Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell

So what is this doing here? Glen Campbell the pop country balladeer among the hip and cool jazz and Steely Dan. I just heard a great cover of “Wichita Lineman” by Kurt Elling and thought I would go hunting. I found quite a lot and rekindled a love for this music.

“Wichita Lineman” is a classic ballad by Jimmy Webb that was originally performed by Glen Campbell on the album of the same name. We all know that. But how did this come to be? Glen Campbell was a member of The Wrecking Crew, the famed west coast house band that backed an astonishing collection of albums in the 60’s and 70’s. These folks were A-list studio players and Glen Campbell was among their best even though he couldn’t read music. Hal Blaine and Carol Kay were there among many others. But Glen Campbell was every bit an A-List guitar player.

It’s also important to know how house bands like The Wrecking Crew, The Funk Brothers, and Booker T and the MGs worked. The stars would bring in a half written idea for a song. The band would flesh it out during rehearsal and make it work. Then they would record. Key in this is the band’s contribution to the song itself. This happened all the time and was considered normal in the business. Unfortunately, house bands rarely got album credits and thus no residuals or public recognition for their work.

Glenn Campbell emerged from The Wrecking Crew as a music and movie star. Played opposite John Wayne in True Grit for example. Even had his own variety show. He was a star and became a star playing songs by Jimmy Webb. During this period musicians rarely wrote their own music. Instead they got their songs from commercial music publishers like the Brill Building or independents like the aforementioned Jimmy Webb.

Jimmy had written big hits for Glenn Campbell called “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “Galveston”. Campbell wanted to ride the wave of these geographical songs and called on Webb to quickly write a new song for him. That song was inspired by the solitary men who worked the phone and electric lines in west Texas where the highways were straight and the people few and far between. I have no idea what possessed Jimmy Webb to believe there was anything romantic about shimmying up a phone pole. But somehow it worked.

Webb delivered the “Wichita Lineman” demo in very rough form. Typical of the songs The Wrecking Crew filled out all the time. Campbell took the demo to the studio, Carol Kay filled in the base parts and the strings followed. When Jimmy Web didn’t hear back from Campbell he assumed that he did not like the song. On the contrary, Campbell had already cut the tracks. Webb panicked because the song was not done. So much so that he hauled the organ from his home into the studio to add to the mix. It had to be that organ from that house to get that sound excactly that that demo.

The rest is history as they say. “Wichita Lineman” was a huge, multi-platinum hit. Bob Dylan claims it is the best song ever written. It has been covered over 280 times. Think about that. Artists ranging from big band crooners like Kurt Elling to jazz singers like Cassandra Wilson to rockers like REM have recorded their own versions of “Wichita Lineman”. There is truly something about that song. Yes it is structurally different and leaves an unresolved chord at the end and features a bass solo from Carol Kay. All that aside, it is just a beautiful song that came together in a unique and haphazard way. Here’s to serendipity.