Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman

It's taken me over 30 years to figure out that this is one of my favourite songs.

From Wikipedia:

"Wichita Lineman" is a popular song written by Jimmy Webb in 1968, first recorded by Glen Campbell and widely covered since. Campbell's version, which appeared on his 1968 album Wichita Lineman, reached #3 on the US charts, remaining in the Top 100 for 15 weeks. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" ranked "Wichita Lineman" at #192. It has been referred to as 'the first existential country song'.

Webb was inspired to write the lyrics when he saw a solitary lineman near the Kansas-Oklahoma border, possibly in Wichita County, Kansas or south of Wichita, Kansas. (Despite the identical names, the city and county are over 250 road miles (400 km) apart, and the city is noticeably closer to the Oklahoma border than the county.) The lyric describes the longing that a telephone lineman feels for a woman whose voice he hears, perhaps through attaching an earpiece to a stretch of telephone line he is working on. ...

In the first recording, by Glen Campbell, a notable feature of Al de Lory's orchestral arrangement is that the violins and a Gulbranson synthesiser mimic the sounds that a lineman might hear when attaching a telephone earpiece to a long stretch of raw telephone or telegraph line i.e. without typical line equalisation and filtering. One would be aware of high-frequency tones fading in and out, caused by the accidental rectification (the rusty bolt effect) of heterodynes between many radio stations (the violins play this sound); and occasional snatches of Morse Code from radio amateurs or utility stations (this is heard after the line of lyric, "is still on the line"). Heterodynes are also referenced in the lyric, "I can hear you in the whine".

choggie

says...

Wow! Knowing that bit of lore, still doesn't keep that cheesey feeling from childhood, from creeping up, in a polyester jumpsuit, holding a Spam caserole, with a grocery store soundtrack, piped in gently as background muzak.

Glen was schmaltz, pure and simple, the C&W, Pat Boone!!

maudlin

says...

The schmaltz: you're soaking in it.

And it looks as if the lore got you to upvote, so all is well.

Deano

says...

Great song, pity that Campbell's voice is shot to hell these days.

maudlin

says...

I know, Deano. His life has been to hell and back, too.

He's younger and his voice has more range and that golden tone in this video. I debated switching out the link to this one, but my original seems more emotionally intense even if his voice isn't at his peak.

You can hear the original recording here, as part of this lush and odd little video.