Reviews
Well, with ‘How Quickly’, you have once again given it a lovely, subtle and sensitively written arrangement and vocal to match, and added the gutsy guitar licks (beautifully but boldly played by Dan Leonhardt) to prevent the whole thing from being sickly sweet – after all, the guy in the song has suffered! It is both wonderfully ‘sweet and sour’. —Andy C.
Wow! LOVE this song, and your performance of it. I’d love to see a second “Jimmy & Me” collection from you, Doug Howell Music! —Jeff C.
You sound great, and beautiful arrangement. Also just listened to House on the Ocean, and it brought tears to my eyes. Your prayer/song has been granted. —Marcia L.
Love it Doug , it’s better than the original ❤️ —John C.
Glad you chose to do this one Doug – one of my favourites….Excellent version thanks. —Tim L.
I sigh with pleasure…You captured the heart of the song. With Jimmy W. there is that big ol’ heart that needs tending. And man, did you. Love the arrangement…very focused on this subtly complex song. I know I keep telling you this, but I will continue. Your voice has never sounded better. Simple as that. Love the guitarist. Love him. —Fan of Jimmy/Fan of Doug
2021 Notes
Next up in my Influencers series is “How Quickly,” words and music by Jimmy Webb. It’s no surprise for those of you who’ve followed me for awhile that Webb is my favorite songwriter. In fact, I did a whole album’s worth of his songs in 2010 called Jimmy & Me, and tried to explain why in the notes:
“…for the song—that mystical marriage of music and lyrics—for that it was Jimmy Webb. No question. His songs turned not just the head, but the heart. The lyrics took away the breath. And the music… I’m not sure I can even get close to describing what hearing his songs was like for me. I can still remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard some of Jimmy’s songs for the first time. I was on the lawnmower when I first heard “Macarthur Park.” What a revelation it was. I felt that a door was opening somewhere. I could feel it, and somehow I was no longer tied to the earth and the wheels and the whirring engine.”
I’ve always been uncomfortable with the word fan, much less superfan. To me, the people who appreciated my music were friends, potential friends, brothers and sisters, supporters, like-minded souls. Fan sounded too superficial, and was not something I cared about having in abundance. (Some might say that’s worked out well, since I don’t have that many. Ha ha. )
When Jimmy & Me came out, brand new supporters surfaced, and a few even wrote positive reviews on Amazon, or iTunes, or jimmywebb.com. I keep in contact with some of them to this day, and correspond regularly with a couple of them, including one “superfan” from the UK: Andy C. I’m dedicating my version of “How Quickly” to him and his son, John.
I used to be a very diligent letter writer, even back when they had to be written in longhand, and often corresponded with friends I met on the road. I kept so many letters that I was forced to burn many of them when we moved to Hawaiʻi. (Don’t worry, I still have a tub-full.) We had a ceremony at a friend’s cottage in northern Michigan the summer before we moved, and as I tossed the little paper time capsules on the fire by the lake, I sent up a prayer for their authors.
During the pandemic, I’ve become a letter writer again. There’s been more time to write, obviously, and I’ve been enjoying it every bit as much as I used to. No one is immune: I send them to my family, former neighbors, several “fans,” a former music group member, a couple of my aunties from church, and of course, Andy C.
Andy is a true fan-atic for Jimmy Webb—there’s no doubt about that point! He knows an incredible amount of detail about Jimmy and his music, has heard him numerous times in person—and he, personally, handed Jimmy a copy of my own tribute CD. That makes him a pretty important supporter in my book.
Over the last year, he’s sent me a couple “mix tape” CDs, some with rare recordings of Webb, some with other music he and John thought I might like. We’ve written back and forth extensively, about Jimmy’s music, about music in general (he is a musician himself), about whatever happened to be my latest release—and, more and more lately, about our personal lives.
Because of Andy and John, and the family and friends that they mercilessly promote me to at every opportunity, I’m an international artist. That’s big news anytime, but when you’re stuck in your house in a pandemic, it’s huge. And when you’re a retired musician who’s no longer going on the road and has to do all the writing, arranging, performing, recording, engineering and promoting by yourself, it’s gigantic.
I have gotten so I look forward to Andy’s comments on each new release, and don’t feel quite complete until I’ve heard what he thinks of it. Months ago we started talking about whether or not I should record some more of Jimmy’s stuff, discussing possibilities and exchanging relatively unknown performances of said possibilities. He liked the idea of doing “How Quickly,” because he, like I, thought it was a great song, and also because it hasn’t been covered much. So with his agreement secured, I decided, and here we are.
You can bet I’m going to be on pins and needles until I find out what he thinks of it. After all, that’s what music is about, isn’t it? Sharing it with others. Sharing something of yourself, your tastes and struggles and feelings, and whatever talent you’ve been able to cultivate given your circumstances—with someone else. We all hope the one who listens will hear something good. Something inspiring. Something divine. That they’ll experience something equal-and-opposite to the creative spark that brought the song into being in the first place.
So, Andy, here you go. One more humble tribute to our favorite songwriter: a recording that you helped create. Not just by listening, but by hearing. By responding. By loving music and the people who make it. We writers are very lucky indeed if any of our melodies find a home in those eager ears of yours. Thank you for your advanced listenership—and your friendship.
Music Notes
One thing I’ve missed on Jimmy’s later work is orchestral arrangements. One of the things that drew me to his music in the beginning was the epic, sweeping nature of his arrangements, one notable example being the epic-est of pop epics: “Macarthur Park.” On his latest albums, though, there’s been more emphasis on teaming up with well-known singers, and taking a bit simpler, more band-only approach. I know many prefer that style, and yes, some folks think strings should only be used on jazz standards. (I remember one friend telling me he was genuinely disappointed when he heard the strings enter in one of my arrangements.) But I don’t care. I love them! Ever since I heard the orchestra play Bernstein’s “Overture to Candide” at MSU Youth Music camp, I’ve been hooked. (And becoming a Rachmaninoff lover only made it worse.) Let’s put it like this: When my dear grandparents left us some inheritance money, I spent mine on a double string session for Jimmy & Me.
So I thought the very least I would do on “How Quickly” is add strings. I also wanted to keep the strong beat of Jimmy’s version on Twilight of the Renegades. And though I was afraid of how long the song might turn out, I wanted to add an instrumental chorus, and draw out the “seemed like it happened in slow motion” line with suitable accompaniment, the way Jimmy did in the live version Andy had sent me. Oh, yeah, and I didn’t want to let go of the fadeout either… So all that was pushing us up near 5:00 minutes! In the end, I disciplined myself to wind it down at 4:59. (You have to pay more for the license if you go over 5:00, you know.)
And a quirky lyrical note. Have you ever learned the wrong song lyric? If so, you might relate to this. Listening to Jimmy’s recording, I somehow thought the line went “but you might have been an angel with a bruise.” I really loved that! However, when I started working on it in earnest and double-checked the lyrics, I found that it was really “an angel with the blues.” I was disappointed at first, because I loved bruise so much, but the more I got used to it, I’ve come to love the correct lyric, too.
Last but definitely not least, I again must thank Dan Leonhardt—a fellow band member for a couple years—for adding his brilliant brand of guitar playing to the mix. His tracks are absolutely perfect. (❤️ ) That’s as usual. And also as usual, he recorded them all remotely, playing along to the rhythm tracks in his Michigan studio. I really wanted the song to be mellow-but-rocky, and despite my meager instruction, he delivered in spades. Mahalo nui, Dan!
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