Glen Campbell

This has already been covered elsewhere, but yes, he had amazing talent and a very likeable persona, which earned him legions of loyal fans right up to the bitter end.

There used to be a Union 76 gas station on Robertson in Beverly Hills that was known as a gay cruising spot long after Scotty Bowers' Atlantic Richfield station in Hollywood. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1975, there were two names that were frequently mentioned as having been busted there for "illicit" sex - George Maharis and Glen Campbell. Don't know if it was true or not but that was the rumor at the time.

We wish R2

- 1969

If you watch the Wrecking Crew documentary, check out Campbell's outfits. Tres Gay! There were always rumors about him.

I love Wichita Lineman.

My dad loved him, so now I like all those songs because he used to play them!

The Rhinestone Cowboy.

His voice is synonymous with the 1970’s. When I was a kid I remember Glen and Tanya Tucker on the cover of movie mags and the Enquirer. They were high and volatile.

Man Tanya and Glenn were high (drugs, drugs and more drugs) and volatile (they were physically abusive to each other, probably due to the drugs, drugs alcohol and more drugs).

I remember them being on the covers of tabloids. They were physically hot, probably had insane and passionate sex, and beat the crap out of each other in a short period of time.

Neither of them would ever own up to their individual actions that created such a volatile couple and Glenn definitely wrapped himself in the love of Jesus after getting sober. Tanya remained a train wreck for years after.

He had a wonderful voice and was so talented musically. Except for the Tanya scene, he probably tried to make amends to his family in later years.

Not quite, R8. He was taken seriously as a pop singer star in the late 1960s with those Jimmy Webb songs (Wichita Lineman), then his summer replacement TV show became a regular series. As it always happens, Campbell became a joke as time went on. Shitty material, drugs - tubby Glen lost a lot of weight with all of that cocaine, which made him look older and older. The Tanya Tucker thing was the most embarrassing drooling couple seeking publicity as any I've ever seen.

Glen Campbell was a womanizer, there were never gay rumors about him. It was the 1970s, people. For those of you who weren't there - everyone looked and dressed "gay."

R7, that's a pic of Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979) with Glen Campbell's face pasted on Redford's.

of the TV variety show era, probably the last of the greats... phenomenal talent, charisma.... always complemented and showed off the guests

Few realize while Glen was still an anonymous studio musician he recorded this classic movie track

Yeah, Glen Campbell would be on my least likely to be gay list, tbh.

21% of voters say straight; 21% say gay; and 57% like to think that Glen Campbell was bisexual.

Yes it was R12, but it would help if you posted a video from the actual show like this one below. Tom Jones had a pretty good variety show around this time too, marred for me by too much lip syncing.

No one's mentioned that Glen Campbell tried movie acting - one with John Wayne (True Grit) and another with that other no acting talent, Joe Namath (at the height of his football fame).

[R7] Is that a still from Boys in the Band????

In the '70s, I made love to many, many women, often outdoors, in the mud and the rain, and it's possible a man slipped in. There would be no way of knowing.

Uniquely beautiful voice.

Loved this song.

OP you write about Glen Campbell like you just discovered some unknown. Complete with bio. Uh, yes, we know who he is.

I always thought he was hot.

I grew up when Glen Campbell was a household name and I heard "Southern Nights," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Wichita Linesman" on Top 40 radio. I didn't know how great a guitarist he was until I learned that as part of "The Wrecking Crew" he contributed the lead guitar performance on the Monkees' "Mary, Mary."

R20, you beat me to it! I was going to mention what an ignoramus OP sounds like, but thought it was too snarky. His problem must be he's 22 years old and just found out about Campbell on Youtube.

OP, we're mostly an older group here - Eldergays. We know a lot that you don't know, don't teach us.

"Witchita Lineman" = a great song, even Tom Jones covered it. And it's on my Karaoke list!

Glen Campbell = drunkard & wife beater, probably a coke fiend as well.

