by Jimmy Webb
Garth has said that had he known the extent of the damage I had suffered he would have taken me to the hospital. Perhaps we appeared “passed out” in the sense that drunkards “pass out” and are merely put to bed in order to sleep it off. As it was, Harry was carted away in an automobile to engineer his own recovery, a miracle that has never been recounted to me. I had my own extremely serious problems to deal with. In the full glare of daylight I remained silent and apparently sleeping on the bed.
The weeks that followed were nightmarish for my family. My senses had not come back unaffected. The mechanics of reason had suffered. Great swaths of data had been seemingly degaussed overnight. The supposed sniff of high-quality “Merc” cocaine had in reality been a super dose of crude street level PCP, enough to kill an elephant.
Once I was up and walking around I was certain every object in the house was made of rubber. I would run my hand over the walls, the floor, and the furniture and ask my sister Susan or her boyfriend, Paul, who had volunteered to be my wardens, “Why has everything turned to rubber?” They reacted with bewildered, panicked expressions. I went out in the driveway to examine an automobile. I ran my hand over the metal. It was rubber as well. The black asphalt of the driveway was rubber. The trees in the orchard, the flowers growing by the front porch, all was rubber.
My sister Susan asked me if I wanted to play the piano. She and Paul took me into the living room where the Yamaha C3 waited patiently. It had, of course, turned to rubber. I looked at it. For the life of me I could not remember what it was for. The shape was familiar but its purpose evaded me.
I would sit on the bench and parse the keyboard, five black keys and seven white ones in a repeated pattern. There was something there. Sometimes I would almost get it. I sat and stared at the keyboard all day. They couldn’t get me away from it. At the end I was crying. Real tears, not rubber ones, streamed down my face as I pounded on the stubborn keys. I was unable to evoke a single tune or chord. I looked into the faces of Susan, Garth, and Paul and saw real fear.
A month after the overdose I approached the piano in a pensive mood and sat down at the keyboard. What had been a cryptic puzzle lay before me in benign simplicity. I had rediscovered the code lying where I had carelessly dropped it in a maze of tangled neurons. I put out my hand hesitantly and ever so gently played middle C. I let it sing without interference in the cavernous cabinet of the huge instrument. My right foot lingered on the sustain pedal and I listened to the note blossom, change, and then die away. Like everything on earth. A template of all living things, all empires, all eras and eons.
In that moment I looked at the keys and knew I could play anything. I could play the “Star-Spangled Banner” or “Penny Lane.” I could play “Clair de Lune” or “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” “My Funny Valentine,” or “Jailhouse Rock.” I could play any song I had ever heard or any song I ever would hear. The warm tears cascaded down my face and onto my chest. Paul and Susan stood next to me, their arms around my shoulders, crying softly as my fingers moved through the chords of “Amazing Grace.”
Jimmy Webb. (Courtesy of Henry Diltz)
TOP 100 CHARTS - UNITED STATES*
June, 1967
Up, Up and Away - The 5th Dimension
#7
June, 1967
Up, Up and Away - Johnny Mann Singers
#91
October, 1967
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell
#75
November, 1967
Paper Cup - The 5th Dimension
#23
December, 1967
Up, Up and Away - Hugh Masekela
#14
February, 1968
Carpet Man - The 5th Dimension
#29
May, 1968
MacArthur Park - Richard Harris
#2
August, 1968
Montage, Love Generation
#86
August, 1968
Do What You Gotta Do - Bobby Vee
#83
October, 1968
Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone
#83
October, 1968
The Yard Went On Forever - Richard Harris
#64
November, 1968
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
#3
December, 1968
Worst That Could Happen - The Brooklyn Bridge
#3
March, 1969
Galveston - Glen Campbell
#4
May, 1969
Where’s the Playground, Susie? - Glen Campbell
#28
June, 1969
Didn’t We? - Richard Harris
#63
June, 1969
Galveston - Roger Williams
#99
July, 1969
First Hymn from Grand Terrace - Mark Lindsay
#81
August, 1969
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - The Mad Lads
#84
August, 1969
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Isaac Hayes
#37
September, 1969
MacArthur Park - Waylon Jennings
#93
November, 1969
Wichita Lineman - Sérgio Mendes
#95
January, 1970
Honey Come Back - Glen Campbell
#19
April, 1970
The Girls’ Song - The 5th Dimension
#43
January, 1971
Mixed-Up Guy - Joey Scarbury
#73
September, 1971
MacArthur Park - Four Tops
#38
October, 1971
I Say a Little Prayer/By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glenn Campbell & Anne Murray
