- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The title song on this album, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was written by one of the finest songwriters of that era, Jimmy Webb and was a more than respectable hit song – #2 on the country charts, and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Glen Campbell – By the Time I Get to Phoenix (1967): A major talent, not only as a best-selling musician but also as one of the finest session guitar players ever. Glen Campbell was one of the first and most successful country crossover artists – so much so that I had difficulty even regarding him as a country musician. Additionally, Campbell was a regular on the edgy The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late 1960’s and later hosted his own show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour from 1969 to 1972. Glen Campbell began playing in the early 1960’s with a legendary group of masterful studio musicians who became known as the Wrecking Crew; they provided often uncredited backing music for some of the biggest hit songs of the 1960’s and into the 1970’s. The statistics for the Wrecking Crew are simply unfathomable, with their members often playing on tens of thousands of recordings.
Drummer Hal Blaine for example reportedly played on 140 Top Ten hits including 40 Number One hits. Bass guitarist Carol Kaye, one of the few women in the Wrecking Crew (she preferred the name the Clique), was once quoted as saying that she earned more money than the President. While most members of the Wrecking Crew remained more or less anonymous, Glen Campbell, Dr. John, and Leon Russell became popular solo acts; and Nino Tempo had a Number One hit with a 1963 duet with his sister, under the name April Stevens, of a classic song from the 1930’s called “Deep Purple”. The British hard rock band Deep Purple is named for this song; founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has said that “Deep Purple” was his grandmother’s favorite song, and he remembered fondly her playing the song for him on the piano when he was a child. After Glen Campbell became established as a recording artist – By the Time I Get to Phoenix is Campbell’s second consecutive Platinum album, both being released in 1967 – he often used his friends from the Wrecking Crew on his own recordings, including this album. Glen Campbell was one of the first high-profile entertainers who acknowledged having Alzheimer’s Disease, and Peggy and I were fortunate enough to attend a concert at the Beau Rivage that was a warm-up for Glen Campbell’s Goodbye Tour. The main reason that I wanted to see Glen Campbell live when I got the chance was to see his prowess on the guitar. Glen Campbell’s backing band at the concert that we saw were all or almost all members of his extended family, including several of his children. Campbell occasionally lost his place in the song lyrics and had to be repeatedly reminded of which song came next and how to start that song. But once he was on, he was on: Those fingers flew up and down the fretboard in breathtaking displays of virtuosity. The universally acclaimed documentary of the Goodbye Tour, called Glen Campbell: I’ll be Me (2014) included Glen Campbell’s final studio recording, the Grammy-winning “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”. The title song on this album, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was written by one of the finest songwriters of that era, Jimmy Webb and was a more than respectable hit song – #2 on the country charts, and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 – but this was just one of the early salvos from this master craftsman, who placed a total of 80 hit songs on the charts and sold over 45 million records. In 1969, Isaac Hayes released his second album, a longtime favorite called Hot Buttered Soul (a #1 hit on the R&B charts) that featured a leisurely version of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” with a spoken introduction about the events that led up to what is described in the song.