Glen Campbell Biography, Photos and Posters

Glen Campbell

Biography

Born: April 22, 1936
City and Country of Origin: Delight, Arkansas
Music Training:
Awards:
Top Recordings: "Gentle on My Mind," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "True Grit," "Rhinestone Cowboy"
Glen Campbell Biography: Grammy Award, Dove Award winning American Country Pop singer and guitarist Glen Campbell best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a television variety show called "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television. His biggest hits include "Gentle On My Mind", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Rhinestone Cowboy."

Glen was 1 of 12 children born into the tiny community of Delight, Arkansas, then a communiity of less than 100 residents, started playing guitar as a youth without learning to read music. By the time he was eighteen, he was touring the South as part of the Western Wranglers. In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician.

Campbell can be heard on some of the best selling records of the 60s by artists like: Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Merle Haggard, The Monkees, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, The Association, Jan & Dean and The Mamas & the Papas. He was a full-fledged member of The Beach Boys, filling in for an ailing Brian Wilson on tour in 1964 and 1965 and he also played on the Pet Sounds album. He also can be heard on "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers and "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees. Campbell was part of the famous studio musicians clique known as "The Wrecking Crew."

Glen's first efforts as a solo artists garnered moderate regional success. In 1962 Campbell signed with Capitol Records and released two instrumental albums and a number of vocal albums during his first five years with the label. However, he failed to have success at Capitol until he was teamed with producer Al DeLory and together they collaborated on "Gentle On My Mind." It was followed by the even bigger triumph of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" later in 1967, and "I Wanna Live" and "Wichita Lineman" in 1968.

After he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for television's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour variety show, Campbell hosted his own weekly variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, from January 1969 through June 1972. At the height of his popularity, a 1970 biography by Freda Kramer, The Glen Campbell Story, was published.

During the early 1970s, Campbell released a long series of singles and appeared in the movies True Grit with John Wayne and Kim Darby and Norwood with Kim Darby and Joe Namath. The song "True Grit" was nominated for an Academy Award and Campbell performed it at the awards show that year.

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour was cancelled by CBS in 1972. After that he became a regualr on TV co-starring in a made-for-television movie, Strange Homecoming with Robert Culp and upcoming teen idol, Leif Garrett. He also hosted a number of TV specials and was a guest on many network talk and variety shows like: "Donny & Marie," "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," "Cher" and "The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour."

During the mid 70s he had more big hits "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Southern Nights," and "Sunflower." "Rhinestone Cowboy" became Campbell's biggest hit with initial sales of over 2 million copies sold in a matter of months.

As the 70s came to a close so did much of Campbell's singing career. Although he would never reach the top 40 pop charts after 1978, Glen Campbell continued to reach the country top 10 throughout the 1980s with songs such as "Faithless Love", "A Lady Like You", "Still Within The Sound of My Voice" and "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" (a duet with Steve Wariner).

With his singing career rapidly evaporating Campbell turned to drugs. However, by 1989 it was reported that he had kicked the habit. Although for almost a decade Campbell had professed his sobriety to fans at concerts and in his autobiography, in November 2003 he was arrested for drunk driving that included a charge of battery to a police officer which was later dropped. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and community service, due to the high level of intoxication.

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