Wichita Lineman | The greatest song ever? | Guitar Lesson

[@dgib4314]

Carole Kaye on page 290 of her book "Studio Musician" says that Glen Campbell borrowed her six-string Dan Electro bass to do the solo. Thank you for all the great lessons!

[@charlie-obrien]

A lot of that confusion comes from when Glen played the song on the "GC Goodtime Hour" and he was using a Fender bass Vl in that segment. But as you pointed out, that was not the guitar in the recording. Carol Kaye gets a lot of credit for her inspirational work in the Wrecking Crew and still deserves so much more. (backwards and in heels, and all that, right?)

[@scottarivett496]

My favorite TV appearance is the Smothers Brothers when he flew in off the set of True Grit. He used the FB6 on it AND…played it the entire song!!..Very well too, very percussive. And Danelectro still makes a good baritone guitar. Seen them used in studios a lot. They can really add something.

[@chevy4x466]

Well, I have seen Glen it to many times. He plays it on his guitar, it certainly sounds like a bass comes in. The original recorder is funny to me. I just think the strings damage the recording. So, I believe it’s possible he had to play a bass in the studio on the studio…. I would have loved the strings at a much lower volume. Then they could have come in where they were meant , the part where Glen sings I can here u thru the wires. That part sends chills, and the strings fit the sound of the wires, powerful imagery. I am 52, could be the greatest song I’ve heard.

[@timothycharlesellis5940]

They showed it in The Wrecking Crew documentary also.

[@jamescoughlan8193]

Carol kaye is such a legend and so modest.

[@Anonymous99997]

“And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time.” The most romantic lyric ever written. Thanks, Jimmy Webb.

[@chrislufc]

Up there with Cat Stevens’ “I need to know you, need to feel my arms around you, feel my arms around you, like sea around a shore.”

[@jayrhodes2097]

I saw Glenn doing this on Country Homecoming. Kris Kristofferson was sitting beside Glenn. When he got to this line Kris just shook his head amazed. One of the greatest lines ever written

[@diadora9292]

Glen was an incredible guitarist

[@mikestroud9969]

Yes 🙌🙌👍

[@drothberg3]

And possibly even better singer, though don't hold me to that!

[@pablodebiddlybo3771]

All time Great this one. Glen was such a talent . Loving the guitar too not heard of those I’ll check them out

[@seangalloghly9586]

@@pablodebiddlybo3771 His final album, Adios, is remarkable. By all accounts, he was so ill he could only record the delivery of a single line at a time for every song but you'd never know by listening to it. It really is quite something.

[@pablodebiddlybo3771]

@@seangalloghly9586 I’ll check it out thanks

[@jbf16falcon]

Glen Campbell First concert I ever went to Lubbock Municipal Auditorium, Aug 30, 1968. He sang Wichita Lineman and said it was new and to watch for it coming to the radio within days. A very personable show. I think the tickets were $5 or less. Can’t tell you what I saw as a second concert but never forget the first one you go to.

[@jonjepson3650]

What a great era

[@indieguy81]

Man, that's epic. You're very lucky to have experienced it!

[@dooleyfan]

This is a perfect example of one of those songs that I didn't appreciate until decades after I started playing guitar.

[@stevetruth2696]

I can still here it crackling over the AM radio as we drove. It drove a spike in my soul that has never left. Love playing it.

[@jagtone]

But can you hear it through the wires?

[@motioninmind6015]

This song is just amazing, and your arrangement does it more than justice, wow! This is a tearjerker, no joke

[@charlie-obrien]

"Wichita Lineman" received more radio play than any other song in the 20th Century. They could have played even twice that amount and it still would have been welcome. For 3 minutes this song transports whomever the listener is, into the world of the Lineman. He is stoic, he is noble and he carries the love for his woman in his heart no matter how far he must go.

[@littleninpo]

That is absolutely fucking beautiful. Bravo.

[@drew699]

Witchita Lineman is in my top 3 songs of all time. Possibly no.1 & rightly so. What a song.

