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From: wleme
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  • homer simpson did it better

  • All of my Ipod playlists have this song included. I listen to it while I commute 40 miles to Wichita every day.

  • love the violins throughout this song.

  • Lovin you Glen. All the best to you. Your are a true legend of American Popular musix

  • why is there an ad on this video -.- obviously the person who listed it doesn't own its content. I wish I could get this on DVD. Fantastic show.

  • My favorite Glen song. Never get tired of listening.

  • does anyone know what concert this is from??

    at 1.15 absolute perfection.

  • @Johnno6784 not sure, but I know its from '78 or '79 and its with the Boston Pop conducted by Arthur Fiedler.

  • @Johnno6784

    This concert is from his 1977 London concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.It was recorded on album,and is titled "Glen Campbell Live At The Royal Festival Hall".I know,because I have the actual album.It is available to download on Amazon.

  • at 1:15 is a treatment of that line, that unfortunately, he doesn't render that way as he gets older- that's why he took it a 3rd or 5th up into a high tenor there, being younger, because you figure that as you get older your chords can't stand the strain--but nonetheless a beautiful treatment of that phrase, sounding very john denveresque.

  • @turquoise770 I've been listening to this song from the 60's, 70's, right up to when he performed it on Ellen a month ago. The vocals are amazing, the song sounds just beautiful regardless of what year I'm listening to. The best thing about Glen Campbell, his voice is pure. None of this 'vocal calisthenics' like Mariah or Christina. That to me, makes a song unpleasant. He doesn't try to out-perform anyone. He doesn't have to.

  • @Mattncatt just an appreciation for ingenuity in musical phrasing,and ,amittedly, lamenting the decline in vocal ability due to age (affecting us all), that prevents a reproduction of such a beautifully improvised lyrical alternative as heard here.

  • @turquoise770 Yeah, he is really an amazing musician. Too bad that the 70's music in general got trashed, because hidden in the smoothness is just some amazing work.

  • very nice song !!!

  • "I need U more than want U"....is such a deep line....Cant keep from getting choked up every time I hear that line...it's REAL!!!...What a great classic ballad!

  • My favorite Glen Campbell song. I can't stop playing it since I have heard he had Alzheimer's. After hearing this song when I was 11 while driving down to Florida in the middle of the night with my parents, I had a teenybopper crush on him.This song still holds a special place in my heart over 40 years later. I think it's his best song and my fav. How HOT did he look with long hair? OMG! So sorry to hear of his illness.

  • My favorite Gelen Campbell song. I can;t stop playing it since I have heard he had Alzheimer's, After heating this song when I was 111 I had a crush on hime and this song still holds a special place in my heart. U thinks it's his best and God he looked hot with that long hair!

  • i dont like rhinestone cowboy or southern nights as much as this song....Galveston is another one..

  • Saw his last show with Ronnie Milsap. Was Great! I listen to Heavy Metal and Rock and Roll and I like the Classic Country. Find that common among many these days. New country is not country and the old kicks the new's ass! No comparison!

  • the 12 string makes the solo sound so cool!! excellent performance!

  • NOBODY DOES JIMMY WEBB LIKE THE GREAT GLENN CAMPBELL

  • Such a fantastic Jimmy Webb song, sung by the wonderful Glen Campbell.

    It's such a shame he's now doing his final concert after such a long and wonderful career.

    The backing singers sound more than a bit "off" (around1.34)!!

  • @ChrisMum yes that is funny I heard the same thing with the back up - ears to sensitive - that said, there is no talent finer and more versitile than GC

  • I sometimes think this isn't so much a song as a novel...Larry McMurtry or Carson McCullers...Jimmy Webb can spin a tale in 2:49 that lesser talents couldn't do in ten times the time...and Campbell sings it beautifully

  • yep... incredible

  • As a romantic ballad, surely one of the very finest. Performed by an artist of great talent.

  • What a pure voice!

  • I don't normally like this style of music, but this is in my top ten of all time favourite songs

  • @Sneezingswanlon I'm not a C&W fan either...But this is without doubt my number one song of all time. And other Glen songs aren't that far behind.

  • What a melody this and live!

    The backing vocals aree awesome!!

  • true counrtyboy at his best

  • Wow. Glen you are perfect

  • i love the lead riff punctuation,this guy is flawless

  • he loves guitars guaranteed,he has sooooo many lovely guitars.always somethin new

  • spectacular stage lineup

  • There can't be many guys out there that can really handle a 12 string guitar

  • There can't be many many guys of Glen,s caliber out there that can really play a 12 string guitar!

