After the production duo of
Fred Mollin and
Matthew McCauley hit big in 1977 with
Dan Hill's timeless smash "Sometimes When We Touch," their record company gave them free reign to pick the next artist they would produce. The duo were huge
Jimmy Webb fans and after some negotiating, the trio entered the studio in July of 1978 to begin work on
Webb's seventh album. They hired a crack band of L.A. studio cats, both old and young, and were all set to go when the label asked for
Webb's publishing. When he refused to sign the rights away, the record company cut him loose and the project appeared done with.
Webb decided not to waste the opportunity and to pay for the sessions himself. The team worked hard at crafting a slick singer/songwriter album, full of
Webb's usual high-quality songcraft, biting guitar licks, rollicking pianos, and guest vocals from a wide range of
Webb's friends and fans (including
Graham Nash,
Michael McDonald,
Kenny Loggins, and
Leah Kunkel). Unfortunately, they couldn't find a label to release it and in the interim many of the record's songs were snapped up by other artists like his old pal
Glen Campbell,
Art Garfunkel, and
Firefall.
Mollin and
Webb never gave up on the album and finally secured a deal with Lorimar Records in 1980, and after cutting a few new songs with the same batch of players, released
Angel Heart in 1982. While it would be nice to say that the record took off and justified the creators' faith in the project, that wasn't the case. Despite the efforts of a highly talented team, a batch of strong songs, and some of
Webb's best vocal performances to date, both the record and the label were short-lived. Like many of his albums,
Angel Heart's fate was to be a collector's item and thrift store find; something warm and sweet for fans of late-'70s soft rock to discover. ~ Tim Sendra