R19, “Gentle on My Mind” is a *beautiful* song! One of my favorites and Glenn’s version is my favorite version.

I really wish that we had songs like this today....

R24, PROBABLY???

R19--Expect someone to "Oh, dear!" Gentle on My Mind for the run-on sentences!

R24---Hahaha, I THOUGHT I remembered Glen & Tanya being coke fiends & was too lazy to look them up. Hence, the "probably." I believe you, though!

I enjoyed his work in True Grit.

On his TV show, he wowed the audience by burning awesome licks while holding the guitar behind his neck.

Glen's death gave Tanya a few last moments in the spotlight. She was a bad bad girl back when.

Arguably the best guitar player who ever recorded. Eddie Van Halen tried to get lessons from him. I love his live version of MacArthur Park. He gives the song a dignity it never had before.

Would love to see a movie about Glen and Tanya’s relationship.

They ruined each other. It took a long time for both of them to restart their careers.

No you don't, R33

Sorry, I like him, but Campbell's version of MacArthur Park is pretty sucky. Inferior to the original Richard Harris version, which had just the right amount of floridity. I agree that he was, in his time, one of the world's finest guitarists.

Of course people remember Glen Campbell. He was very talented and made some great music. I never heard any gay rumors about him. He dressed flashy, but Jesus Christ, a lot of country music stars wore those flashy outfits. He always struck me as being very into women.

In the Wrecking Crew documentary Glen stands out fro the others in a parade of pastels. I'd heard the 76 gas station rumors but always dismissed them. Until I saw the Wrecking Crew.

I believe Geo. Maharis made the news at the same gas station. This was the gestapo reign of Police Chief Ed Davis and the police weren't having it... and it knocked Maharis right off TV. The gas station was as notorious as Scotty Bowers' place up on Hollywood Blvd.

"Hollywood actor George Maharis (b. 1928) was arrested November 21, 1974 and charged with committing a sex act with a male hairdresser in the men's room of a gas station in Los Angeles. 46 years old at the time, Maharis was booked on a sex perversion charge and released on $500 bail. Six years earlier Maharis had been arrested by a vice squad officer for lewd conduct in the restroom of a Hollywood restaurant; the officer said Maharis made a pass at him."

He had a few good songs and could be listenable, if nothing to get overly excited about. But he obviously didn't have the highest character behind the scenes, it's known he brutalized Tanya Tucker. A woman beater, he was a scumbag, men who beat women are scum. That's all you need to know, there are no extenuating circumstances that apply.

He was a handsome man, but that helmet hair always disturbed me, even back in his early years.

R39 A few good songs? He had some iconic hits in the 1960s. A couple of the most beautiful songs of the era. There were songs he introduced as well as wonderful covers. An artist's private life has nothing to do with enjoying their work. How do you get through the Met, the Louvre, the Uffizzi...?

...Michael Jackson’s Thriller Album?

Oh, wait.

This song was released when I was 10 yrs. old. Though I didn't really understand the meaning behind the lyrics at the time, the song made me cry . . .

"I need you more than want you, and want you for all time."

[quote]"I need you more than want you, and want you for all time."

An illustration of the scale of his desire.

My parents had the album that OPs photo is from (Wichita Lineman). As a youngster, I would gaze at that album cover thinking he was the most handsome man ever.

By the Time I Get to Phoenix is a fucking masterpiece.

R43, yes, that line is one of the most profound lines ever written in a song.

can someone explain this guitar?

Jimmy Webb made Glen Campbell a big star with those songs.

It's called a 'Resonator Guitar" R48. Used a lot in "older" country music.

When I was a little kid, I used to dream that Glenn Campbell had a jet plane in his backyard and he used to invite me on to play with him.

He was, clearly, too handsome to be related to Mrs Patrick Campbell.

He was born to a sharecropper into a family of 12 kids. He went on to win five Grammys in one night.

I definitely would've picked him up if I caught him out there hitchhiking like in Norwood...esp. if he was with Joe Namath and Dom DeLuise!!!!

