E37: Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb and The Wichita Lineman with Dylan Jones
Joined by GQ editor (and sometime i-D contibutor) Dylan Jones, Mark and Barney talk about Dylan's new book The Wichita Lineman: Searching in the Sun for the World's Greatest Unfinished Song and celebrate 'Lineman''s composer Jimmy Webb and the song's original singer, the late Glen Campbell. Dylan explains how he came to write the book and the three men enthuse about Webb's ability to tell stories in song and in person. After listening to a clip from a 2005 audio interview with Webb himself, wherein he laments the lack of complexity in contemporary pop and discusses his use of harmony and chords, Mark and Barney quiz Dylan about hiring Boris Johnson as car correspondent for GQ magazine. Talk turns briefly to politics as they consider how Dylan's acquaintance David Cameron might now feel about calling the 2016 referendum. Mark presents highlights from the week's new library pieces. These include an interview with Robin Gibb shortly after he left the Bee Gees, a report from the Wailers' first trip to London, and a Diana Ross press conference about the album she recorded with Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. To buy Dylan Jones' The Wichita Lineman, visit the Faber website. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Jimmy Webb, Paul Simon, Bee Gees, Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin, Todd Rundgren, The Wailers, The Stylistics, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Diana Ross/Chic, Absolute Beginners, Violence in hip-hop/Sleeping Bag Records, Courtney Love/Hole