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Posted on 08/01/2025 10:37:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Based on a childhood memory, the song became one of the most popular pop country tracks of the late 1960s.
Laying the foundations for Westward expansion through dangerous, highly skilled labor, the lineman – a gender-inclusive term within the industry – fills a similar cultural role to that of the cowboy. With a small band of brothers (and now sisters), linemen do what needs to be done to keep the lights on and the phones ringing in their communities. The position isolates this expert technician from family and friends, forcing them to take risks to complete the job, doing so with a bit of swagger – the perfect fodder for country music.
Jimmy Webb wrote “Wichita Lineman” for Glen Campbell after the singer requested another place-based song to follow up his last geographical hit. “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” written by Webb and released by Campbell in 1967, reached number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
“Wichita Lineman” did not disappoint. Campbell released the song on an album of the same name in 1968, and it reached number three on the pop charts and remained in the Top 100 for 15 weeks that year. “Wichita Lineman” topped the country music chart for two weeks and the adult contemporary chart for six weeks. It was certified gold by the RIAA in January 1969.
For Webb, a memory of a childhood trip across the Panhandle of Oklahoma informed his writing of this song, according to a 2017 interview with the BBC. “In the heat of summer, with the heat rising off the road, the telephone poles gradually materialise out of this far, distant perspective and rush towards you,” he explained. “And then, as it happened, I suddenly looked up at one of these telephone poles and there was a man on top, talking on a telephone.”
Like a cowboy on a horse, this utility worker against the Oklahoma sky was imprinted on the young songwriter’s memory, serving as the inspiration for what became one of the most popular songs of the late 1960s.
Webb famously thought the song was incomplete, but the song came together easily, according to those in the studio. A range of expert session players built a sound around this song. Perhaps most iconically, the six-note descending bass riff that provides the opening hook was improvised by Carol Kaye as the musicians worked out the arrangement in the studio. Despite Webb’s reservations, the studio team delivered an instant classic, supported by enduring country music themes, beautiful arrangements and the instantly recognizable vocals of Campbell.
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Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
The Wrecking Crew documentary was good. Better than the one about Muscle Shoalls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9oF22Im2SQ&list=RDr9oF22Im2SQ&start_radio=1
Yeah, “The Wichita lineperson” would have been much better.
The changes are pretty wild yet it comes across as a totally relatable pop song. Pretty amazing how Webb managed to do that.
Thank you for your service and for the sacrifices you made being away from your family. My dad was not military, but worked for a military contractor. He traveled most of my growing up years. Mom raised five of us often alone and did an amazing job. My oldest brother was valedictorian and I remember so well Dad not being able to make the graduation ceremony and listen to his speech. It was only in the later years that I realized how much his sacrifice meant to the family. What a strong, brave man he was, and I miss him so much. All five of us turned out great… No drugs, no arrests, we were all able to go to college and, sidenote, that oldest son became a captain in the Navy.😀.
I’ve been thinking about this song a lot this past week. My wife and I are on an epic road trip. Maryland to Colorado. Side trip to anew Mexico with short excursion into Texas and Oklahoma. Yesterday we decided to shoot into North Dakota for the day.
It’s mainly a quest to check off states. We bought an overland camping rig last year. By tomorrow we’ll have driven into 28 states with it.
Seeing the endless line of poles along the shimmering and lonely roadways makes one think of how all that has been built and maintained by the Wichita linemen.
My mom loved that song. She also loved the Sloop John B by the Beach Boys.
That there was some excellent songwriting. It’s also one of those songs you recognize in two notes.
the desperate lives we have are nothing without love and God.
**********
Life is a heartbreak
I get goose bumps every time I hear that song.
“greatest song ever written” - Bob Dylan
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dylan-song-greatest-ever-written/
I thought the song was about a football player.
The Sooner State is also featured in "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," which recounts a road trip from Arizona to Oklahoma.
Southern Nightd.
It’s about wherever your mind tells you it is.
Galveston is another haunting Jimmy Webb song.
Thanks for posting. Great song. I was listening to it a couple of days ago. R.I.P. Glen Campbell
My God! Really, Cutler? You are a pathetic incel cuck. How many women were out fighting extremely harsh conditions from 1840 onward to keep the li es working?
Mark Steyn wrote an article about Witchita Lineman based on an interview with Jimmy Webb https://www.steynonline.com/8025/wichita-lineman
Webb was driving across Washita County, Oklahoma when he saw the telephone lineman working on top of a pole. Washita would prove troublesome lyrically, and Witchita was geographically ambiguous enough to expand the song’s appeal.
Besides Jimmy had grown up in Witchita Falls, Texas, and his inspiration for Witchita Lineeman, Up, Up, and Away, and By the Time I Get to Phoenix, was Susan Horton, the Homecoming Queen of Colton High School, but she had married a teacher.
Jimmy wrote two verses and sent it a demo to Glen Campbell to review while he composed the third verse. Glen loved the song so much he wrote the bass solo and recorded it for release before Jimmy wrote another verse.
If you listen carefully, the strings and piano are playing S-O-S.
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