Backstage with the ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ Glen Campbell w/bio & video’s
No Lies Radio Music – By Teri Perticone – Apr 10, 2022
Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936, in Billstown, a tiny community near Delight in Pike County, Arkansas, to John Wesley (a sharecropper) and Carrie Dell (Stone) Campbell.[3] Campbell was of Scottish descent and was the seventh son of 12 children.[4][5] The family lived on a farm where they barely got by growing cotton, corn, watermelons and potatoes. “We had no electricity,” he said, and money was scarce. “A dollar in those days looked as big as a saddle blanket.”[6] To supplement income the family picked cotton for more successful farmers. “I picked cotton for $1.25 a hundred pounds,” said Campbell. “If you worked your tail off, you could pick 80 or 90 pounds a day.”[7]
Campbell started playing guitar at age four after his uncle Boo gave him a Sears-bought five-dollar guitar as a gift, with his uncle teaching him the basics of how to play.[8] Most of his family was musical, he said. “Back home, everybody plays and sings.”[9] By the time he was six he was performing on local radio stations.[1]
Campbell continued playing guitar in his youth, with no formal training, and practiced when he was not working in the cotton fields. He developed his talent by listening to radio and records, and considered Django Reinhardt among his most admired guitarists, later calling him “the most awesome player I ever heard.”[10][11] He dropped out of school at 14 to work in Houston alongside his brothers, installing insulation and later working at a gas station.[12]
Not satisfied with that kind of unskilled work, Campbell started playing music at fairs and church picnics and singing gospel hymns in the church choir. He was able to find spots performing on local radio stations and after his parents moved to Houston, he made some appearances at a local nightclub.[12]
In 1954, at age 17, Campbell moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join his uncle’s band, known as Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys.[13] He also appeared there on his uncle’s radio show[11] and on K Circle B Time, the local children’s program on KOB television.[14] It was there that he met his first wife, whom he married when he was 17 and she was 16.[12]
In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers.[13] “We worked hard,” he said. “Six, sometimes seven nights a week. I didn’t have my eye set on any specific goals or big dreams.”[6]
1967–1972: Burning Bridges to The Goodtime Hour
When follow-up singles did not do well, and Capitol was considering dropping Campbell from the label in 1966, he was teamed with producer Al De Lory.[28] Together, they first collaborated on “Burning Bridges” which became a top 20 country hit in early 1967,[29] and the album of the same name.
Campbell and De Lory collaborated again on 1967’s “Gentle on My Mind”, written by John Hartford, which was an overnight success.[10] The song was followed by the bigger hit “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” later in 1967, and “I Wanna Live” and “Wichita Lineman” in 1968, remaining on Billboard’s Top 100 charts for 15 weeks.[30] He won four Grammy Awards for “Gentle on My Mind” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”.[31]
By the time I get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell
In 1967, Campbell was also the uncredited lead vocalist on “My World Fell Down” by Sagittarius, a studio group. The song reached number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100.[32]
In 1968, Campbell released “Wichita Lineman”, a song written by Jimmy Webb. It was recorded with backing from members of the Wrecking Crew[33] and appeared on his 1968 album of the same name. It reached number 3 on the US pop chart, remaining in the Top 100 for 15 weeks. In addition, the song also topped the American country music chart for two weeks, and the adult contemporary chart for six weeks.
The 1969 song “True Grit” by composer Elmer Bernstein and lyricist Don Black, and sung by Campbell, who co-starred in the movie, received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell
After he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for television’s The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour variety show,[10] Campbell was given his own weekly variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran from January 1969 through June 1972.[10] The show’s comedy writers included Steve Martin and Rob Reiner.[10] At the height of his popularity, a 1970 biography by Freda Kramer, The Glen Campbell Story, was published.
With Campbell’s session-work connections, he hosted major names in music on his show, including the Beatles (on film), David Gates, Bread, the Monkees, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, and Mel Tillis. Campbell helped launch the careers of Anne Murray and Jerry Reed, who were regulars on his Goodtime Hour program.
Glen Campbell – Ain’t No Sunshine
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Campbell released a long series of singles and appeared in the movies True Grit (1969) with John Wayne and Kim Darby and Norwood (1970) with Kim Darby and Joe Namath.
1973–1979: “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights”
After the cancellation of his CBS series in 1972, Campbell remained a regular on network television. He co-starred in a made-for-television movie, Strange Homecoming (1974), with Robert Culp and up-and-coming teen idol Leif Garrett. He hosted a number of television specials, including 1976’s Down Home, Down Under with Olivia Newton-John. He co-hosted the American Music Awards from 1976 to 1978 and headlined the 1979 NBC special Glen Campbell: Back to Basics with guest-stars Seals and Crofts and Brenda Lee. He was a guest on many network talk and variety shows, including Donny & Marie and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he performed “Rhinestone Cowboy”.[34] He also appeared on Cher, the Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, The Merv Griffin Show, The Midnight Special, DINAH!, Evening at Pops with Arthur Fiedler and The Mike Douglas Show.
In the mid-1970s, he had more hits with “Rhinestone Cowboy”, “Southern Nights” (both U.S. number one hits),[10] “Sunflower” (U.S. number 39) (written by Neil Diamond), and “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)” (U.S. number 11).
Southern Nights – Glen Campbell
“Rhinestone Cowboy” was Campbell’s largest-selling single and one of his best-known recordings, initially with over 2 million copies sold.[35] Campbell had heard songwriter Larry Weiss’ version while on tour of Australia in 1974. Both songs were in the October 4, 1975, Hot 100 top 10.[35] “Rhinestone Cowboy” continues to be used in TV shows and films, including Desperate Housewives, Daddy Day Care, and High School High. It was the inspiration for the 1984 Dolly Parton/Sylvester Stallone movie Rhinestone. The main phrase of Campbell’s recording was included in Dickie Goodman’s Jaws movie parody song “Mr. Jaws”. Campbell also made a techno/pop version of the song in 2002 with UK artists Rikki & Daz and went to the top 10 in the UK with the dance version and related music video.
Glen Campbell – Rhinestone Cowboy
“Southern Nights”, by Allen Toussaint, his other number one pop-rock-country crossover hit, was generated with the help of Jimmy Webb, and Jerry Reed, who inspired the famous guitar lick introduction to the song, which was the most-played jukebox number of 1977.[10]
From 1971 to 1983, Campbell was the celebrity host of the Los Angeles Open, an annual professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour.[36]
1980–2011: Later career
Campbell made a cameo appearance in the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can, for which he recorded the title song.
From 1982 to 1983, he hosted a 30-minute syndicated music show, The Glen Campbell Music Show.
Glen Campbell passed on August 08, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Yesterday When I Was Young…Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell “A Better Place” (Official Video)
Video’s source: www.youtube.com & www.vevo.com
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