  • This is the best song Glenn Campbell ever sang.Thank you for sharing.

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  • If there is a more beautiful melody in the world, I swear I don't know what it is.

    

  • One of the greatest tunes of all-time. Like every great song...it takes you right there...into the life of The Witchita Lineman. Pure, heartfelt emotion. I probably spun this record a thousand times and every time, it's just as enjoyable as the last.

  • Bravo Glen Campbell ! Though We are all saddened by the News of your Illness. Your Music has brought Great Joy to Me for Many Years. And will continue to do so. Our Hearts & Thoughts as Fans are with You and Your Family .

  • what's with all those weird ethnic comments above

  •  Glen, love you so much !

  • can only certain people hear what i'm hearing? is it only the music of our era? It must be so much more.Respond

  • love this song glen your the best saludo maestro glen campbell

  • To shedmeat .......this my friend has nothing to do with maturity ..but to blame a country like the U.K. seems to be redundant as far as what goes on in the U.S.A regarding what they refer to as a Lineman ... So a bit hasty you say i was and probably i am Guilty but thats not a maturity problem thats a very Sensitivity issue ..besides my issues go as far back as 1745 ..So in lieu of your judgement i apologize if your feelings were hurt ....I remain yours truly a partner in the U.K. 1945kelly

  • Wow, he gathered a really good band for the occasion. Two thumbs up!

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  • We love you Glen....

    You gave us your music.......we will keep it alive.......

  • I'm from the U.K. too ..but i know what a bloody Lineman is ..think telephone lines mate ! geez i can;t wait till Scotland frees itself from you lot ....How can scotland have a Queen when it never had a King ??answer that !or continue watching Coronation Street ..lol kelly1945

  • @1945kelly What a mature answer, glad Scotland has you. Someone politely told me the answer so thanks to them.

  • Im from the UK, What is a Lineman? Im thinking a traffic police officer?

  • @shedmeat

    I'm in Canada...check out the James Taylor video of this song and you will see what a lineman is in stunningly beautiful fashion

  • @rickpearsonmusic Sure Will do. Thanks

  • Magical. Fantastic lyrics and music " I hear you singing in the wire"...I can hear you through the whine"... Jimmy Webb rules and so does Glen Campbell!

  • Simply Magic!!!

  • This is a very nice version, thanks for posting it! Let's keep him in our prayers!

  • Does anyone who what concert this was at? would love to listen to more of his songs from it. Girlfriend just bought me tickets for his Dublin date in the 'Goodbye Tour'!!!

  • Look at his haircut! Good old seventies. Actually, i was really bummed when the natural clothing of the 60s turned into polyester in the 70s. All those floppy collars, big bow ties for women, wide ties, and hair all in your face (Gimme a Head of Hair, Long Beautiful Hair!). Well it was a decade that passed with hardly any imitations. We'll just judge the decade by its music - there was some good stuff, including the funkadelic. As for me, I dated Jefferson Airplane's bass player's brother!

  • I love James Taylor's cover of this, really another nice version

  • right on, brothers. Glen had a magical voice. God bless Jimmy Webb. Let's not forgert our greatest singer, Harry Nilsson

  • It was Antonio Muecci, not Thomas A Edison who invented the telephone.

  • @Nikes62 I thought it was Alexanda Graham Bell who invented the telephone?? :-/ Edison invented the lightbulb, hence the name edison screw bulb.

  • Wow, a treasure, great perfromance, and thank god for Youtube. I get to share, enjoy gems like this that make me smile.

  • well said Marine me too!

    

  • well said Marine me too!

  • Well lol. I am definately not bi-racial, but.,...I still listen to all kinds of music like these nice folks up above me here. My primary love is Progressive Rock, but I have always loved listening to Glenn and some of those artists from that period! The reason I really love this song is because of Jimmy Webb's ability to take an average hard working persons thought and put it to a wonderful song. That plus Glenns ability to get you to live the song! Nice!

  • Hmm cool 12 string electric!

  • Well Glen is a fanatastic artist. And if anyone who is not aware, he played on much music as a session artist no one would know about. So if you ever bobbed your head to Joe Ski Love's Pee Wee's dance video on MTV (Ice T dancing around in background) or Tequila! ( You,,Da dadada dat ta dat ta) Thats Glen playing guitar onTequila.

  • Marty1086 Without going into it, this is a song any songwriter wished he would have written. Treasure indeed, Jimmy Webb. Thanks, peace.

  • This song is the best of the best and--- Glen Campbell sings it ---well-- to perfection !

