The National Academy of Songwriters also named Jimmy as 1993’s recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award, although TIME Magazine was early to acknowledge Jimmy Webb’s range and proficiency back in 1968 when it referred to his astonishing string of hits, and commented on “Webb’s gift for strong, varied rhythms, inventive structures, and rich, sometimes surprising harmonies.” In 1999 Jimmy was inducted by actor Michael Douglas into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame as one of the State’s most celebrated sons, he was inducted onto the Board of Directors for The Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in early 2000, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for ASCAP. Webb’s, “Wichita Lineman” has been listed in MOJO Magazine’s worldwide survey of the best one hundred singles of all time in the top fifty, and was singled out in the Oct/Nov 2001 issue of Blender as “The Greatest Song Ever.”Įven singer/songwriter James Taylor was nominated for a Grammy this past year for “Best Male Pop Vocal” for his rendition of the song. It was the last collaboration between the two: Bock decided that the time had come for him to be his own lyricist and he put out two experimental albums in the early 1970s.The critical acclaim composer Jimmy Webb has received during his more than forty years of success is as remarkable as the accomplishments they honor: Webb is the only artist to ever receive Grammy awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration, he is a member of the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and, according to BMI, his “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” has been the third most performed song in the last fifty years, with “Up, Up and Away” on the same list in the top thirty. In a masterpiece of laughter and tenderness, Harnick’s lyrics were poignant and honest, as when the hero Tevye sings, “Lord who made the lion and the lamb/You decreed I should be what I am/Would it spoil some vast eternal plan/If I were a wealthy man?”īock and Harnick next wrote the book as well as the score for “The Apple Tree,” in 1966, and the score for “The Rothschilds,” with a book by Sherman Yellen, in 1970. It starred Zero Mostel as Teyve, had an almost eight year run and offered the world such stunning songs as “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” The most recent Broadway revival starred Danny Burstein as Tevye and earned a best revival Tony nomination. Neither was a hit - although “She Loves Me” won a Grammy for best score from a cast album - but their next one was a monster that continues to be performed worldwide: “Fiddler on the Roof.” It earned two Tony Awards in 1965.īased on stories by Sholom Aleichem that were adapted into a libretto by Stein, “Fiddler” dealt with the experience of Eastern European Orthodox Jews in the Russian village of Anatevka in the year 1905. “Once we got past that, he was wonderful to work with.”īock and Harnick then collaborated on “Tenderloin” in 1960 and “She Loves Me” three years later. “I think in all of the years that we worked together, I only remember one or two arguments - and those were at the beginning of the collaboration when we were still feeling each other out,” Harnick, who collaborated with Bock for 13 years, recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 2010. The first Harnick-Bock musical was “The Body Beautiful” in 1958. In addition, Harnick was nominated for Tonys in 1967 for “The Apple Tree,” in 1971 for “The Rothschilds” and in 1994 for “Cyrano - The Musical.” But their masterpiece was “Fiddler on the Roof.”īock and Harnick were first introduced at a restaurant by actor Jack Cassidy after the opening-night performance of “Shangri-La,” a musical in which Harnick had helped with the lyrics. Known for his wry, subtle humor and deft wordplay, Harnick died in his sleep Friday in New York City of natural causes, said Sean Katz, Harnick’s publicist.īock and Harnick first hit success for the music and lyrics to “Fiorello!,” which earned them each Tonys and a rare Pulitzer Prize in 1960. NEW YORK (AP) - Tony- and Grammy Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who with composer Jerry Bock made up the premier musical-theater songwriting duos of the 1950s and 1960s with shows such as “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Fiorello!” and “The Apple Tree,” has died.
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