Description
Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman brings together a remarkable range of late-1960s songwriting under the direction of a singer equally comfortable with country, pop and soul material. Released in 1968 and produced by Al De Lory, the album reached number one on both the pop and country album charts. Jimmy Webb’s title song supplies its most recognizable moment, but the surrounding program shows why Campbell’s crossover success had a substantial musical foundation. Eleven selections draw on writers including the Bee Gees, Tim Hardin, Sonny Curtis and Sonny Bono, alongside Campbell himself. The unifying element is his clear, controlled delivery and ability to make a song’s central situation feel immediately understandable.
Wichita Lineman opens the record with a character study whose occupational setting gives an intimate feeling a larger landscape. Campbell’s association with Webb had already produced By the Time I Get to Phoenix, and this song continued one of the defining partnerships of his career. The album then moves into (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay, bringing the writing of Otis Redding and Steve Cropper into Campbell’s own musical setting. That transition makes the breadth of the record apparent almost at once. Rather than drawing all its material from a single country tradition, Wichita Lineman places songs from different sources beside one another and lets the singer’s phrasing establish the connection.
If You Go Away and Words show another side of that interpretive range. The former comes from Jacques Brel’s song with English words by Rod McKuen, while Words brings in the melodic language of the Bee Gees. Ann adds a Billy Edd Wheeler composition, and Fate of Man closes the first side with Campbell’s own writing. These choices give the album several different kinds of musical and narrative material. A large emotional statement, a more compact character-centered song and a composition by the performer can coexist without requiring a change in the album’s basic personality. The record is especially interesting when heard beyond the title single, where the variety of writers becomes more apparent.
Dreams of the Everyday Housewife opens the second side with Chris Gantry’s portrait of domestic reflection. The Straight Life follows, then Reason to Believe brings Tim Hardin’s songwriting into the program. You Better Sit Down Kids offers a further narrative turn before That’s Not Home concludes the album. The emphasis on recognizable human situations links these selections to the title song, even though their subjects and musical origins differ. Campbell’s voice remains the center of the arrangements, allowing the listener to follow the story and melody together. That combination of directness and polish is an important part of the record’s country-pop character, particularly in songs where an ordinary setting carries a more complicated feeling.
Al De Lory’s production draws on the accomplished Los Angeles studio world surrounding Campbell, with album personnel including Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine, Joe Osborn and Jim Gordon. Campbell contributes guitar as well as vocals, and Webb plays organ on the title track. Those connections place Wichita Lineman within a period when expertly made studio records could move naturally across radio formats. The album preserves both the famous single and the broader interpretive range around it, making it more than a vehicle for one hit. This Capitol Nashville vinyl reissue presents the original eleven-song program on a 180-gram LP, with the familiar original cover design. Its mixture of contemporary songwriting and Campbell’s musical identity remains the record’s central attraction.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
A1. Wichita Lineman
A2. (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay
A3. If You Go Away
A4. Ann
A5. Words
A6. Fate of Man
B1. Dreams of the Everyday Housewife
B2. The Straight Life
B3. Reason to Believe
B4. You Better Sit Down Kids
B5. That’s Not Home
