Auf Lager:
6
Buch (Softcover): Fachbuch
The Wichita Lineman
Searching in the Sun for the World's Greatest Unfinished Song
Verlag:
Faber & Faber Unsere-Artikel-Nr.: 7L3QN3Q
EAN: 9780571353415
Auf Lager:
6
Zustellung: Di, 06.10.2026
Versand: Kostenlos
CHF 26.–
Beschreibung
The sound of 'Wichita Lineman' was the sound of ecstatic solitude, but then its hero was the quintessential loner. What a great metaphor he was: a man who needed a woman more than he actually wanted her. Written in 1968 by Jimmy Webb, 'Wichita Lineman' is the first philosophical country song: a heartbreaking torch ballad still celebrated for its mercurial songwriting genius fifty years later. It was recorded by Glen Campbell in LA with a legendary group of musicians known as 'the Wrecking Crew', and something about the song's enigmatic mood seemed to capture the tensions in America at a moment of crisis. Fusing a dribble of bass, searing strings, tremolo guitar and Campbell's plaintive vocals, Webb's paean to the American West describes a telephone lineman's longing for an absent lover, who he hears 'singing in the wire' - and like all good love songs, it's an SOS from the heart. Mixing close-listening, interviews and travelogue, Dylan Jones explores the legacy of a record that has entertained and haunted millions for over half a century. What is it about this song that continues to seduce listeners, and how did the parallel stories of Campbell and Webb - songwriters and recording artists from different ends of the spectrum - unfold in the decades following. Part biography, part work of musicological archaeology, The. Wichita Lineman. opens a window on to America in the late-twentieth century through the prism of a song that has been covered by myriad artists in the intervening decades. 'Americana in the truest sense: evocative and real. ' Bob Stanley. 'It''s just another song to me. I''ve written 1,000 of them and it''s really just another one. ' Jimmy Webb. 'When I heard it I cried. It made me cry because I was homesick. It''s just a masterfully written song. ' Glen Campbell. 'I love the song because its as though it''s been in my life forever. ' Amy Raphael. 'It's not just the perfect pop song, it's almost perfect as an idea, existing outside of the song itself. ' Stuart Maconie. 'I don't really think of 'Wichita Lineman' as easy listening, I just think it's a great song. ' Paul Weller.
Spezifikationen
Sprache
- Englisch
Autor
- Dylan Jones
Erscheinungsjahr
- 2020
Format
- Buch (Softcover)
Anzahl Seiten
- 288