[quote]the song made me cry . . .

MARY!!!

For what it is worth, I have heard a story of him being arrested in a gas station bathroom.

But I heard it was in Palm Springs. And the other guy was underage.

The only thing that makes me doubt the story is that there was an underage person in Palm Springs.

I can’t think of a better team in music than Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell. They were the perfect match. His version of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is stunning (though I adore Judy Collins’ version).

Love SN

They said he beat Tanya Tucker so badly once he almost killed her. But then it was Tanya Tucker, so there's no telling what she did to piss him off. She was a hellion of the highest order.

Speaking of Tanya Tucker, dear God she's a rough looking customer these days.

Wonder how Mac Davis feels about Glen?

Tanya Tucker has been rough looking since she was 30 years old. She had a really interesting voice with the fast vibrato, a nice rasp and depth of sound. She kind of ruined her own career because country music is so hypocritical. It doesn't keep its women around any longer than the rest of the music industry. Remember Lorrie Morgan, Kathy Mattea, Suzy Bogguss, Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis, Mary Chapin C ? All big stars at one time, now playing county fairs. Tanya plays the RODEOs. She's boy crazy.

[quote]Love SN

That’s one of those summer songs that when you hear it, you’ve got to roll down the windows in the car and slam the gas pedal!

Tanya had more than a nice resurgence before her career petered out. I really like her. From when she was a kid to mid 90s I guess it was. I used to live and die for Pam Tillis and Patty Loveless though.

He was a very accomplished guitarist. That's how he got started in the music business, being a session musician. Here are some songs he played on:

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers.

"Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard.

"Strangers In The Night" by Frank Sinatra.

"Dang Me" by Roger Miller

"Surf City" by Jan and Dean

"Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton

"Hello, Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson

"What'd I Say" by Elvis Presley

"Mary, Mary" by the Monkees

"I Get Around" by the Beach Boys

Plus he filled in for a while for one of the Beach Boys who was sick or something.

I love Tanya’s late 80s revival, especially this one:

My favorites in her revival years are Strong Enough to Bend and Love Me Like You Used to. Oh yeah, and We Don't Have to Do This.

I saw Glen Campbell on his final tour at The Hollywood Bowl. Although he was already suffering from his Alzheimer's, you wouldn't have known it. The man was insanely talented.

I feel bad for Glen’s daughter Debbie. Glen’s widow and her children really tried to shut her out. Debbie is merely a footnote in the I’ll Be Me doc although she toured with Glen for years.

In the late 1980s, my soon to be husband won a couple of tickets to a Glen Campbell concert in Corpus Christi. I think this was around the time that he broke up with Tanya Tucker and was trying to redeem himself to his fans. On the night of the concert (it was a small concert auditorium), Glen was there, but his band wasn't. They had come in on two different planes. And the backup band was delayed. Glen came out, and apologized for the circumstances. He then asked people in the audience to request any of his songs, and he would just play it solo by himself on his guitar. An audience member requested Dreams of the Everyday Housewife. Glen said, "well, it's been awhile since I did that one, but I'll give it a go!" Which he then proceeded to play flawlessly. This continued for at least half an hour, until his band finally arrived, and we were treated to a solo performance with just Glen Campbell and his guitar. It was a really special moment.

Reba's band never arrived.

One thing I love knowing is that in the UK Glen was worshiped.

He was one of those performers who seemed to have two separate career eras. The first was the By The Time I Get To Phoenix/Gentle On My Mind/ Wichita Lineman/Galveston phase. Then he disappeared for awhile, but came back with Rhinestone Cowboy, Country Boy and Southern Nights.

My folks used to watch his TV show all the time. He had one show with Dionne Warwicke and the Fifth Dimension that was all music. It was excellent.

For someone with no acting experience, he held his own in True Grit.

[quote]The only thing that makes me doubt the story is that there was an underage person in Palm Springs.

