1972; they divorced in 1975. He has claimed that the marriage was turbulent and ended bitterly. Garfunkel has never spoken to her since and claims he never loved her.^[34]

He was also romantically involved with actress and photographer Laurie Bird from March 1974 (when he was 32 and she was 20) until her suicide in 1979.^[35] According to a 1986 interview, Art said about his relationship with Laurie Bird "I asked myself constantly why I didn't marry her, because surely she was the apple of my eye. She was everything I was looking for in a woman. But I was very hurt by my first marriage, so as far as marriage to Laurie was concerned, I was extra scared. I was heartbroken. It laid me low. I used to get very sad when the sun went down. The nights were very lonely for me."^{[citation needed]}

Garfunkel had a brief affair with actress Penny Marshall in the mid 1980s and credits her with helping him through his depression. Their friendship stayed strong even after the relationship's end. Garfunkel would later say of Marshall, "Everything changed. Penny is a sweet human being who can bring anybody down to earth. We had a lot of laughs, great sex and a ton of party nights".^[36]

In fall of 1985, Garfunkel met former model Kathryn (Kim) Cermak (born May 25th, 1958) while shooting Good To Go. They married on 18 September 1988. The two have been married for over twenty years.

The two have two children, James, born 15 December 1990, and Beau Daniel, born 5 October 2005 via a surrogate mother.^[37]

Garfunkel is an avid reader and bibliophile; his website contains a year-by-year listing of every book he has read since 1968.^[38] Currently the list contains more than 1,000 books. He has also read the entire Random House Dictionary.

Garfunkel is a huge fan of the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, having twice read his book Confessions (according to his library, the book was the first and thousandth book he'd read).

Garfunkel has undertaken several cross-continental walks in his lifetime, writing poetry along the way. In the early 1980s, he walked across Japan in a matter of weeks.^[39] From 1983 to 1997, Garfunkel walked across America,^[40] taking 40 excursions to complete the route from New York City to the Pacific coast of Washington. In May 1998, Garfunkel began an incremented walk across Europe.^[41]

His all-time favorite pop song is The Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere" and his all-time favorite album is Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. When asked about his musical preferences, he answered, "I have a very sure-footed sense of what I like, and exactly how much I like it. Give me two listenings of a song, and I can tell you exactly how it sits with me, and...I know my musical taste. I know my ears, I know what I respond to."^[42]

Garfunkel has been arrested twice for the possession of cannabis: once in early 2004 and again in August 2005.^[43]

Garfunkel is the brother of Jerome Garfunkel, the former member of the American (ANSI) and International (ISO) Committees who wrote the specification for the COBOL programming language. His older brother Jules B. Garfunkel was a United States Navy Veteran and financial analyst who died on September 17, 2006 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Garfunkel is 6'0 (1.83 m), which is a large contrast to Paul Simon's 5'3 (1.60 m).^[42]

Art Garfunkel is left-handed and is a multi-instrumentalist: he plays guitar, piano, and violin.

Nominations[link]

• 1972 Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, for Carnal Knowledge

Awards[link]

• 1969 Grammy Award, Record of the Year, for "Mrs. Robinson" (with Paul Simon)
• 1969 Grammy Award, Best Contemporary Pop Performance, for "Mrs. Robinson" (with Paul Simon)
• 1970 Grammy Award, Best Pop Album, for Bridge Over Troubled Water
• 1970 Grammy Award, Best Single Record, for "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• 1970 Grammy Award, Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), for Bridge Over Troubled Water
• 1977 Britannia Award, Best International Pop LP and Single, 1952–77, for "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• 1998 Grammy Award, Best Children's Album, for Songs From A Parent To A Child

Work on Broadway[link]

• Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years (1982) - revue - featured singer for Mrs. Robinson
• Mike Nichols and Elaine May: Together Again on Broadway (1992) - concert - performer
• The Graduate (2002) - play - featured songwriter

Discography[link]

• Angel Clare (1973)
• Breakaway (1975)
• Watermark (1977)
• Fate For Breakfast (1979)
• Scissors Cut (1981)
• The Animals' Christmas (with Amy Grant) (1986)
• Lefty (1988)
• Songs from a Parent to a Child (1997)
• Everything Waits to Be Noticed (2002)
• Some Enchanted Evening (2007)

Filmography[link]

References[link]