Fans of quality songwriting are waiting in the dark at The Vogel in Red Bank, NJ, this Sunday, March 22, 2026 for the start of an evening of exceptional songs and stories by Jimmy Webb.
Considered one of the greatest songwriters of the past half-century, Webb’s compositions have been recorded by artists including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The 5th Dimension, The Brooklyn Bridge, Glen Campbell, Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, and more. Webb is also the only artist in history to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration.
Warm-up artist Pete Mancini takes the stage with his electric guitar and opens tonight’s show with his original composition, “American Equator.” Singing, “The fire’s been ignited, it’s live free to die, kid,” Mancini contemplates political dissonance in the U.S. on this rhythmic rocker.
After moving on to “The Paris Hotel,” a ballad which was inspired by “a songwriting challenge Jimmy threw down when we were on tour,” Mancini performs “Why the Building Falls,” an upbeat tune with a country feel where he croons, “Ask not why the building falls/Walls will crumble and so do we all/Ask not what the wise men say/Find your truth and live for today.”
Mancini concludes his well-written set by performing his Americana/roots number, “The Sun Comes Up,” where its optimistic “No matter how dark it gets, the sun comes up” message inspires avid audience cheers and applause.
Following a short intermission, the crowd cheers as Jimmy Webb, 79, takes the Vogel stage, announcing, “It’s a pleasure to be back here with friends,” before launching into his Grammy-winning song, “The Highwayman.” Accompanied by a rolling piano part, Webb’s voice calls out with emotion as he sings, “I was a highwayman/Along the coach roads, I did ride/With sword and pistol by my side,” on this outlaw country song.
After telling a story about how Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson came to record “The Highwayman,” Webb talks about how Judy Collins “cut this little song that really didn’t have much of a future.” Here, he renders an emotional version of “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,” singing and playing with passion before concluding the lovely ballad with a segment of Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.”
Confessing, “I definitely did not get permission from Claude Debussy to add a part of his piece to my song,” Webb announces, “Tonight we’re going to relax a little bit,” suggesting that if people could “get to the point where there’s nothing left to do but to sit down and be still for awhile, maybe we would get quiet enough where we would be able to hear one another and maybe communicate and stop killing each other.”
Acknowledging, “I’m gonna be 80 years old on August 15,” Webb introduces his wife, Laura Savini, who is seated in the audience, saying, “She is all the peace and love and devotion that a man can ask for. Her life is full of magic — it was magic before I came along — and it was her magic that helped me put my life back together.”
The audience applauds and Webb steps into “The Worst That Could Happen” where he invites the crowd to sing along with him on the song’s “Maybe it’s the best thing/Maybe it’s the best thing for you” chorus and teaches them a “I’m never, never, never, never, never gonna get married” line to vocalize as he improvises while accompanying on piano.
Webb explains that although he originally wrote “The Worst That Could Happen” for The 5th Dimension, the quintet decided not to put it out as a single and it was ultimately re-recorded by Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge in a version that reached the Top 10.
Announcing, “This song is perfect for the first day of Spring,” Webb cries, “Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?” on his Grammy-winning 1968 Record and Song of the Year, “Up, Up and Away,” where the audience happily joins him in singing the buoyant “Up, up and away” coda.
Insisting that “‘Up, Up and Away’ is about balloons” — and not the drug culture of the 1960s — Webb gets the audience laughing telling them how his “Baptist preacher cum ex-US Marine” father stopped a major Oklahoma radio station from taking the record off the air in 1967 after driving over there “with his Bible and his 45.”
Moving on to “If These Walls Could Speak” — a song which Graham Nash sang at Webb’s 75th birthday celebration concert at Carnegie Hall — Webb croons, “If these old walls could speak/Of things that they remember well/Parties and people raising hell/A couple in love livin’ week to week/Rooms full of laughter/If these old walls could speak,” on this poignant 1996 ballad.
