The careers of Glen Campbell and the great songwriter Jimmy Webb are forever intertwined. Webb wrote three hits that helped establish Campbell a household name: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston." But did you know that the first record Webb ever bought was Glen Campbell's first chart single?
Jimmy Webb:
“I borrowed a dollar from my dad to buy ‘Turn Around, Look at Me’ and I wore the thing out. I mean, I can hear my dad’s voice right now saying, ‘Jimmy Lane, if you play that record again I’m going to break it. I’m going to throw it out in the yard. I’m going to run the lawnmower over it. This was about the same time they moved my piano out into the garage and locked the door permanently.
I had never bought a record before. My sister had bought Ricky Nelson and Elvis and stuff like that, but that was kind of sissy stuff, y’know? When I heard ‘Turn Around, Look at Me’ and I heard Glen I was the kind of kid who would get down on the floor on my little Baptist knees and say, ‘Dear God, when I grow up can I please meet someone like Glen Campbell and could someone like, maybe, Glen Campbell do one of my songs?’ I’m just a little kid in Oklahoma. I mean, it’s prima face evidence for the existence of God that this happened.
By the time I was 19 years old, I knew Glen Campbell and he was recording my songs. Like five years later he was recording my songs. But it’s not as strange as it sounds. I was writing things that I liked. And I liked that song. And I liked his voice. And so the things that I was creating, it’s not so strange that they would have been appropriate for him.”
In 1974, Campbell did a whole album of Webb songs titled Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb.
Webb was the conductor for Campbell's 1977 double-album Live at the Royal Festival Hall. One side of it was solely devoted to Webb songs, including "MacArthur Park."
The two finally recorded a true collaborative album, In Session, in 2012.
Webb wrote the title track and three others on Campbell's final album, Adios, which was released in June.