October 23, 1967, was a historic day for Glen Campbell, although he didn’t know it at the time. It was on this day that Campbell recorded “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”. Campbell recorded the song at Capitol Studios, in Hollywood.
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“By The Time I Get To Phoenix” is the title track of Campbell’s seventh studio album.. The record also includes “Hey Little One”, another hit single for Campbell. “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” is written by Jimmy Webb. Johnny Rivers first released the song in 1965, with Campbell releasing his own version two years later.
“By The Time I Get To Phoenix” follows “Gentle On My Mind“, a song that became one of Campbell’s biggest hits.
Although “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” didn’t hit No. 1 for Campbell, it was still a successful single for him. The song earned Campbell two Grammy Awards, for Best Vocal Performance, Male, and Best Contemporary Male Solo Vocal Performance. Interestingly, that same year, he also won two Grammys for “Gentle On My Mind” as well, for Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance and Best Country and Western Recording.
The Story Behind “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”
It was when Glen Campbell heard Rivers’ version of “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” that he decided he wanted to put his own spin on the song, believing he could do a better job.
“He 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 tells Songfacts. “I think they both cut them in the same room, in Western 3.”
In an interview with NPR, Webb delved into the brilliance of the track. “May I hasten to add that I think that the appeal of the song lies in its sort of succinct tale—its beginning, middle and end—and the fact that it sort of has an O. Henry-esque twist at the end, which consists merely of the guy saying, ‘She didn’t really think that I would go,’ but he did, he stated. “And, in fact, I didn’t. I didn’t go. I stayed for more punishment.”
Webb actually didn’t write “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” for Rivers or Glen Campbell. Instead, it was written for an artist by the name of Paul Petersen. But when Webb turned it into his publishing company, they passed on it.
“They didn’t like it for him,” Webb remembers. “They didn’t like it for anybody. They ended up cutting it with a couple of different people, and not really being happy with it. And when I left the company, they gave me the song and said, ‘You can take this one with you.’ And I said, ‘Okay, I will. I like it.’ They liked verses and choruses there. Verses and big choruses. And ‘By the Time I Get To Phoenix’ is three verses, very simple, very direct storyline.”
Photo by Jasper Dailey/ Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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