WICHITA LINEMAN
Words and music by Jimmy Webb
I am a lineman for the county.
And I drive the main road.
Lookin' in the sun for another overload.
I hear you singing in the wire.
I can hear you thru the whine.
And the Wichita Lineman
is still on the line.
I know I need a small vacation.
But it don't look like rain.
And if it snows that stretch down south,
won't ever stand the strain.
And I need you more than want you.
And I want you for all time.
And the Wichita Lineman
is still on the line.
What makes a song timeless, memorable and so spectacular that over forty years after hearing it for the first time it can conjure up the same feelings of wonder and melancholy that it did back then. In 1968, I didn’t even know what wonder and melancholy were. I was not yet 12 years old but this song grabbed me by the non-existent chest hair and made me listen, hard. I wasn’t quite sure what a lineman was. After close inspection I realized Glen Campbell wasn’t singing about a football player. I also misheard the line “I can hear you through the wine.” I just thought it was some adult secret I’d learn about eventually. And, yes, perhaps that misheard line even makes more sense to me now having been on the downside of a couple of long-gone break-ups while pouring quarters into a jukebox for repeated spins of “Tonight The Bottle Let me Down” but that’s another tale and song altogether. Still, something resonated within me and when the name of this tune comes up these days, people of my generation all seem to feel some kind of strong connection to this song. Not so much to Glen’s previous hits, “Gentle On My Mind” with John Hartford’s rolling country spun positivism or “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” which while gorgeously arranged like this tune doesn’t stick in the chest in spite of its with a lifting bridge and sad outcome. For some reason “…Lineman” is so simply stated amidst such a sweeping tonal canvas and beautiful melodic line that it seems at times the perfectly constructed tune to bring back some buried ache we had long lost thought forgotten.
If just reading Jimmy Webb’s lyric above, it presents a very simple picture of a moment of self-description of a workingman’s longing for his loved one. Pretty cut and dried. But in the case of this timeless hit which continued Glen Campbell’s string of mid-sixties chartbusters, the session guitarist turned pop vocalist turned TV and movie star, converted this beautifully captured moment of song into one of the most popular of it’s time.
While watching the various takes of Campbell performing it via the wonder of YouTube’s seemingly bottomless font of treasures, you can catch the elements that make this tune work, whether performed with a gigantic, overwrought orchestra with Glen cartooning a bit in his tux before them; a stripped down and flubbed duet version with Keith Urban; or a surprisingly well-balanced and simple yet reverential renditions by R.E.M. or by Glen sitting in with Stone Temple Pilots. What resonates first and foremost is the strength and grace of Webb’s heartrending melody and a handful of musical devices that are always present no matter the arrangement. The block chorded piano/orchestra/baritone guitar part that represents the solo section is essential. No frills. No extraneous guitar licks. Just riff as signifier of a big sound, representing a big moment even in the most stripped down versions. There is the telegraph sounding “dit-dit-di-dit” high end riff that sometimes Glen plays on guitar and in the big orchestral versions it is fleshed out by the piano and staccato string, while in the version from Glen’s TV show, John Hartford’s banjo doubles the part. And there is the vocal’s strong, held notes, which soar over and set up those telegraph blips, “still on the liiiiiiiiiine…”
For me the kicker is the chord change when the 2nd verse comes in, and the umph in the 2nd syllable of the last word in the line “I know I need a small vaCAtion”. You feel the need in his voice here. The strength of Glen’s delivery and the pushing of the melody on the line “and if it snows the stretch don’t south won’t ever stand the strain.” Powerful, especially when followed by the resigned confession of the lower toned and less stridently sung opening line of the last chorus, “and I need you more than want you / and I want you for all time…” Why didn’t I think of that? What a perfect line. The melody and delivery are just essential to putting this song across.
I do also love the versions where Glen adds an additional chorus of guitar instrumental and we get to hear some tasty licks demonstrating why, before he was a star, he could be found first in line at the studio for sessions by the era’s great producers such as Phil Spector and Brian Wilson as well as heard on on hits by The Monkees, Sinatra, Presley, Merle Haggard, Dean Martin, The Mamas & The Papas, Bobby Darin, Rick Nelson, The Champs and countless others.
Sometimes called “the first existential country song”, Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman” was penned in 1968 and as the first single and title song of Campbell’s album that year it rose to #3 on the U.S. pop chart as well as topping the American country music charts for two eeks and the Adult Contemporsry chart for six week. It stayed in the Top 200 on the pop charts for 15 weeks. Rolling Stone magazine’s writers mad it #192 on their 2004 list of “500 Greatest Songs of All-Time”.
