Posted on 06/22/2011 12:04:28 PM PDT by Justaham
NASHVILLE – Country legend Glen Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, his wife told People magazine Wednesday.
Though the "Rhinestone Cowboy" singer has suffered from minor short-term memory loss for several years, the Alzheimer's diagnosis came about six months ago, wife Kim Campbell said.
The 75-year-old has decided to give a set of farewell live performances this fall and his family wanted to go public with the news of his disease so the public would be aware of his condition.
"Glen is still an awesome guitar player and singer," his wife told People. "But if he flubs a lyric or gets confused on stage, I wouldn't want people to think, 'What's the matter with him? Is he drunk?'"
Campbell, a 2005 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame, has recorded more than 50 albums over the past 50 years, though his biggest hits came in the 1960's and 1970's.
"I still love making music," he said. "And I still love performing for my fans."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Quote:
“Wouldn’t mind seeing Campbell perform...”
I was fortunate enough to see him play in Nevada in the mid-80’s. A great performance.
That’s not all, even with the Beach Boys:
” he was touring the South as part of the Western Wranglers. In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. He was part of the 1959 line-up of the group the Champs, famous for their instrumental “Tequila”.
Campbell was in great demand as a session musician in the 1960s. He was part of the studio musicians clique known as “the Wrecking Crew”, many of whom went from session to session together as the same group. In addition to Campbell, Hal Blaine on drums, Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Leon Russell on piano, Carol Kaye on bass guitar, Al Casey on guitar were part of this group of session musicians that defined many pop and rock recordings of the era. They were also heard on Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” recordings in the early 1960s.
He was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson in 1964 and 1965. He played guitar on the group’s Pet Sounds album, among other recordings. On tour, he played bass guitar and sang falsetto harmonies.”
—from Wikipedia article about Glen.
Note: The Wrecking Crew were the core musical group for BB albums, most especially Pet Sounds and the Smile sessions.
Prayers for Glen and his family. I also keep praying for new discoveries to fight Alzheimers Disease.
Fantastic! (And I don’t care for Green Day.)
I pray supernatural strength for you and give God thanks for you
I purchased the CD from Amazon....so no liner notes. He did cover two Tom Petty songs. Walls and Angel Dream, I think.
Prayers for Glenn, but I hope they did a brain scan as part of his diagnosis. My husband was diagnosed in Jan. with a non-malignent meningianoma (brain tumor). His was the size of a lime and was removed in a 5 hr. operation. The symptoms were a lot like alztheimers — forgetfulness, searching for the right word, etc. Since then we have discovered about 5 friends who have the same disease.
My husband appears to have made a full recovery, although he has a heart-stopping scar across his head. Glenn should get a 2nd opinion.
Actually, I believe he had a hit before his studio work. If I remember correctly, Campbell was a member of the CHAMPS [short for Texas High School musical champions) along with Seals and Croft and others, and had a hit record with “Tequila”. Read that somewhere.
Prayers up for Glen. One of my all-time Top 10 songs is Glen singing “Guess I’m Dumb”, written and produced by Brian Wilson. A magnificent song and a magnificent performance!
I’m not big into country music but Glen Campbell was one of my favorites, Wichita Lineman is one of my favorites. I always thought he had one of the best voices out there.
Thanks for that link. One of my all time favorite songs.
Glen Campbell was a member of Seals and Croft!?!?
I never knew that. I thought he was pretty much on his own.
No. Sorry it wasn’t clear. Campbell, Seals and Croft were all members of the CHAMPS. Sorry for the confusion.
Correct, although Campbell didn’t actually play on Tequila, he got into the Champs later. Campbell played with a group of studio musicians called “The Wrecking Crew”, which I believe included Hal Blaine and Leon Russell, and toured with the Beach Boys. He was hot property then.
Not to be snide but I believe that Glenn has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. The other name for Alzheimers is pre-senile dementia. At 75 and after years of heavy, heavy boozing and snorting, something has got to give. The diagnosis of getting old or plain old dementia does not get you much sympathy, special benefits or treatment but label them Alzheimer’s and jackpot.
Having said that, I have been a fan of his for years and will include him in my prayers.
Glen Campbell has always been the best. You can watch youtube videos of many of his songs....it is well worth it.
Amazingly, in his post-2000 appearances on Youtube,
he can still hit the high notes. Thirty some years later.
I don’t know how anyone would dislike Glen Campbell.
He’s at the sweet spot intersection of commerce and art,
something that few in pop music, and he is pop more than
country or rock, have been able to achieve.
Naturally, Jimmy Webb (not the guvnor!) helped a lot,
and, thankfully, didn’t force Glen to sing about cakes
left out in the rain (on a 45, at least.)
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