  • Written by Jimmy Webb. A national treasure.

  • I'm Black, but yea I feel the same, even now @ 41. Music is music, and I guess it's my age now, but I really don't give a shit what anyone else thinks...more so now than ever. Who cares these days anyways? So much more stuff to worry about, real issues...but yeah, I love these tunes too.

  • @peppersax.I know exactly what you are talking about.Being Native American /Irish.We had a tradition between fathers family wanting to listen and play nothing but american flute/drums/guitars/banjos/vio­lins, and mother all classical music.Kids in school playing Peter Frampton(which I like nowadays)But the music from the 50,60,70,80's were the best.Stuff nowadays, I wont listen too.Prefer cd's, of the old stuff and Utube! Thumbs up to you, btw.

  • what year was this made??

  • very good performance

  • I love this song! I remember it as a kid growing up in the late 60's early 70's and I still do! Love all of it! Black/White...did not matter to me because it was all good music. Thank God for YouTube and XMRadio and CD's! I can't say too much for most of the (so called) music of today....I feel sorry for the kids today. Some are smart though as they find themselves here! Maybe they will rub off on their friends! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. God Bless.

  • nessuno ha la versione del grande Tony Joe White??????Peccato, peccatissimooooooooo, è la migliore!!

  • Great song, they don't make em like that any more!!

  • Great song, and a great example of more needing to be less with that feckin orchestra. Imagine the overheads of that gig!

  • Please tell me how it is...that, now at the eve of the history of this world....we have not chosen as humanity...this beauty in music over the terrible evil that now is ready to destroy us?

  • Sweet....grew up as a teener in the 70's listening to this because my Dad did...lol...nothing has come close to the pop/rock songs from that era.

  • still sounds good today

  • awesome

  • I love his guitar! It's an Ovation Viper. Not often seen, but I have one. Only six strings, unlike his 12, but still a cool guitar. Sounds great, too.

  • GREAT song it always makes me smile

  • I slow danced to this song with my first girlfriend and thought I was in love. Tears every time I hear it. Glen u r the best!!!

  • This is a good song . I remember this song about a decade or so back , they used this one for a advertisement about electricity. Great song . Glen Campbell memorable as always . Nice singing voice .

  • Some songs transcend any category or type because of their beauty and musicianmanship. This is one, and Glen Campbell does an amazing job!

  • Few songs "haunt" the heart like this one..............monumental tune. thanks Jimmy and Glen.

  • Who cares what colour you are music is for everbody.

  • i just herd this song for the first time tonight on the radio, but it wasn't this guy. the station only plays the top (new) current songs. sounded like axle rose? any help would be appreciated.

  • Uh, oh. The cameraman should have stayed on GC for the whole, short guitar solo. It would have been nice to see the fancy finger-work. His guitar-playing is as sexy as his incomparable voice, not to mention his sweet face. He seems to still have all that talent to this day, plus even keeping his lean, broad-shouldered physique.

  • This is a classic and one of my favorite songs of all time.

  • I work for Goodwill an this song is playing in our stores....makes me happy!

  • peppersax, I like your honesty and candor. You must have been pretty smooth, hiding the fact that you liked a country-pop performer such as Glen Campbell from your peers. Bravo to you! - You're right about NOT letting others influence you!

  • My 12-year-old son and I are in an informal songwriting class in the Los Angeles area and this is one song we examined this week.

    Apparently, Jimmy Webb who wrote this song in 1968 has stated on many occassions that he is embarrased by the fact that the last two verses don't rhyme:perfectly: ...want you for all time and ...is still on the line.

    Who cares - it's an awesome finish, especially thanks to this artist.!

  • perfect!!!

  • Great song by a great artist... takes me back to a simpler time... tears every time I hear it.

  • Simply Fantastic! My favourite version.........

  • ddd

  • i rasised my children up to enjoy all types of music and glen campbell was on there list he was awsome and my children are grown and still enjoy his music

  • I just love this song the best ever and it makes me cry.......

  • Is this the best song ever! I saw him last week in CA and did cry when he played this song.

  • Glenn lookin sexy ..........

  • Man could he play the guitar, it almost makes you cry.  I love the line, "And I need you more than want you." Is that Martin Landau at 1:44 playing the flute? LOL.

  • martin landau? humm,, the fella from The little house on the prairy?.. i could be sooo  wrong? lol

  • @magiknumber3 LOL. Not sure who you're thinking of. Martin Landau may be most known for the television series, Mission Impossible and Space: 1999, but his acting dates back to the mid 1950's. He's in his 80's now and still acting.

