Rolling Stone Australia — June 2017

D

uring the late six

ties and early Seventie

JimmyWebbwasargu

ablythemostsuccess

ful mainstream songwriter aliv

churning out sweeping, richly o

chestratedhitsforGlenCampbe

Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatr

amongothers.Yetwhilethatsucces

made him famous, it also saddled

a “middle of the road” reputation that was

totally out of step with his actual lifestyle.

“I’m out partying for three days at a time and

plowing a furrow through London’s under-

ground, and I’m perceived as this squeaky-

cleanwriter,”hesays.

Webb’s new memoir, The Cake and

the Rain,follows his rise from Oklahoma

preacher’ssontoL.A.poparistocrat.Atthe

heartishisstruggletocarveouthisown

identitywhilelivingadoublelifeasaMid-

dleAmericansongpoetwithcountercultural

artisticdreams.Oneweekendhe’dbeSina-

tra’sguestinVegas,thenexthe’dbejoyriding

his sailplane with David Crosby.

Webb moved between debating pol-

ics with Campbell and giving Paul

McCartney feedback on the White

lbum. Later, Webb was on hand for

hn Lennon and Harry Nilsson’s in-

mous “lost weekend”. In one scene,

Nilsson calls on him at 3 a.m. for

100billsand“hee-haw”(a.k.a.co-

WebbwatchesLennonrollupeach

billandinsertitintoanakedwoman’sva-

gina:“Therewasanunwrittencodethatif

the Beatles asked you to do something, you

didit.I’mnotkidding.”Webbhasafewaxes

to grind, but usually he’s a warmly nostalgic

andvividstoryteller.Thebookendsin1973,

with a near-fatal overdose that serves as a

kind of “end of the Sixties” moment. Webb

got sober in the late Nineties, lives with his

wife on Long Island and plays 50 shows a

year: “I was brought up in a Baptist house-

holdwherehardworkwasredemption.I’ve

never been able to siphon that out, even with

massive jolts of cocaine.” JON DOLAN

TheHitsandHeartache

of Jimmy Webb

Inhisautobiography,thehitmakerdetailshowhe

wroteAMgoldwh gsandhisownfame

Webb in 1969

BOOKS

R&R

14 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com Ju ne, 2017

HENRY DILTZ

Nobody’s singular take could possibly

capture the complexities of David Bowie.

So ROLLING STONE senior writer Brian

Hiatt gathered 15 of Bowie’s closest

f i d d d i ers – including long-

Mike Garson, Blondie’s

ebbie Harry and Chic’s

le Rodgers – to share

eir memories of the

sionary artist for A

ortrait of Bowie, along-

de rare photos and

aintings. “It’s not an

al history, but rather

collection of oral his-

ories,” says Hiatt. “You

0-degree sense of

him. Childhood friend George Under-

wood recounts accompanying Bowie to

a Little Richard and Sam Cooke show in

1962 (“That’s when David started learn-

ing about showmanship”); guitarist

Carlos Alomar recalls the Young Ameri-

cans sessions (“You would have this bag

of cocaine right on the music stand”);

and Rodgers details the Let’s Dance

sessions with Stevie Ray Vaughan

(“Only Bowie would get this dude from

Texas playing Albert King licks over this

pop album,” says Rodgers). “I came

away a bigger Bowie fan than ever,”

says Hiatt. “Most of all, it made me re-

ally wish that I’d been able to interview

him at some point.” (^) ANDY GREENE
As a graduate of Fairfax High School’s
class of 1969, Harvey Kubernik grew up
in the centre of the L.A. rock scene. He
took full advantage, seeing upward of
fi h k, including early gigs
fi eld, Janis Joplin, the
ead and more. He
hronicles it in 1967: A
omplete Rock Music
istory of the Summer
f Love. Packed with
ew interviews with
rincipals like Carlos
antana, Michelle
hillips and Roger
cGuinn, it gives
accounts of the
scenes in London, San Francisco, New
York and even Australia, where the
Bee Gees were scoring their fi rst hits.
The result breathes new life into a wide-
open cultural moment. “I’d see people
hitchhiking who would be on the dance
fl oor with all of us,” says Kubernik.
“There wasn’t division like there is now.
I think the book shows we were all in
this groove together.” A.G.
The Defi nitive Story
of the Summer of Love
Bowie’s Friends
Reveal the Man
Behind the Legend