#81
October, 1972
Song Seller - The Raiders
#96
December, 1972
Didn’t We? - Barbra Streisand
#82
September, 1973
All I Know - Art Garfunkel
#9
January, 1975
It’s a Sin When You Love Somebody - Joe Cocker
#5
September, 1978
MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
#1
April, 1983
Easy for You to Say - Linda Ronstadt
#54
April, 2016
Famous - Kanye West (Jimmy Webb, Cowriter)
#34
TOP 100 CHARTS - U.S. COUNTRY
October, 1967
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell
#1
November, 1968
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
#1
March, 1969
Galveston - Glen Campbell
#1
May, 1969
Where’s the Playground, Susie? - Glen Campbell
#28
September, 1969
MacArthur Park - Waylon Jennings
#23
1970
If This Was the Last Song - Billy Mize
#71
January, 1970
Honey Come Back - Glen Campbell
#2
October, 1971
I Say a Little Prayer/By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell & Anne Murray
#40
January, 1975
It’s a Sin When You Love Somebody - Glen Campbell
#16
August, 1985
Highwayman - The Highwaymen
#1
October, 1987
Still within the Sound of My Voice - Glen Campbell
#5
November, 1988
Light Years - Glen Campbell
#35
1989
More Than Enough - Glen Campbell
#47
1997
Wichita Lineman - Wade Hayes
#55
TOP 100 CHARTS - U.S. ADULT CONT
EMPORARY
June, 1967
Up, Up and Away - The 5th Dimension
#9
June, 1967
Up, Up and Away - Johnny Mann Singers
#24
October, 1967
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell
#12
1968
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Floyd Cramer
#32
1968
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Harry Belafonte
#38
April, 1968
We Can Fly/Up, Up and Away - Al Hirt
#23
May, 1968
MacArthur Park - Richard Harris
#10
August, 1968
Montage - Love Generation
#19
August, 1968
All My Love’s Laughter - Ed Ames
#12
November, 1968
The Yard Went On Forever - Richard Harris
#23
November, 1968
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
#1
1969
Didn’t We? - Robert Goulet
#33
1969
MacArthur Park - Tony Bennett
#39
1969
Wichita Lineman - Larry Page Orchestra
#33
March, 1969
Galveston - Glen Campbell
#1
May, 1969
Where’s the Playground, Susie? - Glen Campbell
#10
June, 1969
Didn’t We? - Richard Harris
#11
June, 1969
Galveston - Roger Williams
#21
July, 1969
First Hymn from Grand Terrace - Mark Lindsay
#24
November, 1969
Wichita Lineman - Sérgio Mendes
#34
January, 1970
Honey Come Back - Glen Campbell
#4
April, 1970
The Girls’ Song - The 5th Dimension
#6
October, 1971
I Say a Little Prayer/By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell & Anne Murray
#13
August, 1972
MacArthur Park - Andy Williams
#26
December, 1972
Didn’t We? - Barbra Streisand
#22
September, 1973
All I Know - Art Garfunkel
#1
January, 1975
It’s a Sin When You Love Somebody - Glen Campbell
#39
1977
Crying in My Sleep - Art Garfunkel
#25
September, 1978
MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
#24
April, 1983
Easy for You to Say - Linda Ronstadt
#7
1990
Adios - Linda Ronstadt
#9
TOP 100 CHARTS - U.S. DANCE
September, 1978
MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
#1
2013
MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
#1
TOP 100 CHARTS - U.S. R&B
December, 1967
Up, Up and Away - The 5th Dimension
#47
January, 1968
Do What You Gotta Do - Al Wilson
#39
October, 1968
Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone
#43
August, 1969
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Mad Lads
#28
August, 1969
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Isaac Hayes
#37
September, 1969
Honey Come Back - Chuck Jackson
#43
September, 1971
MacArthur Park - Four Tops
#27
1977
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Isaac Hayes
#65
1977
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick
#65
July, 1978
This Is Your Life - Norman Connors
#31
September, 1978
MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
#8
TOP OF THE CHARTS - UK
October, 1967
Up, Up and Away
#6
October, 1967
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell
#52
February, 1968
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Marty Wilde
#56
May, 1968
MacArthur Park
#4
June, 1968
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Georgic Fame
#51
October, 1968
Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone
#2
November, 1968
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
#7
March, 1969
Galveston - Glen Campbell
#14
September, 1969
Do What You Gotta Do - Four Tops
#11
January, 1970
Honey Come Back - Glen Campbell
#4
July, 1972
MacArthur Park - Richard Harris
#38
September, 1973
All I Know - Art Garfunkel
#51
September, 1978
MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
#5
April, 2001
Since I Left You - The Avalanches
#16
July, 2001
Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches
#18
October, 2001
Dreamy Days - Roots Manuva
#53
* Lists on these pages are highlights and are not complete listings.