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 by other artists. Campbell's version, which appeared on his 1968 album of the same name, 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 or, in some accounts, in Wichita Falls or Wichita County, Texas.[citation needed] (Despite the identical names, the city, located in Sedgwick County, Kansas, and county, which is in far western Kansas, are over 250 road miles (400 km) apart, and the city is noticeably closer to the Oklahoma border than the county. Campbell may have been referring to Sumner County, which is where Interstate 35 crosses from Oklahoma into Kansas.) Others believe that Webb had entitled the song "Ouachita Lineman," but that Campbell later changed that title to its present form. The lyric describes the longing that a lonely telephone or electric power lineman feels for an absent lover who he imagines he can hear "singing in the wire" that 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.

Performers have included:

[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 through the whine".

The bass solo was played by Campbell himself on a Danelectro six-string bass borrowed from friend and session bassist Carol Kaye; the pulsing effect is tremolo from a Fender amplifier.

[edit] Chart positions

Year Album Chart Position
1968 Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell album) Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) 1

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix Experience		 Billboard 200 number-one album (Glen Campbell album)
December 21 - December 27, 1968
March 8 - March 28, 1969
April 5 - April 11, 1969		 Succeeded by
The Beatles (White Album) by The Beatles