On Glenn Campbell, Johnny Rivers recorded "By the time I get to Phoenix" in 1965, so his version actually pre-dates Glenn's. Glenn Campbell on some of those songs, that one, "Wichita Lineman" etc. had such great production. I think that is part of the success of those songs. You can look up Glenn's autobiography, he spent some formative years in Albuquerque.
Glen Campbell had an indispensable partner for the hits that finally made him a star: Al DeLory, who arranged
"Phoenix," "Wichita," etc. for him. DeLory was smart enough to chart the music to Campbell's voice, instead
of just writing a chart, then pulling him into the studio and going "here it is, work with it." DeLory was a fine
musician (piano) in his own right; I used to have a promotional record on Capitol that was DeLory playing
"Wichita Lineman" as an instrumental, and his chart for his own piano was as sensitive as what he wrote for
Campbell's records, not to mention his piano playing being the essence of subtlety. I wish he'd recorded
more on his own, I never found many records under his own name.
