In 1968, Jimmy Webb was only 22 when Glen Campbell released a song that would become one of the most celebrated recordings of the era.
Nearly six decades later, Webb’s “Wichita Lineman” has earned praise from countless musicians and critics. But perhaps no endorsement carries quite as much weight as one attributed to Bob Dylan: “The greatest song ever written.”
On Aug. 15, Webb, the legendary songwriter behind “Wichita Lineman,” “MacArthur Park,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Up, Up and Away” and “Galveston,” turns 80.
It’s another milestone in an extraordinary career that began when Webb was barely out of his teens.
Bob Dylan Called ‘Wichita Lineman’ the Greatest Song Ever Written
Released by Campbell in 1968, “Wichita Lineman” became one of Webb’s signature compositions, despite being something of an unfinished song.
In his book “The Wichita Lineman: Searching in the Sun for the World’s Greatest Unfinished Song,” author Dylan Jones explores the mystery that has surrounded the song for decades.
Jones writes that as he grew older, he discovered he was hardly alone in his fascination with the recording. Dozens of people he knew loved it, while others seemed every bit as obsessed with it as he was.
“Bob Dylan once even said it was the greatest song ever written,” Jones writes.
Jones also spoke with music journalist Mark Ellen, who pointed to the song’s mysterious, unresolved quality as part of its appeal. Webb had sent Campbell a rough version of the composition, and Campbell recorded it without waiting for Webb to finish it.
The unusual structure only added to its mystique. Jones notes that the song doesn’t conform neatly to the traditional verse-chorus-bridge construction, yet it connected with listeners anyway.
The recording sold more than a million copies, and in 2019, “Wichita Lineman” was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
Jimmy Webb Was Just 14 When He Discovered Glen Campbell’s Music
The partnership between Webb and Campbell had an almost storybook beginning.
Webb grew up in Oklahoma in a religious family. His father was a Baptist minister, and Webb learned piano and organ as a child, playing in church while his father accompanied him on guitar and his mother on accordion.
Then, in 1961, 14-year-old Webb bought his first record: Campbell’s “Turn Around, Look at Me.”
Webb was captivated by Campbell’s voice. Within just a few years, the teenager who had bought Campbell’s record would meet the singer and eventually provide him with some of the most important songs of his career.
Their first meeting wasn’t exactly sentimental, however.
Webb later recalled in an interview with The Tennessean that when he arrived at the recording session with his hair in a Beatles-inspired style, Campbell took one look at the young songwriter and told him he needed to get a haircut.
“I was a hippie, with long hair, blue jeans and a T-shirt, and he looked very crisp. All of his clothes were ironed and his hair looked beautiful. He was fiddling with his guitar and ignoring me … I stuck my hand right in his face and said, ‘Mr. Campbell, I’m Jimmy Webb.’ He looked up at me and said, ‘When are you going to get a haircut?'” Webb recalled.
The two nevertheless developed a close friendship, with Webb eventually describing Campbell as being like a “big brother.”
“When it came to friendship Glen was the real deal. He spoke my name from ten thousand stages. He was my big brother, my protector, my co-culprit, my John crying in the wilderness. Nobody liked a Jimmy Webb song as much as Glen,” said Webb when Campbell died in 2017.
Jimmy Webb Penned Other Huge Hits Beyond ‘Wichita Lineman’
Webb wrote songs for The 5th Dimension, including “Up, Up and Away,” which won the Grammy for Song of the Year. Campbell turned “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” into a major hit, while Richard Harris took Webb’s sprawling “MacArthur Park” to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Webb was just 21 when he won Song of the Year. His songwriting résumé would eventually include platinum-selling songs such as “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” “Worst That Could Happen,” “All I Know” and “Highwayman,” alongside collaborations with artists ranging from Linda Ronstadt and Art Garfunkel to The Supremes and The Highwaymen.
His honors have been just as extraordinary. Webb has been inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and he remains the only person to have won Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration.
At 80, Webb has spent more than six decades proving his father both right and wrong. Songwriting may have brought its share of heartbreak, but it also gave Webb a body of work that has endured for generations, including one mysterious song about a solitary lineman that Bob Dylan reportedly considered the greatest ever written.
Related: Rock Icons Deliver Once-in-a-Lifetime ‘Wichita Lineman’ Duet — Fans Say ‘Chills’
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