Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What an amazing story he had..growing up dirt poor in Arkansas, somehow learning to play guitar as a kid(from Uncle Boo)...somehow making it out to Capitol records, and convincing them to let him play guitar on sessions..
(BTW, he ended up playing in the famous "Wrecking Crew, with Hal Blaine and Leon Russell, who himself is on tour with Elton John now)...becoming a Beach Boy for 2 years, filling in for Brian Wilson, who decided to freak out and hibernate at the time, playing much of the guitarwork for the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album(Yep, thats him playing on "wouldn't it be nice, sloop john b, and the rest)..
.and later becoming a HUGE star in his own right, recording classic Jimmy Webb penned songs, having a top 10 TV show for 3 years(Glen Campbell goodtime hour), charting on the top 10 13 times, with 5 number 1 hits....
Just thought it would be nice to remember him here....
Hey, for any of you guys wondering what he's doing NOW, he's still very cool, wearing his hair a little long, has his daughter Debbie touring with him all over the USA, and still full of life..had a few tribulations, a Dui, near death drug overdoses, but he's clean now...and just human, like everyone else....
Most of all, he seems to be enjoying his life, and that's all that counts, doesn't it?
Here is a clip of him and daughter Deb on a local tv morning show in Charlotte a couple years ago...
Here is a short documentary on the making of Jimmy Webb's latest album, with himself singing with Campbell for the first time..I cannot begin to describe the respect and awe I have for Jimmy Webb...I would def like to hear him perform live sometime...missed him twice, won't miss him the next time he is out here..
Although there were several country artists who crossed over to the popular music charts in the late 50's to mid 60's, Glen Campbell was by far the most successful. Starting around June of '67 with "Gentle On My Mind" ( a John Hartford tune), I would be hard pressed to come up with a time for the next three years or so with a Glen Campbell 45 not on the charts. Jimmy Webb was/is one of the great songwriters going, and the two were as prolific as a singer and a songwriter could be during this period.
Chart hits? "Galveston", "Wichita Lineman", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", the lists goes and goes through the 70's. He certainly has had his ups and downs with his professional and personal life over the last several years, that's for sure. Critics got on him somewhat over his first TV series The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. Then there was his relationship with country singer Tanya Tucker that was, um, I'll just say not good. And of course his other personal problems over the last several years that inthe cut covered. He also had a syndicated show in the early 80's called the Glen Campbell Music Show that was quite good.
Inthe cut makes an interesting point about his involvement with the Beach Boys lp Pet Sounds (one of the great lp's of any genre of any era). It was only a few months earlier that he released The Big Bad Rock Guitar of Glen Campbell (Capitol ST-2392). Other lp's of note is Too Late To Worry, Too Blue To Cry, Burning Bridges (whick Jack Scott had a huge hit with),The Astounding 12 String Guitar of Glen Campbell, and also Big Bluegrass Special, which actually was credited the Green River Boys Featuring Glen Campbell. These lp's were released a few years before his hit period but are fairly popular with 50's and 60's country music collectors, particularly Big Bluegrass Special which is very collectible.
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 10-20-2010 at 07:29 PM..
Reason: spelling
Wichita Lineman is one of my favorite songs ever. I also really like Galveston and Rhinestone Cowboy. I have a basic hits collection by Glen Campbell, which is good, but I'd like to hear some other tunes that weren't necessarily hits. Anyone have any recommendation for any particular albums that were noteworthy??
In addition to the Beach Boys, I think Glen also played on the early Monkees hits. They should make a movie about The Wrecking Crew!!
Wichita Lineman is one of my favorite songs ever. I also really like Galveston and Rhinestone Cowboy. I have a basic hits collection by Glen Campbell, which is good, but I'd like to hear some other tunes that weren't necessarily hits. Anyone have any recommendation for any particular albums that were noteworthy??
In addition to the Beach Boys, I think Glen also played on the early Monkees hits. They should make a movie about The Wrecking Crew!!
twin cities todd, i think they could easily make a doucmentary about the wreckin' crew as well..they did with the motown house band a few years ago..the WC actually played on more top 10 and number 1 hits...literally hundreds...look up amazon and see if any books are written about them...
Per albums, Campbell was more a session man, so never looked on albums as concept things, like the great, late J Cash did as early as '63...he looked at them mostly as filler for his hits, to be honest...was too busy making movies, TV shows, and all that to focus on albums themselves, though he did hone in on his hits for sure, and found a good thing in J Webb...
Check out this one, though..was on the B side of a 45 of his I had, and I always loved it..Elvis sang that often as well...but campbell does it better than elvis...
And here is another great Jimmy Webb one..great song, with a really bad title...if this had better lyrics, this would be a classic..and his vocal range is incredible at the end...
Finally, my best recommendation is to get a live Jimmy Webb album...I got mine on amazon..it is from a live concert in a small hall in england, and has renditions of those songs BETTER than campbell,
I mean, i cannot describe the intensity of hearing it, trust me....
The minor chords are hit on purpose here(black keys) on Galveston.....
Here's galveston...such a delicate, more spiritual treatment here..I could see it as a Civil War soldiers lament as well...a dying soldiers last thoughts, lying on the field...getting back home to see the family, mom, wife, kids....as each breath is labored...the dream...slowly fades....
Go back home....Go back home..must go back home...mus..mu...m..................
And here is a cool video of JW, much younger, playing "BTT I got to Phoenix" in 1971..more haunting than Campbells..both are great renditions, just different..and I'll give credit to the guy whose mind it actually popped out of..
Finally, my best recommendation is to get a live Jimmy Webb album...I got mine on amazon..it is from a live concert in a small hall in england, and has renditions of those songs BETTER than campbell,
I mean, i cannot describe the intensity of hearing it, trust me....
You must get this..
Not until he apologises for writing "MacArthur's Park."
Not even "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" or "Wichita Lineman" atone for that . . .
I can't stand to listen to him, but I've seen a photo of him, when young, with his shirt off. Long hair, a beard, I think, hairy as a Werewolf, and just absolute perfection. Looking that good probably helped him stand out in the crowd. Before his hair got 'styled', he was smokin' hot! Is he part Swedish? And is Jim Dandy Mangrum (another Arkansas marvel) part Swedish? Both were so incredibly beautiful: proof, I suppose that men can (however briefly...like for about two years) be fabulously beautiful without being bodybuilders.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
