GLEN CAMPBELL
Glen Campbell (born April 22, 1936) is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host, and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television. During his 50 years in show business, Campbell has released more than 70 albums. He has sold 45 million records and accumulated 12 RIAA Gold albums, 4 Platinum albums and 1 Double-Platinum album. He has placed a total of 80 different songs on either the Billboard Country Chart, Billboard Hot 100, and/or the Adult Contemporary Chart, of which 29 made the Top 10 and of which nine reached number one on at least one of those charts. Campbell made history in 1967 by winning four Grammys total, in the country and pop categories. Campbell won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. (More from Wikipedia)
Glen Campbell handled the lead guitar on the first single by the Rip Chords, “Here I Stand”. Most people know of Campbell’s string of fine hits in the mid-1960’s – “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman”, “Gentle on My Mind”, “Galveston”, and many more – but might not realize that he was one of the best session guitarists around for many years previously and had the most successful individual career among the loose aggregation of session players known as the Wrecking Crew. Campbell recently embarked on a farewell tour after acknowledging that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
(July 2011)
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There have been so many great guitarists that I have enjoyed hearing over the years, for many different reasons: The old-fashioned blasts of Chuck Berry and Keith Richards, the unexpected dexterity and ear of Bob Dylan and Glen Campbell, the pounding virtuosity of Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, the nearly unsung anonymity of Tommy Tedesco and Jerry Cole, the steady precision of George Harrison and Tom Petty, the sheer power of Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi, the blues-based thunder of Jack White and Eddie Van Halen, lesser known greats like Nikki Sudden and Chris Spedding, and so many more.
(August 2011)
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YouTube has numerous Rip Chords songs on hand. “Here I Stand”, their first single that features Glen Campbell on guitar is available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMQx_Ycl7pw .
(July 2013)
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Glenn Yarbrough had a #12 hit with a song that was arranged by David Gates, “Baby the Rain Must Fall”, the title song for the 1965 Steve McQueen/Lee Remick film Baby the Rain Must Fall. The film is notable as the screen debut (uncredited) of Glen Campbell. If that isn’t eclectic enough for you, David Gates also produced two singles and wrote one song for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band for A&M Records that were hits in the L.A. area.
(January 2015/1)
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While attracting little attention initially, the James Taylor song “Carolina in My Mind” was covered frequently not long after its release. North Carolina country music recording artist George Hamilton IV had some success with his version of “Carolina in My Mind” in 1969. Probably the best known version of the song other than Taylor’s is that of Melanie, who included “Carolina in My Mind” on her classic 1970 album, Candles in the Rain. Other recordings of the song have been made by the Everly Brothers, Evie Sands, John Denver, and Dawn (later known as Tony Orlando and Dawn). Glen Campbell and Linda Ronstadt performed a duet of the song on his TV show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour; the song was ultimately released in the 2007 video Good Times Again.
(August 2015)
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More recently, and representing 15 years of research, Mike Stax published another acclaimed book called Swim Through the Darkness: My Search for Craig Smith and the Mystery of Maitreya Kali, about a pop and folk musician named Craig Smith who worked with Andy Williams, Glen Campbell and the Monkees and later descended into mental illness and became a “psychedelic messiah” called Maitreya Kali, who released two albums in the early 1970’s.
(September 2017)