  • @MyCatHasNoTeeth , ah yes! space1999 fella, i been lookin at glen expressions and he  does resemble that martin fella some what.. my mistake from prievous :S lol

  • @MyCatHasNoTeeth That's a piccolo.

  • Perfect...........

    Many Thanks for posting this song.

  • This song actually debuted in 1968

  • I'm Bi-racial, Black and white. I grew up mostly in a black milieu but always liked all types of music. With that being said, I really liked many of the songs from Glen Campbell. I had to 'secretly' play them, hoping that my black friends wouldn't find out. That was back in the 70's when I was a teen. Now, all grown up, It doesn't matter what others think. The point being, Don't let your peers dictate the way you should feel about your taste in music, or whatever. Glen Campbell ROCKS!!!

  • Being multi-racial (black, white & native american), I listen to everything. Growing up my mom had a diverse taste in music & that rubbed on to me. When it comes to music I don't discriminate, I appreciate. Even though I'm 31, I have to say the best decade of music came from the 70's regardless of what type of music it was. I get teased every now & then with some of the songs I listen to but I don't care. As long as it sounds good to me, that's all that matters.

  • @peppersax I could not agree more! I like all sorts of country music, from Glen Campbell all the way to Brooks & Dunn..... I'm only 25 and people (my own mother included) tell me my taste in music comes out of my bum! Bah, I say to them!

  • @peppersax Very nicely said peppersax!!!! I feel the same. Not one of my friends would love this song the way I do. Do I care what they think?? Hell NO!!!! ;-)

  • what a beautiful and yet sad little story you just told....I hope you share your stories far and wide

  • @peppersax nigger

  • @dangerbirdzuma

    I hope that your Mother rot in the ground and get peed on by skunks you dumb cracker redneck. You're probably come from some heavy inbreeding.

  • @dangerbirdzuma

    I bet that you're angry because of what you've become:)

  • @peppersax yup im just jealous of ure big cock and your natural born coolness. and also your sixth sense: smelling fried chicken a mile away

  • @dangerbirdzuma And your a ignorant ( 1. Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated.

    2. Lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular:)

    probably inbread racist, arse with a out dated point of view, now if you can GROW UP AND JOIN US IN 21st Century if you cant please dont bread with your sister and give us more vile spawn with your supid views about the colour of peoples skins, but whats the point you cant wont change cause your to dumb

  • @grantg3 too mean :(

  • @grantg3 well, you are using your loaf, lots of laughter, it involves your mis spelling, you have also jumped the gun several times, you need to allow the "inbred" racist a chance to reform before demonstrating to them that they have failed. Bread with his sister makes him sond like a cannibal, not sure I like the taste of that. Be careful how you throw ignorant around, it's fragile.

  • @davidoffon hmmm Wise words man and thanks, i'll take a few steps back and chill out, all the best man

  • @grantg3 I love it when my forgotten replies crack me up. I am what you would call a very serious piss taker.Sound.

  • @peppersax

    Respect to you dude, i'm a 35 yr old british man, and i get grief for loving this from my asain and black friends as they say its white trash! xx

  • @piran75 Listen to what you want to, not what your friends want.

  • @peppersax In agreement!

  • @peppersax I totally get what you're saying. Some people think the idea of Black people don't listen to country but that's not true and never was. I saw stats saying that as many as 15% of African Americans listen to country. I know I did when I was a kid growing up in the 70s.

  • @peppersax Amen brother!!

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  • I thank you DYNODRUM and rickheddle for your comments...that day really did happen and I was coming back from Austin Texas...I so want to move there...Oh rickheddle I was in Vancouver last year and Prince George to see a friend...Fabulous lovely country and people...Never been to Toronto though as my cousins used to own a really massive store there...Their surname is Eaton and they come from Coleraine...ring any bells..???

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  • I remember one day after coming back from the States and sitting in a cafe in Belfast stirring my coffee waiting for that bus and this came on, it was a strange day being just back, it's so evocative and I just wanted to hop on the plane and head back...I missed the bus just to hear the whole song even though I have it...Thank you Glen for making a weird wet day GOOD

  • I love that story. What an exceptional song! I'm Canadian, my brother in law is from Belfast.! Thanks to yer man for this!!!

  • His stuff is really worth missing a bus for!!

    love the Story dude!

  • I love the line "I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time".

    Great song writing by Jim Webb as always.

