The songwriting of Jimmy Webb meets the studio genius of producer/arranger George Martin – for this one-off Atlantic album from 1977, a strange little set that almost has Jimmy sounding far older than his young years at the time! Martin's working in a style that follows nicely from Webb's earlier Land's End album – using full backings to color in the tunes with just the right shades and sounds to flesh them past Jimmy's vocals. But the unusual thing is the raspy, almost faltering quality of Jimmy's vocals – sung in a style that moves into his own words tentatively, as if he's rediscovering the lyrics after many years, or making them up on the spot. The mix of Webb's roughness and Martin's warmth makes the album more compelling than it might be otherwise – and titles include a version of Jimmy's classic "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", plus "The Highwayman", "Christiaan No", "Moment In A Shadow", "Sugarbird", "Where The Universes Are", and "Mixed-Up Guy". (Rock, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album