Glen Campbell Once Played Guitar for Another Artist on a Song That Later Became One of His Biggest Hits

In 1967, Glen Campbell had his first big hit with “By The Time I Get To Phoenix“. The title track of Campbell’s seventh studio album, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” came out after Campbell had released more than 20 singles, with only a few of them becoming moderate hits at radio.

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“By The Time I Get To Phoenix” is written by Jimmy Webb, although Webb didn’t write it with Campbell in mind. Instead, it was written for the newcomer Paul Petersen. Approached by Petersen’s record label, Webb got to work, penning “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”.

“They didn’t like it for him; they didn’t like it for anybody,” Webb tells Songfacts. “They ended up cutting it with a couple of different people, and not really being happy with it.”

Several other people recorded “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, including Pat Boone. A seasoned session guitarist, Campbell played on Boone’s recording session for “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”.

Boone did not have a hit with “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”.

Why Glen Campbell Decided To Record “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”

Johnny Rivers also recorded “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, before it became a massive crossover hit for Campbell. But if not for Rivers, Campbell likely never would have recorded what became one of his signature songs.

“[Campbell] was driving along the street one day, heard Johnny’s record and thought, ‘I could cut that record and make a hit out of it,’” Webb shares. “I think they both cut them in the same room, in Western 3.”

Not only did Rivers’ take on Webb’s song lead to a big single for Campbell, but it also led to another hit, “Wichita Lineman”, out in 1968. After Webb heard Campbell sing “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, he wrote “Wichita Lineman” for Campbell.

“I think that Glen’s voice is perfectly suited to early JW,” Webb says. “‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’, there was some kind of a surreal fit between his voice and those songs. It’s very hard for me to look back and say, ‘Oh, aha, now I see why we were successful.’ Because at the time, it certainly wasn’t anything that I was in control of.”

Webb is also the writer of Campbell’s “Galveston”, “Honey Come Back”, “Where’s The Playground Susie”, and others.

Campbell earned multiple Grammy Awards for “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”.

Photo by Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images