Brooklyn Bridge – "Worst That Could Happen" (1968)

I’ll never get married

You know that’s not my scene

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned that "Worst That Could Happen" was written by the very talented Jimmy Webb – who also penned "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Up, Up and Away," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," and the truly fabulous "MacArthur Park."

"Worst That Could Happen," which was originally recorded by the Fifth Dimension, became a big hit in 1968 for The Brooklyn Bridge.  The group's lead singer, Johnny Maestro (who died of cancer in 2010), had been the lead singer of the Crests, a doo-wop group whose "16 Candles" had reached #2 on the Billboard charts almost ten years earlier.

By the way, you may have thought the title of our featured song was "The Worst That Could Happen," but BMI says it's "Worst That Could Happen."

Jimmy Webb: everyone agrees
that he's one of the all-time greats

"Worst That Could Happen" is one of the several songs by Webb that were inspired by his love affair with Linda Ronstadt's cousin, Susan Ronstadt.  Just like the girl in "Worst That Could Happen," Susan decided to break Webb's heart and marry some other guy.

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Veteran songwriter and record producer Wes Farrell – he co-wrote "Come a Little Bit Closer" and "Hang On Sloopy," among other hits, and produced the music for The Partridge Family TV show – pulled out all the stops when he produced "Worst That Could Happen."  Which is exactly what he should have done, because Jimmy Webb certainly held nothing back when he wrote the song.

The first two verses (and their accompanying choruses) of "Worst That Could Happen" are fairly straightforward – they lay the foundation for the shenanigans in the second half of the song.

At 1:42 – following the second chorus – Webb gives us a classic pop-song bridge (in a different key, which accentuates the contrast between the previous part of the song and the bridge).  

At 2:06, when the bridge is over and we move to the third and final verse, Webb changes keys again, modulating upward to increase the dramatic tension created by the song.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

At 2:28, producer Farrell whacks us in the face with a musical 2 x 4.  To wit, he abruptly steps on the brakes before singer Maestro completes the final line of the chorus, and inserts an organ flourish that leads into a trumpet fanfare based on Mendelssohn's famous "Wedding March."  

Everyone – Maestro, his backup singers, the trumpeters, and the rest of the band – then join in for a somewhat frenzied outro that turns the volume and intensity up to an 11 on a 10 scale.  

After that, I need to lie down and put a cool washcloth on my forehead. 

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Click here to listen to "Worst That Could Happen," which today is being inducted into the 2 OR 3 LINES "GOLDEN DECADE" HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

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