[@jimc6687]

Great rendition!! And to think...decades ago in a small New Jersey town with my clock radio going off to wake me up for high school early dawns with freezing, miserable weather awaiting me for the frigid bus ride to teen angst school....this song more than any other would be the culprit forcing me awake! I detested this song for years but now.......I've come full circle and it actually brings bittersweet tears to my eyes with memories going back over half a century to losing Glen fairly recently..... I owe it to Glen, Webb and these memories to learn this nice arrangement! Jim C.

[@jackperri3186]

Another Jersey viewer! What town you from greetings from Asbury Park!

[@kylemoran4343]

About two years after this song came out, when I was in H.S. my dad would come home from his night shift job, and would turn the radio on in my room, to what seemed like the dj playing "Our House" CSNY every morning for months. Every time I hear that song these days, I think of my dad. RIP Dad !

[@dannymiller2083]

The most beautiful rendition I've heard! Your a master.

[@tomlarosa6647]

Holy shit. This sent me searching out the Glen Campbell version, which brought me to other artists, and every time I hear it, I start tearing up. This is a magical chord progression. Really shows the power of music. Rock and roll makes you want to move, this one stirs up emotions, amazing. Thanks

[@dandedee1]

Indeed, it's beautiful

[@chriss1492]

I saw in an interview Eddie Van Halen saying that if he could take a guitar lesson from anyone, it would be Glen Campbell. Although many here in the US associate him with country music, Campbell was incredibly versatile and a very technical musician. He also had the charm and presence to frequently be a feature on TV variety shows. I have warm memories of watching him play on television growing up.

[@acpg]

That's amazing! And agree, Campbell was an awesome guitar player and musician.

[@Mark70609]

You have a link to the EVH quote? He might have been joking?

[@julianwilsonsongwritermusi9413]

Magnificent. Just had the best guitar player I know listening to you. He said "It just don't get any better" J

[@mindriot69]

“Wichita Lineman” is a magical song on many levels. And if I really try to explain to you exactly why… I can’t ever do it justice. The couplet “And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time” might be the greatest moment in music ever. It just relates this intense feeling of love and wanting. The whole song is just magical. This leads me to one of the best books on music I’ve ever read. It’s by Dylan Jones and it’s called “The Wichita Lineman: Searching in the Sun for the World’s Greatest Unfinished Song”. It really tells the whole tale around the song as well as the connection between Jimmy Webb & Glen Campbell. It makes this beautiful song even more unique and mysterious. ✌🏽❤️🎸🍄

[@drew699]

It is a great book!

[@fishyfish6768]

You have done an amazing arrangement of the song.

[@chokkan7]

Hat's off to you, Adrian, for showing Glen Campbell (and Jimmy Webb) some love; this man may well have been one of the greatest guitarists of the 20th century, and this song in particular highlights the value of phrasing and note selection in a way that few other hit records ever have. He was a fixture of my formative years in the '60s and early '70s, and I can't count the number of times I watched him wail away on the TV, doing things on his guitar that I've seldom seen done elsewhere. More, please...

[@chrisdrake447]

That was a wonderful arrangement ! Even 10 years ago I’d have given Glen Campbell zero ear time. Now, a compilation of his more popular tracks and his album of modern covers features regularly on my playlist. Masterful singing, brilliant song writing and great playing - Glen was the complete musical package.

[@lastofthe4horsemen279]

Yes he was the man .Galveston also gets mist in the eyes

[@delcapslock100]

It is a great song. I think I read that Jimmy Webb was driving somewhere in the country and saw a lineman up on a pole, and thought that must be the loneliest job in the world, and was inspired to write the song. And he nailed it. Any human soul can relate to the intense loneliness and longing.

[@coreymihailiuk5189]

An undoubted classic song that shows off Jimmy Webbs incredible song writing genius. It's always been one of my all time favourites songs. Thanks for sharing how it all goes together.

