The Jimmy Webb of Glasgow

By Henry Lipput

On Making Tapes for Girls (Marina Records), the new album from The Pearlfishers (their first in five years), David Scott and company have brought to us a melodic bounty. It’s an album full of wonderful tunes and arrangements recorded by a talented group of musicians and singers.

Why is Scotland’s David Scott the Jimmy Webb of Glasgow? Scott and his co-writers tap into melodies and tales of regular people just the way Webb has done. One of the best examples on the current album is “Kisses on The Window." This is not the first time I’ve noticed Scott’s affection for Webb. On 2019’s Love & Other Hopeless Things I wrote in my review for CoolDad Music about the song “You’ll Miss Her When She’s Gone” “it could have been written by Jimmy Webb in the mid-60s and sung by Glen Campbell.” Both Pearlfishers songs have lovely string arrangements that recall the strings used in Webb’s songs. And like the people in the songs of Jimmy Webb, one of them has left and another one is leaving.

Of course, two of the highlights from Making Tapes for Girls are the singles that came out prior to the album’s release. Both the title song and “We’re Gonna Make a Hit Record, Boy” are trademark pop from The Pearlfishers. If you liked “You Can Take Me There” from Love & Other Hopeless Things (and who doesn't?) you’ll really love these two.

“Yellow & The Lovehearts” (a twist on lonelyhearts?), about an imagined psychedelic 60’s California band, has a lovely Bookends-like acoustic guitar segment that takes over the last third of the song. The beautiful closing track “Sweet Jenny Bluebells” has Scott recalling early morning rendezvouses with a teenage love.

On “Hold Out for A Mystic” and “Put the Baby in The Milk” Scott pulls off the neat trick of having an uplifting message without being preachy. “Hold out for something spiritual/Hold out something magical,” sings Scott, “Hold out for something that makes you breathe like a child/Hold out for a mystic.” In addition to the song’s positive message “Hold Out for A Mystic” is a pop treat. “Until I Knew Happy” is just gorgeous. It may be Scott’s best vocal performance on the album and there’s the cool use of a banjo in the mix.