Editing Jimmy Webb (section)

===Early success, 1965–1969===
After transcribing other people's music for a small music publisher in Hollywood, Webb was signed to a songwriting contract with Jobete Music, the publishing arm of [[Motown Records]]. The first commercial recording of a Jimmy Webb song was "My Christmas Tree" by [[The Supremes]], which appeared on their 1965 ''[[Merry Christmas (Supremes album)|Merry Christmas]]'' album. The following year, Webb met singer and producer [[Johnny Rivers]], who signed him to a publishing deal and recorded his song "[[By the Time I Get to Phoenix]]" on his 1966 album ''Changes''.<ref name="unofficial"/> 

In 1967, Rivers released ''Rewind'', an album featuring seven Webb songs, including "[[Do What You Gotta Do (Jimmy Webb song)|Do What You Gotta Do]]" and "Tunesmith", a song also recorded that year by [[Vikki Carr]] for her album ''It Must Be Him''.<ref name="unofficial"/> That same year, Rivers turned to Webb for material for a new group Rivers was producing called [[the 5th Dimension]]. Webb contributed five songs to their debut album, ''[[Up, Up and Away (The 5th Dimension album)|Up, Up and Away]]'', including the title track, which was released as a single in May 1967 and reached the Top Ten. The group's follow-up album, ''[[The Magic Garden]]'', was also released in 1967 and featured eleven additional Webb songs, including "[[Worst That Could Happen]]".<ref name="unofficial"/>

In November 1967, Glen Campbell released his version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", which reached number 26. At the 1968 [[Grammy Awards]], "Up, Up and Away" was named Record of the Year (1967) and Song of the Year (1967). "Up, Up and Away" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" received eight Grammy Awards between them. 

In 1968, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' acknowledged Webb's range, proficiency, and "gift for strong, varied rhythms, inventive structures, and rich, sometimes surprising harmonies".<ref name="songwriters-bio"/> That year, the string of successful Webb songs continued with the 5th Dimension's "Paper Cup" and "Carpet Man" reaching the Top 40, Glen Campbell's "[[Wichita Lineman]]" selling over a million copies, and [[Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge]] scoring a gold record with "Worst That Could Happen", a song originally recorded by the 5th Dimension. 

Webb formed his own production and publishing company that year, Canopy, and scored a hit with its first project, an unlikely album with Irish actor [[Richard Harris]] singing an album of all Webb songs. One of the songs, "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]", was a long, complex piece with multiple movements<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/nov/11/how-we-made-macarthur-park|title=How we made MacArthur Park|date=November 11, 2013|website=the Guardian}}</ref> that was originally rejected by the group [[the Association]]. Despite the song's seven minutes and twenty-one seconds length, Harris's version reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 on June 22, 1968, and No. 4 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] on July 24.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Singles Chart Top 50: 24 July 1968 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19680724/7501/ |website=Official Charts Company |access-date=July 21, 2022}}</ref> The album, ''[[A Tramp Shining]]'', stayed on the charts for almost a year. Webb and Harris produced a follow-up album, ''[[The Yard Went On Forever]]'', which was also successful.  

Further raising Webb's stature as a songwriter, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was performed by [[Frank Sinatra]] on the latter's 1968 album ''[[Cycles (Frank Sinatra album)|Cycles]]''. Sinatra would go on to praise "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" as "the greatest [[torch song]] ever written".<ref>{{cite news |title=The Man Behind The Hits|newspaper=[[Philadelphia Daily News]]|date=January 17, 1992|url=http://articles.philly.com/1992-01-17/news/26036803_1_jimmy-webb-wichita-lineman-song|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221072354/http://articles.philly.com/1992-01-17/news/26036803_1_jimmy-webb-wichita-lineman-song|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 21, 2014|last=Takiff|first=Jonathan}}</ref> 

At the 1969 [[Grammy Awards]], Webb accepted awards for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", and "MacArthur Park". In 2019 "Wichita Lineman" was added to the [[National Recording Registry]].<ref name="recording-registry">{{cite web |title=National Recording Registry |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/recording-registry/registry-by-induction-years/2019/ |website=National Recording Registry for 2019 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=April 8, 2020 |ref=recording-registry}}</ref>

In 1969, Glen Campbell continued the streak of Webb hits with the gold record "Galveston" and "[[Where's the Playground Susie]]". Webb and Campbell had first met during the production of a [[General Motors]] commercial. Webb arrived at the recording session with his [[The Beatles|Beatle]]-length hair and approached the conservative singer, who looked up from his guitar and said, "Get a haircut."<ref name="shane"/> That same year, two Webb songs became hits for the second time with [[Isaac Hayes]]' soulful version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and [[Waylon Jennings]]' Grammy-winning country version of "MacArthur Park". On Frank Sinatra's 1969 album ''[[My Way (Frank Sinatra album)|My Way]]'', the singer dove deeper into Webb's songbook with a version of "Didn't We?", a number that was originally done by Richard Harris in 1968 and released as the B-side of "MacArthur Park". Webb finished the year by writing, arranging, and producing [[Thelma Houston]]'s first album, ''[[Sunshower (Thelma Houston album)|Sunshower]]''.<ref name="unofficial"/> 

As the decade came to a close, so too did Webb's string of hit singles. He began to withdraw from the formulaic process in which he worked and began to experiment with his music. He started work on a semi-autobiographical [[Broadway musical]] called ''His Own Dark City'', which reflected the emotional displacement he felt at the time. He also wrote music for the films ''[[How Sweet It Is!]]'' and ''[[Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here]]''.{{cn|date=December 2022}}