10 Essential Glen Campbell Songs
Sounds Like Nashville looked at his entire catalog & chose ten of the most essential and legendary Glen Campbell recordings!
This Saturday (April 22) is the 81st birthday for Country Music Hall of Fame member Glen Campbell. A native of Delight, Arkansas, Campbell turned both the Pop and Country worlds on their ear with a series of hits for Capitol, Atlantic, and MCA. We send out our collective best wishes to the 1968 CMA Entertainer of the Year, who is battling Alzheimer’s Disease. Here’s a look at ten of the most essential Campbell recordings in his legendary catalog!
(Arranged chronologically)
“Gentle On My Mind” – from Gentle on My Mind
Written by: James Hartford
This is a case of a chart number not really telling the story. John Hartford’s composition about a love that brought about a perfect comfort zone gave the singer his first Grammy award, and his first major hit. The fact that this number also became a minor Pop hit was the first sign that Campbell was set to make a lot of musical history – with a wide array of styles.
“By The Time I Get To Phoenix” – from By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Written by: Jimmy Webb
Nearly fifty years later, one still marvels at this classic recording – which just happens to include many firsts. It was Campbell’s initial ascent into the Billboard top-10 on the Country charts, and the lyric – about a man who finally has had enough of a dead-end relationship – was the first one Campbell enjoyed a hit with from the pen of the great Jimmy Webb.
“Wichita Lineman” – from Wichita Lineman
Written by:
The first Gold single from Campbell, the singer once again turned to the pen of Webb. Rolling Stone proclaimed this recording as one of the 500 best of all time in 2010, and the song is a sonic treat from start to finish, thanks equally to Campbell’s emotional vocal and the trend-setting production of Al De Lory.
“Galveston” – from Galveston
Written by: Jimmy Webb
His second straight number one solo record, this Webb composition could very well be one of the singer’s most covered gems, with David Nail and Collin Raye both turning in recent versions. The lyric hit many soldiers – present and future – hard, with words that they could easily feel about the possibility of not seeing their loved ones again. What a year 1969 was for Campbell. Two straight number one Country, top five Pop, million selling singles – and oh, yeah, the January 29 premiere of his CBS variety series, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. Talk about being on top of the world.
“Bonaparte’s Retreat” – from Houston (I’m Comin’ to See You)
Written by: Pee Wee King
The song had been around for years, with Pee Wee King’s version being perhaps the best-known. Still, Campbell’s decision to cover the classic turned out to be a great decision, as it brought him his biggest hit in a while, and one that showed his instrumental prowess.
“Rhinestone Cowboy” – from Rhinestone Cowboy
Written by: Larry Weiss
This song about surviving in a town that can crush your dreams in a heartbeat brought Campbell arguably his biggest hit – topping the Country, Pop, AC, and other charts around the world. Larry Weiss’s lyrics helped him to earn the Song of the Year prize from the Country Music Association that fall, and gave Glen a hit for the ages!
“Southern Nights”- from Southern Nights
Written by: Allen Toussaint
Written about many of Allen Toussaint’s memories of growing up in Louisiana, there is nothing about this record that isn’t timeless. Campbell sounded as if he was having a blast, and the melody was all over the radio – no matter the genre – in the spring of 1977. Sometimes, music just needs to be fun, and this one was simply that.
“Faithless Love” – from Letter to Home
Written by: J.D. Souther
I wanted to pick out one of Campbell’s lesser-known hits from his brief (1982-1986) period on Atlantic Records. Though “A Lady Like You” might have been a bigger hit at the time for the singer, he made this recording of J.D. Souther’s composition all his own, with help from his longtime banjoist Carl Jackson, whose intro hit all the right notes.
“Still Within The Sound of My Voice” – from Still Within the Sound of My Voice
Written by: Jimmy Webb
Great partnerships stand the test of time. It had been over a decade since Glen hit the charts with a Webb song, and this one put both back in the winners’ circle some two decades after their initial run to the top together. Campbell’s biggest hit from his 1987-89 period on MCA Nashville.
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” – from I’ll Be Me
Written by: Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
Campbell co-penned this entry on the list with Julian Raymond, who produced his last couple of records. The song was the centerpiece of the Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me documentary, and netted the singer his most-recent Grammy win. Who could listen to this composition about his battle with Alzheimer’s and not be moved? Quite possibly, the most honest and vulnerable performance that anyone has given. How could it not be?