The crowd cheers and Webb acknowledges that he started writing “If These Walls Could Speak” about an old house in Montclair, NJ where he and Laura lived. Revealing that during the process of its creation, he realized the song “wasn’t about the house” but rather, about his “inability to communicate my innermost feelings and ideas to those close to me,” Webb demonstrates that “even songwriters can be surprised and enlightened by their songs.”
Following the humorous “Nobody Likes to Hear a Rich Boy Sing the Blues,” Webb tells a story about sharing a song he swore he’d never play again with Art Garfunkel who went on to have a 1973 Top 3 hit with it. Here, Webb sings, “I bruise you/You bruise me/We both bruise too easily,” on his emotional ballad, “All I Know,” to avid cheers and applause.
Going back to his teenage years, Webb tells a story about driving a tractor and hearing Glen Campbell singing “Turn Around Look at Me” on the radio and deciding to write songs for him. Here, Webb invites Pete Mancini back to the stage for a three-song tribute to Campbell, whom he refers to as “the finest all-around entertainer and musician I ever knew in my life.”
Starting off with “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” Mancini strums his electric guitar as Webb plays piano and sings with feeling on this celebrated Glen Campbell country/pop tune from 1967. Continuing with a heartfelt rendition of 1969’s “Galveston,” Webb sings, “Galveston, oh Galveston/I still hear your sea winds blowing,” and Mancini adds a twangy guitar solo on the coda. Wrapping up the tribute, Webb croons, “I am a lineman for the county” on “Wichita Lineman,” where Mancini adds a high-pitched “telegraph” riff on guitar before Webb ends the song with a rhythmic piano part which resembles Morse code.
The crowd responds with energetic applause and Webb launches into the beautiful and haunting piano introduction to “MacArthur Park,” one of his most recognized compositions.
Pouring his heart out singing, “MacArthur’s park is melting in the dark/All the sweet, green icing flowing down,” once the arrangement arrives at its famous “allegro” movement, Webb’s orchestral piano playing accompanies Mancini as he recreates a wild Glen Campbell rock guitar solo which has concertgoers cheering and applauding on their feet.
Webb talks about getting a chance to work with Frank Sinatra before concluding tonight’s show with a song of his that Sinatra recorded. Deftly accompanying himself on piano, Webb sings “Didn’t We,” before the crowd stands and applauds and Webb humbly responds, “I loved spending these few moments with you. Thank you.”
As concertgoers make their way out of the theater, several comment on tonight’s performance by Jimmy Webb. Remarks Ted from Manhattan, “I thought he was fantastic! I spent a lifetime listening to his music but this was the first time I’ve ever seen him live and I’m so happy I did.” Kurt from Aberdeen agrees, explaining, “He was great! It was so nice to hear the songs done by the person who wrote them, and also nice to hear all the stories behind the songs.”
Laura Savino, Jimmy’s wife, reveals, “Jimmy has been here before and he loves the venue — both he and I are so pleased with the way it feels so intimate here.” Continuing, “It was a really great crowd tonight! Jimmy loves performing in the Tri-State area — these are his people. He was really enjoying himself this evening , and I loved it, too,” she concludes by noting, “Plus, what he said about me tonight was so beautiful; it really was a lovely surprise.”
Brett, a musician from Eatontown, contends, “I love Jimmy Webb’s songs. I grew up with them and they brought back a lot of memories. This is my third time seeing him at The Vogel and I’ll be here when he comes back again.” Caroline from Eatontown concurs, adding, “I loved the show — all the songs and stories — and it brought back great memories of Glen Campbell, an amazing musician, and of growing up in the ’70s, which was a beautiful time for me.”
Lastly, Robert from Princeton insists, “Jimmy Webb was phenomenal tonight! I was raised on his music by my older sister, so I’ve been listening to Jimmy since I was eight years old,” prior to disclosing, “He did a lot of songs I remembered, and it made me think, ‘Thank God I finally got a chance to see him live and watch the master at work.”
To learn more about Jimmy Webb, please go to jimmywebb.com. For info on upcoming programming at The Vogel — including Duane Betts and Palmetto Hotel on April 22, Gary US Bonds on June 4, and John Waite on July 26 — please click on thebasie.org.
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