Wichita Lineman
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"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.
"Wichita Lineman" has been recorded by a diverse range of artists; from Ray Charles, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dwight Yoakam to Kool and the Gang and Urge Overkill.
[edit] Performed By
- Jimmy Barnes and David Campbell, on Double Happiness
- Ken Berry on Ken Berry R. F. D.
- Dennis Brown on Tracks of Life
- Glen Campbell on Love Story
- Johnny Cash on Unearthed Volume Three
- Wade Hayes
- Clouds
- Peter Nero on Love Story
- R.E.M.
- The Lettermen on I Have Dreamed
- Scud Mountain Boys on Pine Box
- Freedy Johnston on Unlucky
- Urge Overkill, on Americruiser/Jesus Urge Superstar (listed as "Wichita Lineman")
- Jimmy Webb, on Ten Easy Pieces
- Cassandra Wilson, on Belly of the Sun
- Paul Holmes (broadcaster)
- The Meters, on "Struttin'"
- Dee Felice Trio
- Friends of Dean Martinez on Wichita Lineman
- Hank Marvin on Solid Gold Collection
- The Fatback Band on Let's Do It Again
- Stone Temple Pilots with Glenn Campbell on a rare black and white video
- Optiganally Yours on Spotlight On...
- Homer Simpson on The Simpsons episode Co-Dependent's Day
- Cerebral
- Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 (Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1969)
- Johnny Harris on Movements
- Johnny A on 'Sometime Tuesday Morning'
- Gomez for a radio session
- Freddy Hubbard on A Soul Experiment [1]
- Steve Hogarth on the H Natural tour [2]
- Shawn Lee on Soul Visa
- The Rolling Stones at their concert in Wichita, Kansas on their "A Bigger Bang" tour on 1st October 2006 (Short intro and chorus only)
- a.k.a. Rudie on Trouble Clef
- These Animal Men secret track on Come on Join the High Society and Childline Charity compilation cd
- Shawn Lee on Soul Visa
[edit] Arrangement
In the first recording, by Glen Campbell, a notable feature of Al de Lory's orchestral arrangement is that the violins and a Gulbransen Synthesizer 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".
