Ten Easy Pieces

Ten Easy Pieces
Ten Easy Pieces
Studio album by Jimmy Webb
Released	October 15, 1996
Recorded	1996; McClear Pathe Studios and Zoomar Studios in Toronto
Genre	Pop
Length	43:58
Label	Guardian Records
Producer	Fred Mollin
Jimmy Webb chronology

Ten Easy Pieces is the ninth album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, released in October 1996 by Guardian Records. The album consists of new arrangements of some of Webb's most popular songs.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Uncut	^[2]

In his review for AllMusic, Bruce Eder called Ten Easy Pieces "the best and most accessible of all Webb's albums".^[1] Eder continued:

His voice is more expressive than ever, and the performances are generally grittier, with more raw emotion than the better known hit versions display. The arrangements are generally very simple and straightforward, with Webb's piano the primary instrument, and several of the songs are performed in a deeply personal manner, more akin to home recording for Webb's own pleasure than to a commercial release—"Wichita Lineman", in particular, sounds here like the most personal and private of performances, filled with wrenching loneliness at which the Glen Campbell version only hints. The notes are very personal and revealing as well.^[1]

The AllMusic website gave the album four and a half out of five stars.^[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jimmy Webb

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Galveston"	4:49
2.	"Highwayman"	4:30
3.	"Wichita Lineman"	4:16
4.	"The Moon's a Harsh Mistress"	3:53
5.	"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"	3:54
6.	"If These Walls Could Speak"	4:02
7.	"Didn't We"	3:18
8.	"The Worst That Could Happen"	3:41
9.	"All I Know"	3:52
10.	"MacArthur Park"	7:43
Total length:		43:58

Personnel

Music

Jimmy Webb – vocals, piano, keyboards, Hammond organ, liner notes
Dean Parks – guitar on "Wichita Lineman"
Fred Mollin – autoharp, acoustic guitar on "If These Walls Could Speak"; backing vocals on "All I Know"
Steve Smith – pedal steel
Lesley Young – oboe
Paul Widner – cello
Steven MacKinnon – accordion on "Galveston"
Pat Perez – soprano saxophone on "All I Know"
Oliver Schroer – fiddle on "If These Walls Could Speak"
Audrey King – cello
David Hetherington – cello
Matthew McCauley – string arrangements, backing vocals on "All I Know"
Michael McDonald – backing vocals
Shawn Colvin – backing vocals on "Didn't We"
Susan Webb – backing vocals on "If These Walls Could Speak"
Marc Cohn – backing vocals on "If These Walls Could Speak"

Production

Fred Mollin – producer
Jay Landers – executive producer
Glen Marchese – engineer
Bill Harwell – engineer
Brian Nevin – engineer
Jeff Wolpert – engineer, mixing
Greg Robertson – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
Denis Tougas – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
Greg Calbi – mastering
Robert Abriola – art direction
Carolyn Jones – photography^[1]

Charts

Chart performance for *Ten Easy Pieces*
Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[3]	76

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Eder, Bruce. "Ten Easy Pieces". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
^ Lowe, Richard (October 1997). "Jimmy Webb: Ten Easy Pieces". Uncut. No. 5. p. 81.
^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 298.

[allmusic-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Eder, Bruce. "Ten Easy Pieces". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2012.

[2] Lowe, Richard (October 1997). "Jimmy Webb: Ten Easy Pieces". Uncut. No. 5. p. 81.

[3] Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 298.

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v t e Jimmy Webb
Original albums	Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb (1968) Words and Music (1970) And So: On (1971) Letters (1972) Land's End (1974) El Mirage (1977) Angel Heart (1982) Suspending Disbelief (1993) Ten Easy Pieces (1996) Twilight of the Renegades (2005) Live and at Large (2007) Just Across the River (2010) Still Within the Sound of My Voice (2013) SlipCover (2019)
Collaborative albums	Up, Up, and Away (1966) The Magic Garden (1967) Rewind (1967) A Tramp Shining (1968) The Yard Went On Forever (1968) Sunshower (1969) The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb (1972) Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (1974) Earthbound (1975) Live at the Royal Festival Hall (1977) Watermark (1977) Breakwater Cat (1980) The Last Unicorn (1983) The Animals' Christmas (1986) Light Years (1988) Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind (1989) Only One Life: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (2003) This Kind of Love (2008) Cottonwood Farm (2009) Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session (2012)
Compilation albums	Tribute to Burt Bacharach and Jim Webb (1972) And Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain... (1998) Archive (1994) Reunited with Jimmy Webb 1974–1988 (1999) Tunesmith: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (2003) The Moon's a Harsh Mistress: Jimmy Webb in the Seventies (2004) Archive & Live (2005)
Songs	"All I Know" "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" "Didn't We" "Galveston" "The Girls' Song" "Highwayman" "Honey Come Back" "MacArthur Park" "Still Within the Sound of My Voice" "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" "Up, Up and Away" "Where's the Playground Susie" "Wichita Lineman" "Worst That Could Happen"
Related articles	Jimmy Webb discography