Cottonwood Farm

''Cottonwood Farm'' is a collaborative album by Jimmy Webb and the Webb Brothers, released in September 2009 by Proper Records. The album tells the story of the Webb family through the voices of three generations.

Background

Recorded during various sessions in 2008 and 2009, ''Cottonwood Farm'' is a family affair, featuring Jimmy Webb and his sons Christiaan, Justin, James, and Cornelius—the Webb Brothers, who have three critically acclaimed albums of their own under their belts—as well as Jimmy Webb's daughter, Camila, and his 86-year-old father, Bob Webb, who sings a "delightfully endearing version" of the classic "Red Sails in the Sunset", making this album a "three-generation family affair".

Regarding the genesis of the project, Jimmy Webb wrote:

Composition

After opening with Webb's classic, "Highwayman", the album moves into what music critic Steve Leggett called its "emotional center" with "Cottonwood Farm", a twelve-minute epic that is "one of Webb's finest" and is "perfectly suited to the familial tone of the project." Jimmy Webb wrote the song in the early 1970s for his grandfather, but never recorded it. The album then moves into three songs by the Webb Brothers, including the lush and elegant "Mercury’s in Retrograde" which shows that "the sons clearly inherited a lot of their father's pop sense." The album transitions back to two Jimmy Webb classics, "If These Walls Could Speak", first recorded by Amy Grant, and "Where the Universes Are", which he wrote for his friend Waylon Jennings. The album also includes Jimmy Webb's "A Snow Covered Christmas", written in the 1980s and recorded here for the first time.

Critical response

In his review for ''Allmusic'', Steve Leggett called the album "a warm fusion of history and melody from a remarkable family with an uncanny affinity for crafting its own elegant brand of pop Americana." The album received four out of five stars on ''Allmusic''.

Track listing

# " Highwayman" (Jimmy Webb) – 4:44
# "Cottonwood Farm" (Jimmy Webb) – 12:03
# "Hollow Victory" (The Webb Brothers) – 2:50
# "Bad Things Happen to Good People" (The Webb Brothers) – 2:55
# "Mercury's in Retrograde" (The Webb Brothers) – 3:21
# "If These Walls Could Speak" (Jimmy Webb) – 5:12
# "Where the Universes Are" (Jimmy Webb) – 5:35
# "Old Tin Can" (The Webb Brothers) – 3:37
# "A Snow Covered Christmas" (Jimmy Webb) – 2:54
# " Red Sails in the Sunset" (Jimmy Kennedy, Hugh Williams) – 1:40

Personnel

;Music
* Jimmy Webb – vocals, piano, melodica, organ, background vocals
* Christiaan Webb – vocals, piano, background vocals
* Justin Webb – vocals, guitar, banjo, keyboards, melodica, piano, background vocals
* James Webb – vocals, bass, guitar, piano, background vocals
* Cornelius Webb – bass
* Bob Webb – vocals
* Camila Webb – background vocals
* Sara Beth Webb – background vocals
* Cal Campbell – drums, guitar, percussion
* Julie Carpenter – viola, violin
* Julian Coryell – guitar, ukulele
* Danny Levin – horn
* Michael Levin – cello
* David Moyer – clarinet, flute, saxophone
* Tim Walker – guitar, pedal steel

;Production
* Justin Webb – producer, arranger, engineer, graphic design
* James Webb – arranger
* Joe Cassidy – additional production, engineer
* Cal Campbell – engineer, mixing
* Donnie Whitbeck – engineer
* Kerry Cunningham – engineer
* Nina Boneta – engineer
* Elan Trujillo – engineer
* Rick Parker – mixing
* Andrew Bush – mixing
* Gavin Lurssen – mastering
* Andy Luckhurst – design, logo
* Jessica Daschner – photography
* Mac Maker – sculpture

References

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2009 albums
Jimmy Webb albums
The Webb Brothers albums