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Jan 26, 2024
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As it happens, a LOT. :)
Testing the word limits of this app -- I wrote this review myself as one of the greatest EPs of all time, it'll be included in my book about EPs coming out this summer.
Glen Campbell, Wichita Lineman, 1968 (Capitol)
Long ago and far away (well, in Los Angeles, anyway), during the heyday of rock 'n roll's emergence as a commercial and artistic force, there was a crackerjack legion of between 20-30 first-call studio musicians who played (mostly uncredited) on everybody's records -- from Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" creations to the Beach Boys and the Monkees to the Byrds and even the Sinatras (Frank and Nancy) -- loosely labeled the Wrecking Crew. Known and revered today as legends, back then they were the silent, faceless superheroes of a youth growth industry -- and Arkansas-born guitarist Glen Campbell was among the most reliably great in their ranks. Campbell had started playing in groups -- he was a member of the Champs ("Tequila") before starting his own country band and taking pretty much any paying studio gig in L.A. Capitol Records had signed Campbell to a solo deal with limited success (he was telegenic and appeared regularly on TV’s Star Route, Shindig! and Hollywood Jamboree) and had even joined the Beach Boys as a touring member until "Gentle on My Mind" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (both of which are included on this "skim the cream" EP) achieved overnight success in 1967. Campbell asked songwriter Jimmy Webb to pen another "place" song a la "Phoenix," and Webb's trip through rural Oklahoma provided the inspiration for what he called a "splendidly vivid, cinematic image... of a blue collar, everyman guy we all see everywhere -- I tried to open him up and say 'there's this great aching and loneliness inside this person, and we're all like that.'" “Wichita Lineman”’s structure -- built around Webb's melancholy populist tale, a magical, rotating series of minor and major chords laced with jazz-like sevenths and suspended fourths, and the Wrecking Crew's sneaky/crafty backing, including bassist Carol Kaye's descending bass intro, Campbell's own wobbly-tremolo Danelectro bass solo and a string section that gives flight to lyrics such as "singing in the wire" - sets it apart even today from everything going on around it. Campbell even kept some snatches from Webb's original demo -- the morse-code sounds at the end evoking telephone signals were performed on a gigantic church organ. The track would ultimately reach number three on the U.S. pop chart, remained in the Top 100 for 15 weeks, topped the American country music charts for two weeks and was certified gold -- and was eventually named #206 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Jan 28, 2024
This song rules tyvm 4 reminding me also ty for isabela for rec'ing an ambient cover????????????? Life is crazy
