Open Line Tuesday

 Unlike Dr. Johnny Fever, I occasionally take requests, this one from James in...well, I'm not sure - the screener didn't say.

Maybe from composing this post on the small screen - I seem to have gotten something in my eyes...

Almost 20 years

 Jimmy Webb wrote this song while in college. He was better at songwriting than studying. He'd written this song as part of a broader musical that didn't get traction, but it did attract the interest of one Francis Albert...well, you know the last name.

Ol' Blue Eyes recorded this song, and of course it became one of his standards. In his shows, Mr. Webb tells an amusing story of taking a demo tape to the legend - Jimmy was kind of a hippie in those days - and the crooner's reaction to, and advice for - the blossoming songwriter. 

While The Voice's career was firmly established before recording Jimmy Webb's songs, the following singer - and extraordinary guitar player - got quite a career boost from recording the up-and-coming composer's material. The relationship would prove to be mutually beneficial.

They're animals

Uncharacteristic to my generation, Animals was my first PF album (OK, really it was an 8-track tape).  I don't think I'd requested it - I think it was sort of 'bonus goods' from a family friend who worked in the record business and paid me in records and tapes for mowing his lawn. I had a crush on one of his daughters, but it didn't really pan out. 

'Animals' got a few plays on my 8-track player, but was well down on the rotation list, behind Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Ronstadt, JT, Chicago, Waylon & Willie, Steve Miller, Boston, and Déjà Vu. It would actually be a few years before I acquired 'Dark Side...', 'Wish...', and 'The Wall'. I have none of the Barrett-era recordings.

In Memory

 ...of Ned Beatty.