Saw him at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island years ago. Was a great show..

That takes me back to my childhood. My parents had Glen Campbell albums. In addition, he had his own TV show and was always making appearances on other shows.

Better times indeed.

Gentle On My Mind was always one of my favorites by Glen. Also penned by the great Jimmy Webb I believe. So many songs from that era are burned into my memory. My mom and dad ran a small but popular tavern back then. It was attached to the front of our large two story house. You would walk through the kitchen and go through a door and into the tavern. It was like opening a door to another world for a young pre-teen kid. We were not allowed to go into the tavern after six o'clock in the evening. I would sometimes stand at the door opened just a crack so I could watch the goings on and see who was all there. Until my mom or dad would notice and pull the door shut. My brother and I always swept the floor and stocked the coolers every morning before school. Many of the patrons knew we did this and would drop change on the floor for us to find in the morning.

We could always hear the juke box anywhere in the house. Mine and my brothers bedroom was all the way to the rear of the house but you could still hear the music and the loud drunken patrons when you went to bed. Witchita Lineman and most of Glen's songs were played over and over and over again. It's not even worth trying to mention all the country music and artists that are burned into my brain from repeated listening. It actually turned me off from listening to it for many years later. I still don't listen to much or any of it. Some artists were known to stop in there if they were nearby performing. There is a picture of Hank Snow with my mom and dad behind the bar somewhere. Johnny Tillotson and Trini Lopez had also stopped in. Of course this was at night when I was already in bed but mom and dad would tell us in the morning if someone of notoriety had been there. Interesting times and an interesting way of growing up.

Love that song, folks had that album and I would play in on our console stereo while I looked at the Herb Alpert Whip Cream and Other Delights album cover.

Nice way to start the day.

Ty!

I lived in Socorro New Mexico and a coworker told me Glen played for an event at the local Chevrolet dealership in the early 1950’s.

Older music is one of the few things that keeps me grounded in this chaotic world!

quote:

Originally posted by Calif Phil:
Love that song, folks had that album and I would play in on our console stereo while I looked at the Herb Alpert Whip Cream and Other Delights album cover.

Bet they had to hide the sears catalog from you!

Yeah played it over and over, watched it on TV his show was a weekly staple as well as Hee Haw, Carol Burnett Show, and many other good clean shows. How far Hollyweird has fallen.

And I need you more than want you
And I want you for all time

May be the 2 best lines of a song ever. I've always marveled at how those two lines capture so much emotion in such a succinct manner. Pure poetry.

Truly a great song.

one of the first guitar players I tried to emulate (strumming and chord progressions) when I first started learning the guitar.

Great song.

Glen inspired many of us to play guitar. He made it all look so easy.

On his last tour, his Alzheimers was quite evident. His daughter was on stage with him (as was his son), and she kept him on track with such kindness. He couldn't remember which city he was in, so he kept referring to a video monitor, but he remembered all the songs without any problem.

His family reported that he kept his ability to play music even when most every other ability had been lost.

There is YouTube video of Campbell playing the William Tell Overture, backed by a full symphony orchestra. Amazing!

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Glen Campbell was also a gifted guitarist. Always liked him.

……and a member of the fabulous and unknown Wrecking Crew.

And of course a good chunk of the Wrecking Crew played on Wichita Lineman, including Campbell, Carol Kaye, Al De Lory, Bud Brisbois, Roy Canton, Richard Hyde, etc.

This song never really did anything for me. He had some good ones. Had a great voice.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigfan Roy:
And I need you more than want you
And I want you for all time

May be the 2 best lines of a song ever. I've always marveled at how those two lines capture so much emotion in such a succinct manner. Pure poetry.

Truly a great song.

Agree!

It sure does, Para. 1970s....Listening to AM radio at night while my dad drove us home after a weekend of fishing on the St. Lawrence River. That song (and that time of my life) will always remain one of my favorites.

REM did a remake of it that I also enjoy.

as a kid, I was subjected to local Bluegrass, hated it,
and Hee Haw, funny but the music was not good,
and some of the specials and TV variety shows with Glenn, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark etc

as a 70's era punk/new wave kid, to me that all sucked,


now, for the past 10 yrs or more, [62 now] I have learned to appreciate many many forms of music, and look back with some awe and what I did not appreciate then

Campbell, Cash, Clark, Reed, and some others were amazing talents, and honestly, to group there music into one category was not doing them justice

Lots of memories from 1974. My father had some type of extended training for the National Guard in Indianapolis. I was about 9 and my mom and 2 younger sisters all boarded a train from St Louis to Indy. We were happy to see my dad finally and he had tickets for us to go see Glen at an outdoor amphitheater and then we drove home with dad. Good times indeed.

One of my very favorites. Rick Beato has a great interview of Jimmy Webb where he tells the story of the writing of that song, and the recording. Very interesting.

A bit of trivia. Jimmy Webb sent a demo of Wichita Lineman but it wasn't complete. He was still trying to work out another verse. Somehow, nobody realized it. Glen went into the studio and recorded it. Webb had no idea it had been recorded until after it was released!

But somehow the lack of resolution to the song further emphasizes the message of the lyrics.