Jimmy Webb wrote alot of songs that have been covered by radically diverse artists and like Burt Bacharach before him, he has suffered the stings and arrows of criticism for being schmaltzy, unhip, or God forbid, "Pop"...but a good song is a good song...some of Webb's best include "MacArthur Park", "Up, Up And Away", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "Galveston" and "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress". His songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Waylon Jennings, Art Garfunkel, Richard Harris, Johnny Rivers, The Supremes, Tanya Tucker, Isaac Hayes, Thelma Houston, Arlo Guthrie, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Bud Shank, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Bobby Vee, The Four Tops, Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Harry Nilsson, Dionne Warwick, Cher, Lowell George, Donna Summer, America, Toto, Amy Grant, Kenny Rankin, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, David Crosby, Michael Feinstein, Nanci Griffith, Rosemary Clooney, R.E.M., Carly Simon, Aimee Mann and The Everly Brothers for starters!. Webb is the only artist to ever win Grammies for music, lyrics and orchestration. Webb, like Van Dyke Parks and a handful of other daring folks in that age were not afraid to test the limits of their respective genres and get a bit surreal, a little existential...these were daring times even for the world of pop music...times when everything from The Beatles to Paul Mariat to Glen Campbell to Smokey Robinson, The Rolling Stones, Andy Williams or the Fifth Dimension could rule the airwaves.
So back in the day, I was too young to know from hip...Glen Campbell wasn't the hippest guy around...this was country/pop before the labels got so insane and important...and strings were heard regularly on Top 40, R&B, pop, rock and country records...someone on one of the YouTube posts asked, "Am I getting old because I really like this music now?" and the answer was something along the lines of, "Hey It's a great song!"
Check out these versions of Glen singing this classic number followed by some unique cover versions:
GLEN CAMPBELL
Original 1969 video is worth seeing as an example of an early promo flick but unfortunately the sync is bad and the quality of the video is not great so I didn’t post here. But here’s the link:
GLEN CAMPBELL ON LATER... with JOOLS HOLLAND
Here is my favorite version, and it is the most recently recorded (2008). I think I enjoy it because it so so different and has Glen fronting a small group ensemble for Jools Holland’s BBC TV show. The treat is that we get more Glen guitar than on the other versions found. He takes an extended solo that is super tasty. His voice still sounds good.
The following version from Glen Campbell In Concert DVD (available from Eagle Vision and well worth the purchase with all of his hits included and more). This features Glen with a huge orchestra and another tasty Strat solo. Great quality sound and footage too.
For guitar heads out there…
Here’s Glen playing a baritone guitar (which is what the original solo on the record sounds like it was recorded on). This vid is from the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Glen is singing live to a backing track (notice the track fades) but playing live guitar for the solo. He’s playing a Fender bass IV that isn’t actually a bass but a baritone guitar, I am told. It is also interesting in that he improvises a bit of a vocal vamp over the fadeout. For those too young to know Glen, this is the classic Glen look when he was in his prime. Swooping hair, turtlenecks and jackets and hip guitars. Okay, so I actually used to wear my hair like this but didn’t we all? No? Please don’t tell me that.
GLEN sings WICHITA LINEMAN sings in the middle segment of his network TV variety show, The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour. This if I recall correctly was the mid-point of the shows where he’d sit mid-audience and play and sing sometimes with his guests. Surrounded by the crowd, it always seemed real intimate and my favorite part of the show. More music than scripted variety stuff. Here he plays an early Ovation 12-string acoustic and is accompanied on banjo by the late, great John Hartford (composer of “Gentle On My Mind”). Granted the arrangement is still big like the hit, but Hartford doubles the staccato signature riff. Granted the instruments shown are practically inaudible and the song cuts before the solo. Love to see the full version of this.
A 2006 version with GLEN playing the solo on an Ovation acoustic. In fact, he may have been the first person I ever saw playing an Ovation guitar. Does anyone know? Was he one of the first endorsers?
GLEN CAMPBELL with, yes, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS doing playing “Wichita Lineman” in the studio. From the Thank You DVD. Glen looks like he’s playing a Danelectro longhorn or it could be a Jerry Jones, I can’t tell. Anyone?
Here we find GLEN playing an interesting electric 12-string, I can't identify. It doesn't sound great...This has got to be my least favorite of the Glen versions posted here. He seems a bit silly and unfocused and cuts off his phrasing a bit here and there. More schmaltzy, no extended guitar solo, sappy background_ singers, weak sound mix, too big ending. But funny hair though, Glen. Watch for the guy who looks a bit like Martin Landau on flute. Funny.
COVER VERSIONS:
JOHNNY A
A fantastic guitar instrumental version. Wonderfully tasteful and sultry take on this great tune for jazzy trio. Sticking to the melody without a lot of harmonic variance, Johnny A’s touch and tone bring a nice, shimmering quality to Webb’s gorgeous melody. This is the first time I’ve heard this guy. I’ll check him out further.
R.E.M.
1994 clip of them playing this live in a rehearsal hall. Unfortunately a bit of it is voiced over with interview footage but a cool version. I’d like to get the full-length version. There’s also a version of them doing Glen/Jimmy Webb’s “Galveston” as well.
James Taylor
For his most recent album, Covers, released in September 2008, JT brings his own distinctive voice to the Webb classic.
Dennis Brown
The late reggae legend doing "Wichita Lineman" in a decidedly non-reggae version. This is fairly early Dennis and a bit rough around the edges production-wise as a lot of homegrown reggae records of the period were but the slightly slower pace is perfect and his voice sounds wonderful. FYI - the header "Ultimate version" is not mine.
If there's a song you consider an UNDENIABLE CLASSIC..let me know and I'll consider showcasing your favorites...
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