Tuesday August 8 2017 Saw the passing of Glen Campbell, popular and country music star at the age of 81. He passed away with his family by his bedside at a care home in Nashville, suffering from Alzheimer's.
His musical career spanned over six decades and produced many memorable hits including; Wichita Linesman, Rhinestone Cowboy and Galveston and many more. He sold some 45 million records, had a dozen Gold Albums and at least 75 chart records.
Glen Travis Campbell was born in Billstown, Arkansas in 1936, the seventh son of a family of twelve children. He is said to have started playing on a $5 guitar at the age of four and remarkably in his early years was playing a few gigs and even doing appearances on local radio shows. He dropped out of school at the age of fourteen and moved to Wyoming, where he would pick up some work playing guitar with his uncle Dick Bills in his group, the Sandia Mountain Boys.
Later he moved to Los Angeles and found regular work as a session guitarist at the American Music Co, where he also made a minor recording; "Turn Around, Look At Me" which attracted the attention of Capitol Records, and they signed him to the label. Here he was able to sharpen his "picking" abilities and was much in demand working with major stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and the Monkees as well as renowned producers such as Phil Spector and Jimmy Bowen.
A lucky break came about for Glen in 1964 when he was invited to tour with the Beach Boys, due to the illness of Brian Wilson, Glen was able to replace Brian on bass and high harmonies. After a notable period with the group he was then able to follow this up with the success of his recording; "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" written by Jimmy Webb, who also wrote "Galveston" and "Wichita Linesman."
Glen also found some fame in film and television, following an appearance on the Joey Bishop Show, and "The Summer Smother's Brother's Show" for CBS. This in turn led to "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" which drew audiences of 50 million viewers, between 1969 and 1972. Interestingly Glen Campbell was offered the part of "La Boeuf," a Texas Ranger, in the John Wayne film, "True Grit" a part originally planned for Elvis Presley. The film, directed by Henry Hathaway, was a commercial success and won John Wayne an Academy Award, although Hathaway later said he was unhappy with Campbell's performance and later said his acting was "wooden" and only chosen for the part so that he could record the title track. Nevertheless Glen received a Golden Globe nomination for "Best New Actor" for his part in the film.
This could have signaled a change of direction for the singer, but in 1972 his television show was cancelled, coupled with a fall in his popularity, said to be due to his fondness for alcohol and drug abuse. At least the singer was still able to produce chart topping hits with "Rhinestone Cowboy" 1975 and "Southern Nights" 1977. However, along with falling record sales, he was heavily featured in various gossip columns and it was not until the later 1980's when he was able to break away from his life in Los Angeles, completely defeat his habits and addictions and became a Born Again Christian.
With his no holds barred, Autobiography, interestingly titled; "Rhinestone Cowboy" and later in 2005 being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2011 he announced he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, this period saw an increase in his recorded work before the condition worsened and in 2012 he was awarded "A Lifetime Achievement Award, by The Recording Academy. In 2014 there was the release of a documentary; "Glen Campbell, I'll be me," featuring the song; "I'm not gonna miss you," which gave him an Oscar Nomination and The Grammy, for "Best Country Song."
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