[@charlie-obrien]

I've played guitar for a long time, but it wasn't until I learned the melody and chords of "Wichita Lineman" that I began to understand what true great songwriting and musicianship was. Jimmy composed this on piano, as he did most of his work and Glen turned it into one of the most beloved guitar songs ever. Virtually, unmatched in structure, progression and how it hits the heart. The unfortunate thing for me is that this song spoiled a lot of others for me. Once you have heard and learned the best, it was just too hard to go back to "3 chords and a chorus". Lol

[@cerclesvicieux]

This lesson is a testament to your musicality. An absolutely beautiful arrangemnent of this song, Adrien. The emotion in your playing guts me. I am in awe.

[@larryyork1146]

It is the greatest song . My all time favorite. Glen was a master musician and jimmy Webb was a master songwriter

[@filled_soda]

The melody of this song is just devastating

[@MrKenny777]

I can hear Glen sing as you play. That's a tribute to your relaxed playing. Beautiful.

[@NickHughes-bl9vv]

People tend to give all the credit for Wichita Lineman to Jimmy and Glen -a great songwriter; and a talented singer, no argument. However, it was producer Al De Lory who was the creator of the lush arrangement and beautiful soundscape that is the recording we all have come to know and love. His contribution can't be overstated.

[@GFHanks]

If it's not the greatest song ever, it's definitely high up in the conversation. It's simply superb in every way.

[@spikeafrican8797]

This one of those songs that no amount of pulling apart or analyzing tells us anything about its magic. Jimmy Web and Glen made so much music around this time where where the total was so much greater than the sum of its parts. To me, that is the beautiful mystery of a masterpiece!

[@kswannie]

Adrian...this is something special. Your melodic sensibility is first class. Thank you for sharing this with us. And, yes, I am most definitely stealing your riffs when I play this.

[@benwa275]

The 6-string bass and baritone guitar in 60's country music lingo are the same instrument. They started using baritone guitars (6-string basses) in the late 50s to create that tic-tac bass sound and it really took off in the 1960s. There would have been plenty of baritone guitars in a studio that recorded country or surf music. B-E-A-D-F#-B tuning. They played these muted behind the regular bass lines because "real" country music didn't use a lot of drums if any. This created a replacement for percussion, and it really became an integral part of that sound. Country artists and players just called them basses, so if he said he recorded on a bass, it was actually a baritone. They used Danelectro UB-2, Gibson EB-6, Hagstrom Coronado, Hoffner 188, and Fender Bass VI models. The most likely culprits are the Fender Bass VI or the Danelectro UB-2. I know way too much about this because I had to do some research on tic-tac bass for a project a while back.

[@alleygh0st]

Interesting. I got a guitar tuned like that at the ready. Will experiment with this in mind. Thanks!

[@XLBiker13]

If Wichita Lineman isn't the greatest song of all time it's certainly near the top of the list. Such a brilliant song. And your arrangement is simply sublime. So beautiful.

[@stephenowen5229]

Yes, probably the greatest song ever written. Jimmy Webb wrote some great songs but this is just on another level! You really do it justice! My compliments.

[@zuider77]

Absolutely. This is the amazing Jimmy Webb at the height of his powers.

[@johng2880]

@@zuider77 Rick Beato just did an Amazing interview with Webb.

[@gregmock6808]

brilliant! Glen was a member of the wrecking crew before he went solo...he also played with the Beach Boys before his career took off

[@markspranger3291]

Wow Adrian. You knocked it out of the park (or should I say "pitch") with this lovely version of amazing song. It hasn't aged a bit. And seconds to all the praise for Glenn Campbell and Jimmy Webb.. Can't wait to dive into this one.

[@kane6529]

You know what I love about your channel, your not just some smelly hipster that covers old music because it makes you look cool and sophisticated, you cover it because you love it and appreciate a well crafted song no matter when it was recorded 😅

[@pascalauzias5636]

Arrggghhh Looooove it... I'm crying.... Thank you Adrian !!! You're the best !!!

[@satamique]

Chords mixing with licks is my favourite all time guitar lessons, so thank you man!

[@Blue_3rd]

👏👏I remember hearing this song so many times on the ‘wireless’ when I was growing up. My dad was a fan of Glen Campbell so he played his records too. I shall enjoy working through this one, thank you!

