Posted on 04/22/2015 3:49:24 PM PDT by FlJoePa
Happy birthday, Glen Campbell! The singer was born on this day, April 22, in 1936.
Campbell was born the seventh of 12 children to John Campbell, a sharecropper, and his wife Carrie. After his uncle, known as “Boo,” taught Campbell to play the guitar as a child, the future star relocated to Albuquerque, N.M., as a teenager, to play in his uncle’s band. In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers, and in 1960, he relocated to Los Angeles to become a session musician.
Campbell’s debut album, Big Bluegrass Special, was released in 1962 on Capitol Records, but it only produced one hit, “Kentucky Means Paradise,” which peaked at No. 20. Campbell didn’t earn another Top 20 hit until “Burning Bridges,” which was the title track of his fifth studio album, was released in 1966.
Not that Campbell was working solely on his solo projects during this time: He also sang with the Beach Boys, filling in for an ailing Brian Wilson from the end of 1964 until the spring of 1965.
The tunesmith earned his first No. 1 album with Gentle on My Mind, released in 1967. His following record, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, gave Campbell his first No. 1 hit; its title track earned the top spot on the Canadian country charts and peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. country charts. The success kicked off a series of hits for Campbell, including “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights.” To date, Campbell has earned nine No. 1 hits and sold more than 45 million albums.
The seasoned performer also enjoyed a successful career in TV as well. After starring on the syndicated TV show Star Route, Campbell developed a knack for appearing in front of the camera. He hosted a TV variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran from 1969 to 1972 on CBS, and also appeared in several movies and TV shows, including True Grit, Norwood, Any Which Way You Can and Uphill All the Way.
Campbell continued performing and recording until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2011.
“I just take it as it comes,” Campbell says of the illness. “I know that I have a problem with that, but it doesn’t bother me. If you’re going to have it handed to you, you have got to take it, anyway. So that is the way I look at it.”
Campbell embarked on a Goodbye Tour following the diagnosis; his final show was on Nov. 30, 2012. In 2014, he was moved into a residential care facility when his wife Kim said that it was difficult to continue caring for him at home.
A documentary, Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me, was released in September of 2014. The film, which won the prestigious Gibson Music City / Music City Films Grand Jury Prize at the Nashville Film Festival, also had an accompanying five-song EP, followed by a full album in early 2015. One of the songs, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” which Campbell co-wrote and performed, won a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Country Song.
Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2012, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
I listened to that over and over again on the way to Vietnam in ‘68. It seems ever more poignant today.
Thanks so much for putting it up.
I agree...there isn't really a lot of that "I hadda strawberry blonde, in Strawberry County, and she got me drunk. She stole my dawg and wrecked my pickup truck when she ran over my mama..." crap out there any more.
I hated that stuff.
But long live Bluegrass.
Always been a fan.
Always will be, but some of this newer stuff is trying too hard.
And long live the memory of Glenn Campbell, and his contributions to both, when Country was real.
Well, he was a very refreshing alternative to Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.
I still throw up a little in my mouth when I hear: "Hello, darlin'" or that AWFUL "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"...it makes me want to K-I-L-L the radio.
And every song is the same, literally
Well, I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison,
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But before I could get to the station in the pick-up truck,
She got runned over by a damned old train.
Happy Birthday, Glen. Thanks for all the tunes over the years.
The guy that wrote that must have written the “Green, green grass of home”, also.
I googled that song ("Green, green grass of home") and learned it was written by Jerry Lee Lewis!
So, I can see him writing the other one, too.
Happy birthday, Mr. Campbell. He was a member of our church for a number of years. We still miss him.
“Well, I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison,
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But before I could get to the station in the pick-up truck,
She got runned over by a damned old train.”
There is something real curious about that song... seems it was co-written by John Prine with Stephen Goodman. But this isn’t the surprising part. http://www.jpshrine.org/lyrics/songs/younevercallmeby.html
Stephen Goodman wrote... “City of New Orleans”, that’s pretty amazing and in my opinion, that’s actually a really great song. And the poor guy didn’t have a long life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goodman
I don’t know about “Hello Darling”, it always struck me as corny as well but the Possum, George Jones sings “Who’s gonna fill their shoes” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_Gonna_Fill_Their_Shoes And it has a reference to that song sung Conway Twitty.
Conway Twitty also wrote a number of his own songs, even if I’m not real enthused about some of them, I give him credit for that. That’s really more than a lot of the musical artists have done.
As the article states, he sang for the Beach Boys, maybe played guitar too, I always heard this. I’m not personally aware of what Beach Boys song he played on.
Wichita Lineman; he sings it with the Stone Temple Pilots, a more recent-type of band. It’s at youtube. That is a remarkable song.
Though not credited, he probably played on “most” of them (Beach Boys records). He was asked once and said “all” of them. He played a lot of the guitar on Pet Sounds.
Thank you for the information.
I don’t have to look it up now! :)
From Wikipedia
“1960–66: Early career[edit]
In 1960, Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician.[9][10] Around this time he was part of the group The Champs. Soon, Campbell was in great demand as a session musician. He was part of a group of studio musicians who became known as The Wrecking Crew.[10][11] During this period he played on recordings by Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean,[9] Elvis Presley,[12] Frank Sinatra and Phil Spector.”
Here’s a link to The Wrecking Crew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)
I so want to see this. IIRC it’s available on iTunes
The Wrecking Crew - Official Trailer
http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/
That sounds like something I’d like to see.
Glen Campbell & Roy Clark Play “Ghost Riders in the Sky”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RuMnzSpvlg
Glen Campbell Sings “Wichita Lineman” & Talks Guitar - see other videos on the rightside at youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGicA5rd4vg
Glen Campbell - True Grit (Someday, Little Girl) - 07-27-2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tygF0yOEUpc
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