''Wichita Lineman'' is the eleventh album by American singer-guitarist
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...
, released in 1968 by
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
.
Track listing
;Side 1
# "
Wichita Lineman
"Wichita Lineman" is a song written by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1968. It was first recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and was widely covered by other artists.
...
" (
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...
) – 3:08
# "
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Th ...
" (
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
,
Steve Cropper
Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...
) – 2:35
# "
If You Go Away
"If You Go Away" is an adaptation of the 1959 Jacques Brel song "Ne me quitte pas" with English lyrics by Rod McKuen. Created as part of a larger project to translate Brel's work, "If You Go Away" is considered a pop standard and has been recor ...
" (
Jacques Brel
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...
,
Rod McKuen
Rodney Marvin McKuen (; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range ...
) – 2:07
# "Ann" (
Billy Ed Wheeler) – 1:56
# "
Words
A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...
" (
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...
,
Robin Gibb
Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...
,
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main le ...
) – 2:50
# "Fate of Man" (Glen Campbell) – 2:38
;Side 2
# "
Dreams of the Everyday Housewife
"Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" is a song written by Chris Gantry and recorded by American country music artist Glen Campbell. It was released in July 1968 as the first single from his album ''Wichita Lineman''. The song peaked at number 3 on ...
" (
Chris Gantry
Chris Gantry (born December 29, 1942) is an American country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derive ...
) – 2:45
# "
The Straight Life" (
Sonny Curtis
Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly, he was a member of the Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death. Curtis's best known compositions include "Walk ...
) – 2:55
# "
Reason to Believe
"Reason to Believe" is a song written, composed, and first recorded by American folk singer Tim Hardin in 1965. It has since been recorded by artists including Bobby Darin in 1966, Karen Dalton also in 1966, Glen Campbell in 1968, the Nitty Gritty ...
" (
Tim Hardin
James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...
) – 2:20
# "
You Better Sit Down Kids
"You Better Sit Down Kids" is a major hit single by American singer/actress Cher in 1967 from her fourth studio album '' With Love, Chér'', released in November 1967 by Imperial Records. The song was written by her then-husband Sonny Bono. Sung ...
" (
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...
) – 3:13
# "That's Not Home" (Billy Graham) – 2:35
Personnel
;Music
* Glen Campbell – vocals,
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
,
electric guitars
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
*
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years.
Kaye began play ...
–
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
– drums
* Bob Felts – drums
*
Al Casey – acoustic guitar
* Dennis McCarthy –
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
*
Joe Osborn
Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018[bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...](_blank)
*
Jim Gordon – drums
*
Ray Pohlman
Merlyn Ray Pohlman (July 22, 1930 – November 1, 1990) was an American session musician and arranger who played both upright bass and bass guitar, and also did sessions as a guitarist. He is credited with being the first electric bass player ...
– bass guitar
*
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...
– organ on "Wichita Lineman"
;Production
*
Al De Lory
Alfred V. De Lory (January 31, 1930 – February 5, 2012) was an American record producer, arranger, conductor and session musician. He was the producer and arranger of a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell in the 1960s, including John H ...
– producer, arranger
Charts
Album –
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
(United States)
Singles – Billboard (United States)
Awards
At the 1968 11th Annual Grammy Awards, ''Wichita Lineman'' won Best Engineered Recording (Non-Classical) for Hugh Davies & Joe Polito, engineers.
[https://www.grammy.com/awards/11th-annual-grammy-awards?cat=685 ]
In 2000, the single ''Wichita Lineman'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
[Official Grammy website]
Grammy Hall of Fame Awards
References
Glen Campbell albums
1968 albums
Capitol Records albums
Albums recorded at Capitol Studios
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