An A to Z of American Cities - W

 

Much as I would have liked to feature Wichita by The Jayhawks or even Wichita Skyline by Shawn Colvin I knew that my life would be in danger from Rol had I not opted for Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell. That means that the three Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb big hitters have all featured (the others obviously being Galveston and By The Time I Get to Phoenix). There was no way that any of them could have been  left out.

Wichita as I'm sure you are all aware is the most populous city in the state of Kansas with just under 400K residents .It is obviously most famous for the song but one of the Earp brothers once ran a brothel there.

Again it was a tough choice when it came to Washington DC the capital city of the United States. The District of Columbia is on the east bank of the Potomac River and borders Virginia and Maryland. Although it is the nation's capital its population of  670K makes it only the 23rd largest city in the US. Christmas in Washington by Steve Earle was the front runner to feature for a while until I remembered about Washington Bullets by The Clash from Sandinista.

There was only one song about West Memphis that came to mind and it is yet another by Lucinda Williams. I haven't counted but I suspect that she has had more songs than any other artist in this series. West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas with a population of 26K. It is located directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee.

Not content with plugging shamelessly for Wichita Rol also offered up Wichita Falls by American Aquarium. Wichita Falls is the seat of governance in Wichita County in Texas and has a population of 104K. I tracked down an acoustic version of the song. I'm not sure whether this version is the one that Rol had in mind but it is rather good. I  used to have a Butch Hancock song which contained the lines climbing the walls in Wichita Falls. If anyone recognises this please can they put me out of my misery.

Waco is the 22nd most populous city in Texas with a population of around 138K and is conveniently situated halfway between Austin and Dallas. Were it not a made up name it would be most famous as the home of the Waco Brothers. However it is most famous for the Waco Siege of  1993 which resulted in the death of 4 ATF Agents and 82 Branch Davidians - here On a lighter note Waco is on the Brazos River which is helpful for the song below by Billy Walker

Finally to make up for the paucity of songs next week I am offering up a 6th city. Some of you may have worked out from the picture that the city in question is Wabash a city in Indiana with a population of 10666 as at the 2010 census. In addition to the fictional train made famous by Lonnie Donegan and many others Wabash claims to be the first electrically lighted city in the world from as far back as 31st March 1880.

We conclude this series next week with the letters X,Y and Z. As things currently stand I have no X's, two Y's and one tenuous and one very dubious Z.

Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman

The Clash - Washington Bullets

 Lucinda Williams - West Memphis

American Aquarium - Wichita Falls

Billy Walker - Cross the Brazos at Waco

Lonnie Donegan - Wabash Canonball