Glen Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, television host, and actor. He died of Alzheimer’s disease in Nashville on August 8, 2017, aged 81.
He was best know for hits like Rhinestone Cowboy, Galveston and Wichita Linesman.
Glen Travis Campbell was the seventh son of 12 children born to John Wesley and Carrie Dell (Stone) Campbell in Billstown, near Delight, Arkansas. The family lived on a farm where they barely got by growing cotton, corn, watermelons and potatoes.
Musical Start
In 1954, at age 17, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join his uncle’s band, known as Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys
He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and became a session musician playing on recordings by many musicians including Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Monkees, Merle Haggard (see our post on Merle here), Frank Sinatra, Phil Spector and Elvis Presley.
In 1962, Glen had minor success with the songs “Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry”, and “Kentucky Means Paradise.
He never learned to read music, but besides guitar, he could play the banjo, mandolin and bass, and by 1963 his playing and singing were on 586 recorded songs.
From December 1964 to early March 1965, Campbell was a touring member of The Beach Boys, filling in for the legendary genius Brian Wilson, and playing bass guitar and singing falsetto harmonies. He even played guitar on the Beach Boys’ seminal 1966 album Pet Sounds, among many other recordings.
1967–1972
In 1966, he was teamed with producer Al De Leroy and recorded “Burning Bridges” which became a top 20 country hit in early 1967,
They collaborated again on 1967’s “Gentle on My Mind”, which was an overnight success and was followed by the bigger hit “By the Time I get to Phoenix” later in 1967, and “Wichita Lineman” in 1968. He won four Grammy’s for “Gentle on My Mind” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”.
In 1969 Glen sang the theme song to “True Grit”, which was written by composer Elmer Bernstein and lyricist Don Black, and received nominations for the Oscar for Best Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. He also co-starred in the movie (one of my favorite films of all time!), with John Wayne (my hero!).
1973–1979
During the 1970s he appeared on & hosted many televisions shows.
In the mid-1970s, he had more hits with classics “Rhinestone Cowboy”, “Southern Nights” ” (both U.S. number one hits), and “Sunflower” (U.S. number 39) (written by Neil Diamond).
“Rhinestone Cowboy” was Campbell’s largest-selling single and one of his best-known recordings, initially selling over 2 million copies. Campbell first heard songwriter Larry Weiss’ version while on tour of Australia in 1974.
From 1971 to 1983, Campbell was the celebrity host of the LA Open, an annual professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour.
1980–2011
Campbell appeared in the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie “Any Which Way You Can” and also recorded the title song.
In 2005, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In August 2008 he released his new album, “Meet Glen Campbell” on which he covered tracks by U2, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and the Foo Fighters. The first single, was cover of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) and was released in July 2008.
2011–2017
In March 2010, a “farewell” album titled Ghost on the Canvas was announced and served as a companion to “Meet Glen Campbell”.
Late in 2010 Glen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He then went on a final “Goodbye Tour”, with three of his children joining him in his backup band. His final show was in Napa, California on November 30, 2012.
After the tour, Campbell went into the studio in his home town of Nashville to record what turned out to be his final album, “Adios”, which would not be released until five years later. In January 2013, Campbell recorded his final song, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”, which was nominated for Best Original Song Oscar at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.
Campbell’s final album, Adios, was released in June 2017, and featured twelve songs from his final 2012–13 sessions.
Personal life
Campbell was married four times, and fathered five sons and three daughters,
He had problems with alcoholism and cocaine addiction in the early 1980s, and was arrested and pleaded guilty to drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident in 2003, spending 10 days in jail.
The End
In 2014 Glen Campbell became a patient at an Alzheimer’s care and treatment facility and eventually died of the disease in Nashville, on August 8, 2017.
The music superstar was laid to rest, in a private ceremony, in his hometown of Delight, Arkansas on August 9, 2017.
Check out Glen Campbell on Amazon
Pingback: 16 musicians who died in 2017 | Dead Musicians