Released May 1971 (1971-05) Genre Popular Label Reprise | Recorded 1971 Length 39:07 Producer Jimmy Webb | |
And So: On is the third album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, released in May 1971 by Reprise Records.
Contents
Background
Following the commercial failure of his second album, Words and Music, Webb was given a second chance by Reprise, who wanted a followup as soon as possible. In May 1971, only six months after the release of its predecessor, And So: On was released.
Composition
With his record company pressing for a quick follow-up release to Words and Music, Webb did not have time to write an entire album of new material. Only four of the songs carry a 1971 copyright date: "Met Her on a Plane", "Laspitch", "One Lady", and "If Ships Were Made to Sail". The rest of the songs date back as far as 1967's "Marionette". Ed Ames recorded "All My Love's Laughter" in 1968, and Thelma Houston recorded "Pocketful of Keys" in 1969. "Highpockets" and "Laspitch" were originally intended for a proposed Broadway musical.
Several songs from the album would later be covered successfully by other artists, including "See You Then" by Roberta Flack in 1971, "Met Her on a Plane" by Ian Matthews in 1972, "If Ships Were Made to Sail" by Scott Walker in 1973, and "Marionette" by Art Garfunkel in 1978.
Critical reception
In his review for Allmusic, William Ruhlmann called And So: On an album of "different moods that didn't quite hang together" and that the age of some of the songs evoked the sound of Webb's hit period rather than his recent Words and Music. Ruhlmann continued:
One could easily imagine Richard Harris recording "All My Love's Laughter" or "Pocketful of Keys" in the wake of "MacArthur Park," for example, but "One Lady" and "See You Then" (copyright 1970) sounded like the personal, confessional statements more typical of Words and Music. Another problem was that, although Webb had an adequate singing voice, in fact a voice superior to that of some singer/songwriters of the time, especially on the earlier songs he was not writing for that voice's limitations, which made him sound like a worse singer than he was as he strained for notes he couldn't reach. The album thus often came off more like a songwriter's demos than the finished work of a professional performer.
Track listing
All tracks written by Jimmy Webb.