Song Swarm: 23 Stops to Phoenix
By The Time I Get To Phoenix is not even my favourite Jimmy Webb song, much as I love it, but I cannot think of many other songs in pop music that traverse interpretations and genres as effortlessly as this. Here I am offering a bunch of versions that cover pop, country, soul, jazz and easy listening.
By The Time I Get To Phoenix sounds like it belongs in any of these genres. And even when interpreted by artists from the same genre, it is an immensely flexible a song. Just compare the versions by the Four Tops, Erma Franklin, Isaac Hayes, the Intruders, the Mad Lads, Wayne McGhie and New York City. So I think one can listen to all 23 versions here without necessarily getting bored.
The first version of the song was recorded by Webb’s mentor, Johnny Rivers, in 1966. Since then it has been covered many time. I’ve managed to date 50 versions released within five years of Rivers’ inaugural recording. Apparently there are more than a thousand versions of it.
Rivers’ version made no impact, nor did a cover by Pat Boone. The guitarist on Boone’s version, however, picked up on the song and released it in 1967. Glen Campbell scored a massive hit with the song, even winning two Grammies for it. In quick succession, Campbell completed a trilogy of geographically-themed songs by Webb, with the gorgeous Wichita Lineman (written especially for Campbell) and the similarly wonderful Galveston.
Another seasoned session musician took Phoenix into a completely different direction (if you will pardon the unintended pun). Isaac Hayes had heard the song, and decided to perform it as the Bar-Keys’ guest performer at Memphis’ Tiki Club, a soul venue. He started with a spontaneous spoken prologue, explaining in some detail why this man is on his unlikely journey (apparently it is physically impossible to complete the song’s itinerary — Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma — in a day). At first the patrons weren’t sure what Hayes was doing rapping over a repetitive chord loop. After a while, according to Hayes, they started to listen. At the end of the song, he said, there was not a dry eye in the house (“I’m gonna moan now…”). As it appeared on Ike’s 1968 Hot Buttered Soul album, the thing went on for 18 glorious minutes.
So, apart from Isaac Hayes’, which version is your favourite? I think I like Al Wilson’s best. Or the Four Tops’. Or Erma Franklin’s. Or Nick Cave’s…
TRACKLISTING
1. Johnny Rivers – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1966)
2. Glen Campbell – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1967)
3. Ace Cannon – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
4. Al Wilson – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
5. Bobby Goldsboro – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
6. Engelbert Humperdinck – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
7. Four Tops – By the Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
8. Frank Sinatra – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
9. Johnny Mathis – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
10. Marty Robbins – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
11. The Intruders – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
12. The Lettermen – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
13. A.J. Marshall – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
14. Dorothy Ashby – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
15. Erma Franklin – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
16. Isaac Hayes – By the Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
17. José Feliciano - By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
18. The Mad Lads – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
19. Wayne McGhie & the Sounds of Joy – By the Time I Get To Phoenix (1970)
20. Fabulous Souls – By The Time I Get to Phoenix (1971)
21. New York City – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1973)
22. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1986)
23. Reba McEntire – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1995)
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