"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" | ||||
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Single by Glen Campbell | ||||
from the album By the Time I Get to Phoenix | ||||
B-side | "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart" | |||
Released | October 23, 1967 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:42 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Writer(s) | Jimmy Webb | |||
Producer(s) | Al De Lory | |||
Glen Campbell singles chronology | ||||
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"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" is a song written by Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965, it was covered by American country music singer Glen Campbell on his album of the same name. Released on Capitol Records in 1967, Campbell's version topped RPM's Canada Country Tracks, reached number two on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, and won two awards at the 10th Annual Grammys.Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) named it the third most performed song from 1940 to 1990. The song was ranked number 20 on BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century.Frank Sinatra called it "the greatest torch song ever written."
The inspiration for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" originated in Webb's breakup with Susan Horton. They remained friends after her marriage to Bobby Ronstadt, a cousin of singer Linda Ronstadt. The relationship itself, which peaked in mid-1965, was also the primary influence for "MacArthur Park", another Webb composition.
Webb stated that the song was not intended to be geographically literal. "A guy approached me one night after a concert [...] and he showed me how it was impossible for me to drive from L.A. to Phoenix, and then how far it was to Albuquerque. In short, he told me, 'This song is impossible.' And so it is. It's a kind of fantasy about something I wish I would have done, and it sort of takes place in a twilight zone of reality."