[@Kevin-the-Just]

A beautiful combination of chords and melody. You did a great job on it, too. Thanks Adrian.

[@TurtleTunes1960]

Adrian your brilliant! This song always brings a tear to my eyes. Your arrangement brought out those emotions too. I was 8 when I first heard it playing on the AM radio of my Father’s new 68 Bel Air station wagon. Can’t wait to learn your arrangements to play for my family. Thanks again!

[@talkingdogmusic4349]

So glad I stumbled across this video. I've never seen anyone explain the how-to of this song better. Your video is clear, concise, and so easy to follow. You 'de-mystified' WL for me! Thanks

[@radiomindchatter7994]

Your arrangement is beautiful. And inspirational.

[@benjaminnewberry363]

Have been singing and playing this song since it first came out and still learning to this day how to play it better, GR8 instructional video!!!

[@lynne5322]

Gorgeous chords & gorgeous lyrics. Pure magic.

[@mikaelsjoberg1894]

Somebodys been watching Rick Beato.....:) but this is a wonderful song for sure. A true classic - and very well played by Adrian.

[@paulrobinson3353]

Great song, great channel, love your interpretation.

[@TheFairway8]

Glen Campbell was a phenomenal guitarist. I watched the Documentary I’ll Be Me about his struggle with Alzheimer’s it’s a very moving and very sad documentary but shows how determined a person not just a guitarist he really was, it’s really worth watching.

[@brohemian]

That is an excellent documentary. Also for how music and the brain works.

[@TheFairway8]

@@brohemian yeah right up to the end he could remember how to play guitar but not remember the lyrics it's very sad to watch

[@theselector4733]

What a GREAT Tone. Your "Arrangement" is fantastic, kinda brought a tear to my eye. I've watched many of your videos, so I think it's only fair I make a donation. Keep up the GREAT work. Cheers

[@sdfswords]

Great breakdown, mate! Like you said, Jimmy Webb probably didn't aim for all of the music theory inter-relationships, he probably just felt it and wrote it, which is pure art rendition.

[@philh27]

Ace, absolutely ace. Truly great song, fantastic arrangement. Thanks Adrian.

[@frankmasterson9243]

Thanks for another great lesson. You have kept me enthusiastic about the guitar. I'm 67 and still learning new things since I first started playing at 12. You're the best.

[@jimmylepog5133]

I like all kind of weird and heavy stuff from the 60s and 70s but this song... this song has a special place in my heart, that no other song I've ever heard has, that kind of song that marks a specific moment in your life.

[@twelvemeister]

youve got to love adrian .. hes like the bob ross of guitar teaching . what a communicator

[@Nick051967]

Awesome that this beautiful song is getting the love, respect and analysis it deserves. I can never do it justice, but when I hear it, I’m always moved

[@nlm620]

Amazing arrangement! You never overplay and the beauty of the melody shines through. Bravo!

[@joebloggs8636]

You sir are a wonderful guitar player.

[@TheJewellian]

you have a real talent for music and playing and teaching, thank you

[@majorpayne8373]

Pick 'n' grin! And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. - A great line.

[@buddhamus]

Very cool lesson. I was 12y/o when the Glen Campbell album was released, an Aunty gave me the album as a Christmas present. I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I did and I still consider the song and album one of my all-time favorites. I really like your arrangement. Looking forward to working on learning this. Thank you for this lesson.

[@ozijoekersanov]

I was given a Glen Campbell best of cassette when I was 12 maybe. Great songs Jimmy Webb is a legend. Another standout was Galveston as one of my earliest memories being next to a jukebox in Oz near the beach. Epic and thank you so much for your eclectic good taste sir.

[@bluesdog51]

Adrian, You are the best!

[@kocherpm]

simply amazing. it nearly made me cry.

[@Ojb_1959]

The vibrato is a nice touch. Bravo from New Orleans 🎭

[@VMRTex]

Just plain Wonderful!

