Jimmy Webb's songs have been reincarnated many times through the voices of those artists who have recorded his songs; each one conveying the emotion, the tale between the notes.

This Sunday, July 21, Webb will take the stage at the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor. With only a piano for accompaniment, he will share himself with the audience through some of those timeless songs.

Whether you know it or not, you know more than a few Webb songs: “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Galveston," recorded by Glen Campbell; “Worst That Could Happen,"  recorded by the Brooklyn Bridge; “Too Young To Die," David Crosby; “MacArthur Park,” Richard Harris; “The Age of Aquarius” and “Up, Up and Away” by the Fifth Dimension.

When his career began in the 1960s, Webb found he was becoming known as the torch song writer, the love gone bad balladeer.

Webb quoted Frank Sinatra as having called “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” the “greatest torch song ever written.”

“I was being pigeonholed and I decided to try to be a moving target,” Webb said in a telephone interview. “I'm interested in many things (beyond love gone bad and love songs). I think I wrote one of the first environmental protest songs in 1974. It's called 'Sleeping in the Daytime,' about the degradation of our world and a call for awareness and change.”

Webb is also interested in reincarnation and explored its possibilities in a song called “The Highwayman” that was recorded by a quartet: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. Webb said he will probably play this one at the Opera House gig.

“It was a song that came out of the woodwork that asked the question do you believe and have you ever felt that way (deja vu),” Webb said.

But throughout all the cities in all of the countries he has played, there is one place that has beckoned: Broadway.

In 1982 he arrived and is still there today. Webb has worked with a lot of people who have found success there; like Michael Bennett (of “A Chorus Line” and “Dreamgirls” fame) and was his protege for about four years until Bennett's death.

During the 1980s he composed the soundtrack for the animated children's film “The Last Unicorn,” the soundtrack for the film “The Hanoi Hilton,” among many other numerous projects.

“I haven't done it yet, I haven't made it here (Broadway), but I haven't given up,” Webb said.

So how does this veritable songwriting genius get his writing done? Where does he write?

It's all in a classic, totable item: a notebook.

“It is so important to get those lines or that idea down on paper,” Webb said. “It lets you go back to where you were at that moment; a bookmark created in your consciousness.”

Webb says sometimes he has looked for things he knew he had written down or written about and all he had to do was go through the notebooks.

The down side is that they do get lost. He recently lost a new, but full, notebook in a cellar flood. But, those things happen.

Webb noted young songwriters are fortunate to have so many technological devices available to make it easier.

“How many people do you know that aren't carrying a iPhone around all of time?” Webb said. “Every time I have an idea, every single time I write it down, I still like the old fashioned way; I write them down .... It's really a good technique to record all of you ideas.”

“My theory is that a good song will always come out by somebody and find its place in the world.”

His latest record, "Just Across The River," part 2, will be released in September and it is filled with good songs that have definitely found their place in the world. Guest performers include Lyle Lovett, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Kris Kristofferson and Joe Cocker.

Webb's next album will feature 12 new songs. He thinks about retiring (only because the wear and tear of the road lingers longer now that he is in his late sixties and touring is an integral part of his career).

For now, when it comes time to take a break and just be (zen-speak), he comes to Maine. He and his six kids have been visiting Kezar Falls since 1980.

“I get nostalgic about Maine; it's almost my second home. I like to walk through the cornfields, stop at the farmhouses, meet the people, take in the Fryeburg Fair,” Webb said with a note of wistfulness.

“ Maine … it's transcendent, a special place, and the primeval spirits are there.

“I think that no one really ever leaves Maine once they've been there,” Webb said. “If you stand really still and are very quiet, you can still hear them, feel them: the people who have been there before you.”

At least, not until their next incarnation …

Don't miss this evening with Jimmy Webb and the opportunity to hear his songs. Call the box office for tickets for an unforgettable evening with Jimmy Webb. Call the box office at 207-633-5159 or go to the Opera House website.

This show has been sponsored by the Boothbay Register.