  • I love the line" And if it snows, that stretch down south will never stand the strain"

  • Gives me chills to this day...I miss my dad and our drives listening to Glen on AM radio

  • @rooseguitar64 My exact sentiments roose. Chills and tears.

  • Glen Campbell was my late darling Aunt Lucy's favorite hottie. I remember watching shows with Glen-this brings back memories of my childhood and beloved aunt (she raised me). This is an awesome song-he has such a God-given voice-it cannot be denied. My all time favorite Glen song is "Rhinestone Cowboy". As kids we used to sing that one at the top of our voices whenever it came on over the radio on our trips to the beach-happy times.

  • What a stunning live performace, Glen has a really true voice, the whole thing just makes me shiver with pleasure, 10 stars!

  • Beautiful voice and song that was a favorite of mine!

  • One of the great voices.

    thanks for posting

  • A masterpiece. Whenever I hear it I'm transported back 40 years going for Sunday drives with Dad and my brothers in the 67 Plymouth all over Elgin county in southwestern Ontario. A portal to my past!

  • Can anyone out tell me who did the orchestral arrangements for this performance? Thank you.

  • That would be the Orchestral performance arranger.

  • "In the first recording, by Glen Campbell, a notable feature of Al de Lory's orchestral arrangement is that the violins and a Gulbransen Synthesizer mimic the sounds that a lineman might hear when attaching a telephone earpiece to a long stretch of raw telephone or telegraph line, i.e. without typical line equalisation and filtering."

    From Wiki

  • Thank you, and yes, that was one of the things I noticed on the original recording but I didn't know what they technically used to create the sound of the lineman. Also thanks for answering my question on who did the orchestral arrangement.

  • Can you imagine spending a whole decade with hair like that? Fortunately the song is timeless.

  • Whats wrong with that haircut mines been the same for 30 years

    bet your a baldy git

  • his hair is perfect.

  • I know, Bipolar. Glen's hair is so lustrous and healthy-looking. Ah, the seventies....

  • Ahh,,, your profile: i am not sure you are qualified to talk on matters "hair" or "70s"-related ....

    and of course you are "Canadian"...

  • I do have hair and I lived through all 3,652 days of the 70s, like you did. I remember it well.

    In the 90s, I walked by Glen Campbell during a Lions Club telethon at BCTV studios in Vancouver, Canada, where he and my band were performing (at different times).

    I am an American who watched one heck of a lot of British and Canadian TV on KVOS.

    Are you trying to pull rank on me because you're 20 years older? At our ages, that's virtually meaningless...ahem.

  • Just a little light hearted banter.. I had to, when the comments started moving to matters tonsorial.

  • My tonsils are doing just fine thank you.

  • I am a lineman for the county. And I drive the mainroad. Lookin' in the sun for another overload. I hear you singing in the wire. I can hear you thru the whine. And the Wichita Lineman, is still on the line. I know I need a small vacation. But it don't look like rain. And if it snows that stretch down south, won't ever stand the strain. And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. And the Wichita Lineman, is still on the line.
  • Haunting. Jimmy Webb's original

    Always liked Glen's and now REM's

  • seen where the pockets are on his jacket !!!

  • This is one of Oprah Winfrey's favorite songs.

  • I didn't know this song but I heard it on the recent James Taylor album.. turned out to be a cover and I went looking for the original.. This is a haunting tune and I think it's one of the most beautiful songs I have heard in years..

  • This is such a great song. Glenn looks and sounds his best in this video. With a rare perfect phrase of Won't ever stand the strain. He is good at holding back, finally letting go. You go Glenn!

  • glen campbell rocks, such a great player

  • you got that right partner............

  • excellent song.. takes me back to being a kid, listening to my Dad's old 8 track and dreaming of the open road.. its an over used cliche, but they really dont write music like this anymore.

  • I think he was going through his "bad time" when this was recorded, but what an amazing Jimmy Webb song and what an absolute top class performer Glen Campbell is. Samplers, take a look at what you could have done.....(to plagiarise a jim bowen "bullseye" line! lol.

  • Freakin' Awesome... I'm young and I can't believe there is this kind of quality music I've missed.

  • God bless you, kyhangdog. Maybe it's easier for you to understand why us old farts have a hard time accepting "rap" as music.

  • As a born-again Christian I won't necessarily promote or endorse all the late 60's music, but there was some fresh, uplifting, and creative music from that period - and I would personally put Campbell's original "Wichita Lineman" version (from 1968) in that category...this video here is quite similar to that original version - but I would still encourage you to hear the original...what a great song it is...

  • I'm not aware of any anti-Christian music from the late 60s