Thursday 29 May 2008

... and the Wichita lineman...

The guy from Wichita was late this week, but I'm glad to see he finally made it. I was getting worried something had scared him away.

In honor of his reappearance on the morning's stats I thought this clip appropriate. As a general word of advice: if anyone ever gets the chance to see Jimmy Webb (the guy performing here, who also wrote this song - along with a whole bunch of other classics) take it. Absolutely unforgettable.

6 comments:

Wormwood's Doxy said...

Alcibiades---I don't know if he was the first to record it, but I always associate this song with the American country singer, Glenn Campbell.

My dad, from whom I have been estranged for many years, looked so much like Glenn Campbell when he was young...

Alcibiades said...

Glenn Campbell had a hit with, but Jimmy Webb wrote it - or as he put it when we saw him play a few years back "this is a song with which Glenn Campbell kindly subsidised my late 70's substance abuse"

Fran said...

Holy moly - Jools Holland, have not seen him in a longtime and reminds me of my erstwhile not-so-youth when I was madly addicted to The Tube, which one could find on at odd hours on MTV in 1984. I should point out that I was 27 then and not 16. Sheesh.

Anyway that was off topic, but I must say that I loved hearing this song sung by Jimmy Webb. Brilliant!

Boaz said...

I have his album "Ten Easy Pieces". It's a classic unplugged album, mostly just Web singing his hits and playing the piano unaccompanied. Best listened to after 11pm with a red.

Galverston was a huge hit for Glen Campbell and must have earned Web a small fortune. My favourite song though is, The Moon's a Harsh Mistress. Probably done best by Joe Cocker on his "I Can Stand a Little Rain" album.

Alcibiades said...

Yes Boaz - that album was what drove us to go and see him play The Basement (which for everyone not in Sydney is a legendary local jazz/folk venue).

Webb's other huge earner was Macarthur Park, but my favourites are the two Cocker made famous (You are So Beautiful & The Moon's a Harsh Mistress) - of which the latter really is IMHO one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

Kate Morningstar said...

I've certainly heard many of his songs, but never Jimmy Webb himself before -- thank you so much.