Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh and hit songwriter Jimmy Webb surprised an audience in Wichita, Kansas with an intimate version of Webb's classic "Wichita Lineman,” drawing raves from fans in the process.
The performance took place at Walsh’s 2025 VetsAid benefit concert on Saturday, November 14.
Webb posted a video of the performance on his Facebook page, writing, “It was an honor to make a surpirse visit to Wichita last night for Joe Walsh's VetsAid benefit. God Bless Joe for all he does to help out the vets." Since then, the video has drawn praise from die-hard fans and others who are praising Walsh for his years of support on behalf of U.S. veterans.
The performance means so much more when you realize Walsh — who is currently auctioning off electric guitars, amps and other gear from his career — is a native of Wichita. This year's VetsAid benefit, the first held in Wichita, was a homecoming for the rocker, one he was able to share with longtime friends and performers, including his Eagles cohort Vince Gill, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and Nathaniel Rateliff.
“It’s been a long-term goal of mine since we began VetsAid nearly 10 years ago to bring it all home to my native Wichita to serve Kansan veterans and their families," Walsh said when the 2025 lineup was announced. "It’s where my parents were both born and are buried, where I was born and where I will always feel a deep connection and sense of heritage and responsibility.
“It is with great pride and gratitude that our traveling circus of love and community will make a stop in Wichita in 2025 and that I can share the experience with my dear friends who also happen to be some of the greatest American musicians I know."
A Gold Star son, Walsh created VetsAid in 2017 as a way to raise money for veterans’ services organizations. Since then, his benefit concerts have garnered more than $4 million in grants, with proceeds from this year's concert going directly to groups in Kansas.
"Wichita Lineman" is a timeless hit Webb composed in 1968 as a followup to "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," a 1967 hit for Glen Campbell. Webb said he asked himself where the narrator of that earlier song might settle as he winds his way east. He chose Wichita. The inspiration for his lyrics came as he drove through the Oklahoma panhandle and saw a lineman working at the top of a telephone pole.
The song's aching depiction of loneliness struck Campbell deeply. "When I heard it I cried," he said, "because I was homesick." The song's producer, Al De Lory, was similarly moved. His uncle had been a lineman in California. "I could visualize my uncle up a pole in the middle of nowhere. I loved the song right away," he said.
A signature element of the song is the guitar solo, played by Campbell on a Danelectro bass guitar he borrowed from Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye, who also performs on the track and devised its descending six-note intro. "What a thrill it was to cut 'Wichita Lineman' for Glen," she wrote in her website’s FAQ. "And yes, he borrowed my Dano 6-stg. bass guitar to play his famous solo on."
Kaye was among the artists honored with induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this month, on November 8. However, she elected not to attend, having stated earlier that the honor goes against the spirit of her life as a session musician.
