Wednesday, July 24, 2002
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Wednesday, July 24, 2002 |
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Glen Campbell brings variety of country, pop and gospel hits to 'The Fred' By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
Before artists like Will Smith, LL Cool J and Jennifer Lopez found success on radio, television and the silver screen, Glen Campbell was a king of all media. He has had number-one songs on the country and pop charts, a television show that had 50 million viewers a week and a role in the John Wayne film "True Grit." Campbell brings his myriad of hits to the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Campbell was raised in Billstown, Ark., with 11 siblings. He displayed a talent in music at a very early age and was encouraged to pursue it by his parents. He left home at the age of 16 to pursue music as a career and eventually played in a three piece combo with his uncle, Dick Bills. Campbell soon fronted his own band and toured the Southwest. He then became one of the most sought-after session guitarists in Los Angeles and did work with Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard and The Beach Boys, among others. Campbell toured with The Beach Boys for 18 months between 1964 and 1965 but then his solo career started to blossom. He had signed with Capitol records and had released an album, "Big Bluegrass Special" which yielded the hit "Kentucky Means Paradise." He continued to record for Capitol and achieved moderate success. Campbell's career kicked into high gear in 1967 when "Gentle On My Mind" hit number 30 on the Billboard charts. Within a year Campbell scored even bigger hits with the songs "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," "I Wanna Live," and "The Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife," "Gentle On My Mind" began to climb the charts again. Late in 1968 "Wichita Lineman" was released and it soared to number one on the country charts and number three on the pop charts. Early the next year the song "Galveston" enjoyed similar success. Campbell won a Grammy for "Gentle on My Mind" in the country category and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" in the pop category in 1967. He has also been awarded trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. The Smothers Brothers caught Campbell's performance on "The Joey Bishop Show" and thought that he would be a good replacement for them when they went on summer hiatus. Campbell hosted "The Summer Brothers Smother Show" and CBS executives, sensing a hit, quickly gave him his own series, "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour." Campbell's show became an instant success and gave up and coming musicians at the time, such as Eric Clapton and Cream, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt and more, an enormous audience. Also around this time, Campbell got a role in the film "True Grit." He also recorded the song "True Grit" for the film's soundtrack and scored another hit. In the mid to late 1970s, Campbell had two more songs land at number one on both the country and pop charts; "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1975 and "Southern Nights" in 1977. Campbell continued to tour and record music through the 1980s and 90s. In the 1990s, Campbell began to record a series of Gospel albums, which led to a Dove award. He released a best selling autobiography, "Rhinestone Cowboy," in 1994 and was presented with the Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award. His popularity began to soar again when the ratings for an episode of A&E's Biography of him had very high ratings. The National Network began rerunning episodes of "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" and the public rediscovered a man of many talents and one of the most successful variety shows of all time. Glen Campbell will perform at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 and single seats are still available. Standing room only tickets will go on sale at the box office at 6 p.m. The Jennifer Daniels Band will open the show. Phone 770-631-0630 for more information.
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