THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

1-Isaac Hayes-By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

1969-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 15.28.
Second Best Bit-At 8.39.
Third Best Bit-At 0.22. I will always remember when I first heard this song, it was back in the very early 1980’s. I was on a short drive, maybe only 10 minutes, and I was flicking through the radio stations, and I came across this song which was playing on Radio 1. Almost instantly I was completely mesmerised, this voice was speaking with such emotion that I had never heard before in a song. My journey came to an end, but I could not leave the car until the song finished. I just sat and listened as on around eight and a half minutes the artist suddenly started singing, taking the song to an even greater level. For the next 11 minutes the music and vocals built to an emotional crescendo that I have never heard before, or since. I knew at that moment that I had just heard ‘THE BEST SONG IN THE WORLD EVER.’ Please take the time to go somewhere quiet where you wont be interrupted and take a listen, it will be well worth it.

‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’ was written in 1965 by Jimmy Webb, (see also best songs 846 and 119) the first of countless versions of the song was recorded by the American ‘Rock N’ Roll’ singer Johnny Rivers. The song first came to the attention of the general public when the ‘Country’ singer Glen Campbell (1936-2017) (see also best songs 846 and 197) made it a hit in 1967. In a survey by the ‘Broadcast Music, Inc.’ (BMI) the song was named the third most performed song from 1940-1990. Frank Sinatra called it ‘The greatest ‘torch song’ ever written,’ but I don’t know if he ever even heard the Isaac Hayes version.

Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (see also best songs 530 and 398) was born on August 20th, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee, United States, in January 2006 he suffered a minor stroke, and then on August 10th, 2008, he suffered a further stroke, which medical examiners later said was the cause of death, he was 65 years old. Even without this song, or it’s parent Album ‘Hot Buttered Soul,’ Isaac Hayes’ place as a Pop Music legend was already assured. He was one of the main driving forces behind the ‘Stax’ record label in the 1960’s, and 1970’s, working as a producer, and prolific songwriter for artists such as ‘Sam and Dave,’ and Johnny Taylor, in fact it was Hayes who coined the phrase ‘Soul Music’ (see best songs 530.)

The discography of Isaac Hayes includes 20 studio Albums released between 1968-1995, and 31 singles issued between 1965-1998, he has also written three soundtrack Albums, which were released between 1971-1974. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, eight of his singles made the top 40, with ‘Theme from Shaft’ reaching Number 1 in 1971. While in the UK, he charted on three occasions within the top 40, with his final single release ‘Chocolate Salty Balls,’ whom he performed as the animated character ‘Chef’ from the comedy series ‘South Park,’ making Number 1 in 1998.

‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’ was written a 21 year old Jimmy Webb, and was recorded by Isaac Hayes for his second studio Album ‘Hot Buttered Soul,’ from June 1969, the song and it’s parent Album were produced by Al Bell, Marvell Thomas, (1941-2017) and Allen Jones (1940-1987.) Along with Isaac Hayes, who provided the vocals and keyboards, the three other musicians who played on the track were Willie Hall, (drums) James Alexander, (bass) and Michael Toles, (guitar) who were all members of the Soul/Funk group ‘The Bar-Kays’ (see also best songs 831.)

The inspiration for ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’ originated from the breakup of Jimmy Webb’s relationship with his girlfriend Susan Horton, Horton was also the inspiration for ‘MacArthur Park’ (see also best songs 119.) Isaac Hayes had heard the Glen Campbell version in a club, and had been struck by the songs poignant lyrics, so he decided to completely rework it. Hayes has said,’The rap came out of the necessity to communicate. There’s a local club in Memphis, primarily black, called ‘The Tiki Club.’ One day there I heard this song by Glen Campbell, ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix.’ I thought, ‘Wow, this song is great, this man must really love this woman.’ I ran down to the studio and told them about the song, and they said ‘yeah, yeah.’ They didn’t feel what I felt, I thought maybe they weren’t getting it. The Bar-Kays were playing the ‘Tiki Club’ a few days later, so I told them to learn the song and that I would sit in. I told them to keep cycling the first chord, and I started talking, just telling the story about what could have happened to cause this man to leave. Halfway through the song, conversations started to subside, and by the time I finished the song, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.’ When asked what he thought of the Isaac Hayes take on the song, Jimmy Webb said,’When it came out, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s unusual!’ It took up virtually the whole side of an album, but I really liked it. We later became friends, and I thanked him for doing a song, I told him it was a blessing for me.

With sales in excess of one million copies ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ is now considered a groundbreaking Album. Isaac Hayes showed what could be done with his experimentation with R&B music, laying the foundations for many to receive inspiration from in the 1970’s and onwards, also the spoken intro pre dated ‘Rap’ by nearly 10 years.

‘He could hardly see the road for tears in his eyes, that’s right he was crying, they were meeting on his chin.’