“A guy approached me one night after a concert. He had a map, he had all the times, and he had a stopwatch. And he showed me how it was impossible”: The story of how the classic song By The Time I Get To Phoenix found the right interpreter

Country star Glen Campbell recorsds at the Capitol Records studios on June 1, 1967 in Los Angeles, California.

Before they reached Wichita, there was Phoenix. When you think of Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell collaborations, Wichita Lineman and its poignant imagery immediately leap to mind, but the hit Webb fashioned for Campbell prior to that is no less moving.

You’re probably familiar with the song. The lyrics tell the tale of a man who has left his lover and is driving eastwards across the US. The narrator wonders what his ex will be doing by the time he hits the various cities along the way.