John Allan of Bridgetown, Western Australia – July 2025
When I was about fifteen or sixteen I used to babysit for my neighbour Mr. H or
Hamish as he preferred to be called. He was a widower after his wife tragically lost her short battle with breast cancer in her mid thirties. He had two kids under ten. Hamish didn’t go out much but when he did he would ask me to look after them for a few hours. I never refused as they were never any bother and I welcomed the pocket money.
Hamish was (and I hope still is) a thick set ex rugby playing Borders man with an
uncanny resemblance to Glen Campbell which was just as well because he was his
number one fan. Every time Campbell toured in Scotland, Hamish was at the front of the queue for tickets and I knew I would be in for a quiet night watching the programmes I wanted to see on his large telly. Sandwiches and soft drink in the fridge and the promise of a few bob on his return. I was even allowed to listen to his record collection ………….. of Glen Campbell !
Not my favourite genre of music at the time but there was one song of his that stood
out. Wichita Lineman.
Written by Jimmy Webb in 1968 it was described as ‘the first existential country
song’. Apparently Campbell was looking for another ‘place-based’ song like ‘By The
Time I Get To Phoenix’ also by Webb. Lyrical inspiration came while driving
through the high plains of the Oklahoma pan handle past a long line of telephone
poles on one of which perched a lineman speaking into his handset.
My father in law was in a similar line of work though ‘I Am An Electrician With The
SSEB’* doesn’t have the same ring about it !
*South of Scotland Electricity Board.
Campbell, a seasoned session player, recorded the song with his old Wrecking Crew
chums adding a ‘tremelo-infused Dano bass melodic interlude’ to the piece. Ethereal
violins emulating wind blowing across wires and a ‘Morse code flute/keyboard motif ‘ added to the atmosphere.
Many artists have covered the song including Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Johnny
Mathis, James Taylor, REM and even Guns ‘n Roses live on tour.
A new and my particular favourite version (apart from Glen’s) is by jazz vocalist
Kurt Elling and the Huntertones.
I caught up with Hamish when he was out here visiting friends in Western Australia
about thirty years ago.
I hope he’s well and still on the line.
Six alternative versions of one great song……
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Doesn’t matter if you’re a country music fan or not I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love this classic version of Jimmy Webb’s great song.
Glad you made it a standalone piece, and tied it into some early memories, nicely done John.
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When I was young and innocent (or was it stupid?😂), I pretty much dismissed all country music as hillbilly. There were two notable exceptions: Johnny Cash who I always thought was cool, and John Denver whose songs I simply liked, especially “Country Roads” and “Leaving On a Jet Plane” – I still do to this day.
About 10 years ago (yep, that’s how long it took me to grow up), I finally started to realize that many artists I love like John Mellencamp. Sheryl Crow and Bruce Springsteen, incorporate country elements in their music, not to mention Eagles or Neil Young – hello?!
In addition to great instrumentation like pedal steel, fiddles and accordion, I’ve also embraced country artists as great story-tellers.
Last but not least, country has become such a broad genre with plenty of cross-over to rock, pop, blues, rock & roll and other music styles. That in and of itself makes it inappropriate to judge all country as the same!
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Superb song and recording. I like REM’s a lot too, but might have to give a little edge to ol’ Glen. And thank you…I have never known what that distinctive guitar/bass sound was! Now I do- a Dano bass. A great effect
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I can’t imagine anyone other than Glen Campbell singing this song. We had this album and the Gentle on My Mind album. Is this CeeTee? If so, just finished reading your book on the stray dogs of Goa. Bought the kindle version a few years back but just now took the time to read it.
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Hi Lisa
The post was written by regular contributor, John Allan from Western Australia.
I’m Cee Tee, but more often referred to as Jackie on this blog (from school days.). Or Ceejay or Beaky … and doubtless many other names too!
Thanks for reading the book. I hope you enjoyed it. It was one of the ‘practice’ books I published as an exercise in gaming experience for the release of ‘A Space Hopper Killed My Hamster …’ which comprises mainly of some of my own posts to this site. 😀
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