"Underage" in Palm Springs means you're not yet eligible for Medicare.

R48, that's Glen holding guitar - he could barely sing without it, even if playing it had no consequence...

R60, interesting...playboy Glen hooked up and MARRIED Mac Davis' 20 YEAR OLD wife for a year. What an asshole!

I remember his show and thinking he was super talented but not my type. The show, to me, was a little dorky, in the Hee Haw genre. But he had those 60s hits all in a row so he had a widespread appeal. Definitely, he should've changed his hair. I never got through his movie. (Was there more than one?) Even though I was madly in love with Joe Namath.

R73, he did several duet performances with Dionne Warwick throughout his life. I wonder if there was a love connection between these two?

Hated Everyday Housewife but loved Wichita Lineman.

Saw him in concert in Oklahoma but something went wrong with the optics and he got kind of pissy.

Glen's version of If. He was a fucking genius.

If You Go Away

Gentle On My Mind is still one of my favorite songs.

One of the most respected guitarists of his time. Wonderful voice. Sadly became a fundie.

Musically he was sophisticated and very gifted, personally he was basic, dishonorable and a bit mean. Not unlike Dionne Warwick.

He wasn't perfect. Musicians seldom are. But he was really talented and produced some great work. He accomplished much.

He played on Sinatra's Strangers In The Night record. Campbell told the story: he was so in awe of Sinatra that he couldn't take his eyes off him during the session. He later saw Sinatra speaking with the producer and motioning over at him. Campbell thought he must have really loved his playing. He went over to the producer and asked him what Sinatra said. The producer told him, "Frank asked me who the fag guitar player was."

R79 I love the way he's joking around with Johnny and then just gets up and sings and plays flawlessly like it's the easiest thing in the world. That song only seems easy to sing and he's singing it live.

And no orchestra to depend on, nothing to help him out.

R83 Hussy

"I will win the worship in your eyes and I will lose it...." Glen always spoke about how MacArthur's Park was, in his opinion, the best written song ever.

R61 Some women manage to stay relevant in Country Music. Dolly and Loretta, for instance. Then you have Reba, who can still get played on Country radio, more than 40 years after starting out. I don't know why Tanya couldn't hold on longer, her resurgence in the late 80s-early 90s was pretty good. But, she might be due for another go round, Shooter Jennings is producing her new album. Maybe he will do for her what Jack White did for Loretta.

The Rolling Stone did a cover story on Tanya Tucker back in the day. She was 15 years old at the time and a reader wrote a letter saying the guy who wrote the article on her must be some kind of pervert. Seems he took notice of her burgeoning sexuality and described how during one of her shows she began to "twitch her lower body." Eww!

Hearing "Wichita Lineman" always takes me back to being 5 years old, sitting in the back seat of my parents' car listening to KBOX 1480 on the AM dial.

The use of “Wichita Lineman” in the movie “Tarnation” was effective and devastating.

Glen Campbell and Carl Jackson playing "Dueling Banjos."

My favorite GC song is a tie between Galveston and Southern Nights.

Tanya got to ride dl fave Andy Gibb’s hairy uncut cock.

Tanya rode so much cock I doubt she remembers Andy's. That woman careened down a track for decades and left catastrophe in her wake at every whistle stop she found.

The lyrics to "If You Go Away" are something, aren't they? Campbell certainly knew how to put across a song... his rendition is lovely and sad.

I read the Wikipedia entry for that song and it's background is interesting.

[quote]I read the Wikipedia entry for that song and it's background is interesting.

Oh, dear!

Glen was pretty hot in his heyday. Glad he wasn't shy about showing off his fit hairy body.

Glen without a shirt was a revelation to me and makes me feel funny in my special place.

How big do you think Glen's special place was? I don't get sizemeat vibes from him. I looked at the Aaron Shock dick pics and those look about like what I expected Glen to have.

R98, I HATE "If You go Away" and every cover I've ever heard of that maudlin, pretentious, pathetic Rod McKuen song! You need to get acquainted with better material.