[@gao1258]

thanks again Adrian for the lessons and your commentary....you said on one vid youre no music historian but simply the love and work and knowledge you share so freely contradicts that thought )

[@listairgin]

Wow! Fantastic Adrain, thanks for doing this one. 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🕊

[@tonykehoe123]

My friend , it warms my heart so much that someone with such a wide spectrum of musical influences as yourself , should be so appreciative of what could ultimately be my favourite song of all time . Having had the pleasure of seeing glen campbell performing on more than one occasion , it never ceases to amaze me , that each time I hear it , my spine runs cold knowing now that there are certain “items” somewhat embedded now into my cultural dna .

[@ricochetrabbit4618]

You play this song so beautifully...

[@TheDancingKid]

Superb instrumental version and lesson. Great song then (I was there), great song now.

[@cougarblue]

Fabulous arrangement of an all time classic. Great job!

[@rudymikula7129]

Great version. I loved Glen Campbell and you captured the small bends and the tremolo was spot on. Love you playing, thanks for the lesson.

[@michaelbentley4182]

Well thought through,tasteful and just right! Excellent!

[@stefanmathias8239]

Just beautiful!

[@MrFab0117]

close your eye and listen …to see an another world ! Amazing ! 🙏🙏🙏

[@terryquinn2042]

Fantastic rendition. I really enjoyed your playing it was brilliant so beautiful executed! Brilliant tone...... Well fabulous.

[@chrisbergonzi7977]

Fantastic arrangement...thanks pal...

[@rodee1671]

Gorgeous cover.

[@tigertuft]

Great song. Fabulous arrangement Adrian.

[@hikefishmakemusic]

You nailed it. You created a beautiful arrangement and played it flawlessly. Bravo.

[@skintslots]

Good job showcasing the Trent guitar. I don't like offsets but those Trent guitars are a bit special. Also,what a song and performer sang and played on it.

[@DDandrums]

Love this. My favourite part is the “and I need you more than want you” section.

[@leandrofelipebuenotierno4724]

I congratulate you for the guitar class of this amazing song. Thank you !

[@abrigospardos]

As always, your choice of material is excellent 👌👌👌

[@mkii1964]

"The greatest song ever?" It's certainly up there......! Great job, bravo Sir!

[@Honestly__now]

Awesome guitar playing. Beautiful really with all the singing in it too.

[@timwillis9654]

Nicely done! Those P-90s through the compressor sound amazing. Origin Effects makes some great gear. Also, according to Mr Webb, he sent this song to Glenn Campbell as an unfinished demo, thinking if Campbell liked it, he would add a third verse. Campbell didn't know that though, and recorded the two verses. Webb didn't even know Campbell decided to record it until he heard the "unfinished" version on the radio.* But it's perfect as it is, and yes, it's absolutely one of the best songs I've ever. I believe Webb wrote it on piano, which might explain some of those finger-tying voicings. Love your version too. * Tried to fact check my memory on this with no luck...so take with a grain of salt.

[@brianharris7243]

Jimmy Webb is a genius songwriter

[@dennischurgovich1904]

Thank you for producing this video.

[@mikeyc0014]

Awesome arrangement of something truly beautiful ...and yes, this is a true classic

[@mumby216]

Fantastic playing and lesson, great video. Thank you!

[@rodgermcmillen8662]

Fantastic arrangement, great playing, and love that guitar, Thanks

[@mikerinaldi7170]

That's absolutely beautiful

[@cptntwang]

Thank you so much. I am learning this while sick at home isolated with COVID.

[@arranhouston2450]

So many good musical ideas with this one, spent 2 hours going through this one, getting carried away with the musical ideas! Thanks again!

[@dashmusic9454]

Love to see a video of you actually making the track, programming the drums etc

[@rodballou2713]

Absolutely fabulous! Awesome job!

[@robbieacma1]

Fantastic lesson..you are a great player and teacher.

[@rjjen1696]

Excellent job--plus all the history -thank you

[@NoelKerns]

Very nice interpretation of this classic.

[@later_daze_4080]

This is rad! Glenn Campbell was a killer guitar player!

[@mikestroud9969]

Yes 👍🤚💯

[@bigjohnson7415]

Amazing player! Dude could shread before shredding became a thing.