Just Across the River

Few singers blend grit and grandeur like Jimmy Webb. On this collection, Webb reinterprets his classics with help from friends like Billy Joel ("Wichita Lineman") and Lucinda Williams, who brings a mournful edge to "Galveston." Webb sings two tracks — "It Won't Bring Her Back" and "Do What You Gotta Do," a calm take on romantic disaster — by himself in a sturdy yet flexible croon: The voice is like an old Mustang heading through a treacherous yet often gorgeous landscape.

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