Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:14pm

Requiescat In Pace: Glen Campbell

 

Glen Cambell has passed away at age 81.  I will let Dave Griffey at Daffey Thoughts do the honors:

 

Glen Campbell died today. One of the earliest memories I have is watching him perform on some variety show. It was on our old console television set that was about as big as our sofa. We lived out in the country then, and moved in town shortly after I turned five. That must mean I was around four, and it would have been c. 1971 give or take.

Campbell was one of those individuals who formed the backdrop of my life. He was always there. His name rolled off as easy as The Beatles or Star Wars. His signature song, Rhinestone Cowboy, was released when I was around eight or nine. It was one of those songs everyone sang, whether correctly or not.

Over the years, he was always just there. A part of my collective memories. When he announced he had Alzheimer’s, I was sad. My Dad had the same, and it’s everything it’s cracked up to be.

Nonetheless, the memories for me remain. God grant his family peace and strength through the upcoming years. And eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him.

Go here to read the comments.  Strangely, my memories of Campbell go back 48 years to his performance in True Grit (1969).  I thought he did a fine job and it is a pity he didn’t do more acting.

 

 

 

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Mary De Voe
Wednesday, August 9, AD 2017 5:50pm

Glen Campbell, Requiescat In Pace

John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Wednesday, August 9, AD 2017 6:20pm

I agree. He should have acted more. I was just listening to his music last weekend as I drove through the back roads of Kentucky. Good music, good memories. Sad he’s gone, but from what I’ve read, he’s been gone for some time. RIP.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Wednesday, August 9, AD 2017 8:05pm

Campbell’s Jimmy Webb-penned hits like Witchita Lineman, Galveston, and Where’s the Playground Susie were a part of the soundtrack of my early childhood. I loved those songs then and still do today.

But his contributions to the music extend beyond his hits. He was a virtuoso guitarist who was part of a group of elite studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. These musicians provided the instrumental tracks on practically all the hit records that came out of L.A. in the 1960s, everything from the Monkees, Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys (in fact Glen toured with the Beach Boys as Brian Wilson’s replacement on bass when Wilson stopped touring and produced the instrumental tracks on later Beach Boys records) to Frank Sinatra (the main rhythm guitar you hear on Strangers in the Night was played by Glen Campbell), Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole, and many more.

Denny Tedesco, son of Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco (whose guitar work you hear on the themes for MASH, Bonanza, and Green Acres to few) produced a documentary on that group of musicans. http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/about.php

Like many music icons Glen Campbell struggled with the demons of alcoholism and drug abuse. His inability to stay clean and sober really tortured him because he had deep religious convictions. Yes, John, he was “gone” for sometime. He had Alzheimer’s.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Wednesday, August 9, AD 2017 8:16pm

Here’s a sample of some of Glen Campbell’s guitar virtuosity:

Dc. Don Beckett
Dc. Don Beckett
Thursday, August 10, AD 2017 1:44am

Glenn was an amazing artist. My favorites were “By The Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Wichita Lineman”, and many others – always an easy and enjoyable listen. In my twenties when he hit the scene and was part of my early married life, with one of my sons in his infancy wanting “Campbell” to be played – one of the several LP’s that I had of his – to be put on our stereo. Artits of his ilk – of which there were many in the 60’s and 70’s are a disappearing breed. Hope he makes Heaven – they will enjoy him there.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Thursday, August 10, AD 2017 7:57am

God bless Glen Campbell.
May he be in perpetual peace.

David
David
Thursday, August 10, AD 2017 6:41pm

Glen Campbell, Requiescat In Pace. Oh God I love that song.
I work as an engineer in electric power and that song will always bring a tears. “Utility line work is in the top 10 of the most dangerous jobs in America. Around 30 to 50 workers in every 100, 000 are killed on the job every year. Many others suffer non-fatal loss of limbs from electrical burns and mechanical trauma. That’s more than twice the fatality rate of police officers and firemen…. ” No bagpipers showed up at his funeral. No television cameras, no official speeches. His young widow and three children, along with neighbors, grieved his loss in the little country church in the town where he had lived all of his life. He was just a lineman with the local electric utility…”
http://www.tdworld.com/transmission/utility-line-workers-one-top-10-most-dangerous-professions

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