R99 - oh man, I should have caught that mistake... mea culpa you DL grammar bitch!

Luv ya, r103!

[quote] I HATE "If You go Away" and every cover I've ever heard of that maudlin, pretentious, pathetic Rod McKuen song!

It's Jacques Brel's song. McKuen just wrote some English lyrics. It's much better, en français.

R102 "If You Go Away" is not a Rod McKuen song. It is a Jacques Brel song. Music and lyrics. McKuen wrote the English lyrics. Perhaps you don't like it, but great singers from Sinatra to Streisand, to Dusty, Nina Simone, Ray Charles have recorded it.

R105 Looks like we decided to post at the same time!

Who gives a shit, R105. It still sucks to high heaven.

The one who sucks is you R108

I find Celine Dion kind of irritating in English but super fabulous in French.

Hosting, introducing and then singing on his show with The Supremes.

fake supremes

Anne Murray said in a CBC interview that when she was starting out that Glen couldn't have been more kind to her. He was incredibly respectful and was protective of her (nothing sexual). She remarked how much he helped her.

When Anne was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame, or some such thing, it was a big deal, she had Glen on the stage with her.

A previous thread we had going dedicated to the song Wichita Lineman:

"Perhaps you don't like it, but great singers from Sinatra to Streisand...have recorded it."

I don't recall Streisand having recorded that tripe, R106. Perhaps you're confusing her with Lainie Kazan.

I hate Barbra Streisand but she did record AND perform that song live. She's the queen of tripe and bad taste. It's easy to find.

It's a great Jacques Brel song, by someone other than Barbra.

I think when Glen was sober he was the salt of the earth. But he was one of those people who lose their minds as soon as they take a drink. Probably why he and Tanya Tucker brawled like wild animals. Both of 'em drunk as skunks.

Glen drank a lot, but he and young Tanya partook of a LOT of cocaine. A LOT. Campbell had to go to rehab and get acquainted with Jesus to stop. Tanya Tucker is no victim - but he did break her jaw and who knows what else though. Look at Tanya's face and you know she's fought some demons.

Alice Cooper says that Campbell did more coke than anyone he ever met. He was a trainwreck for a very long time.

Glen was a womanizing drunken redneck LONG before Tanya Tucker. That's one of the (two of the) things that attracted her. He was no stranger to cocaine and a lot of other shit before her too.

Good one, R117.

This is an excellent thread. It's informative, somewhat bitchy and definitely honest.

Keep the posts coming guys.

When you get gifted with great talent you get just almost just as much demons. When it came to Glen Merle Haggard put it best: "if ever god put too much talent in one body it was Glen Campbell." I've been all over this thread but I'll say it again. Glen was truly a genius of an artist. I've enjoyed just about everything he's ever put out.

R121. He’s from Delight, Arkansas.

Name anything from Arkansas that doesn’t involve redneckery or grotesque embarrassment?

[quote]Name anything from Arkansas that doesn’t involve redneckery or grotesque embarrassment?

Arguably, Bill and Hillary.

LOL

Amazing collaboration between Glen and Stevie Wonder. Watch the whole thing; it gets better and better, particularly Glen’s guitar picking and vocals.

Wichita Lineman was played to great effect in Ozark...chilling, haunting, just perfect. Glen Campbell is the voice of the soft country/rock of the 70s. His music really takes me back to a safe, beautiful time.

The other thing about Glen is he always had great chemistry with fellow singers and musicians, which is probably why he had his own TV show.

I love his albums with Bobbie Gentry and Anne Murray. He also did some duets with Cher and I loved their voices together.

I've always loved this duet with Murray.

With his high cheekbones, roundish face, light hair and small turned up nose, my grandmother, born in Finland, moved to Canada, used to say “He looks like d Finnish boy.” We’d watch his show together. He honestly looked like most of my Finn family.

Wichita Lineman is a beautifully melancholy song.