I was honored to spend time with Glen on at least seven occasions on the golf course (he would even sing songs to me and YODEL as we rode around in the golf cart), and we last spoke a few years ago in Texas when I did a feature on him for our magazine, Midwest Today. He was an authentic man, without pretense, who loved music and excelled at it both vocally and as a guitarist better than most. He loved to laugh but was deadly serious about his music. I remember him telling me "I spent all last week getting my voice on four tracks...and I wasn't happy with any of them, ya know?" Glen got his start very young and was in areas of the country where Jim Reeves also performed. It is possible their paths crossed. I know Glen respected Jim, because we talked about it. He also loved Marty Robbins. Glen would always hand me his beer when we came upon fans (on the greens), he sometimes drank Scotch and milk (which I never could understand!), he smoked Newport cigarettes, he told me all about salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest. He was humble. And in the latter years of his life he came to know the Lord. The first thing he asked me when we spoke again was if I had a relationship with Jesus. Glen wanted to know all about my life and asked a lot of questions. He was a deeply spiritual man and we talked at length about God and our human existence. My condolences to his wife Kim and children. I know full well what it's like to see someone you love recede behind the gauge curtain. I took care of my dear Mother, Olga, in my home for 9-1/2 years when she was afflicted with Alzheimer's (which is what Glen suffered from). Now Glen is finally at peace.
This is my favorite Glen Campbell song because not only is it beautiful musically, I think it also reflects Glen's perspective on life -- "Come Harvest Time." In fact, I remember Glen sent me a CD-R dub of this before it was released. RIP Glen.
Marvelous interview! Thanks for posting this Ron. Who would ever believe these two would become such close friends? But it happens in the music biz. His description of being out on the golf course with Glen and how happy Campbell always was, struck a chord with me. I'm sure Glen had his down times but never when I was around him. I think next to music, golf was Glen's greatest passion in life.
I think "Alice Cooper's"real name is Vincent Damon Furnier.When I was born there was no celebrity named "Alice Cooper".I was named for Anita Bryant.She had her own T.V. show. I've never been a fan of either singer.My Dad liked Ms. Bryant.Now his old best pal Howard Brown has a grandson named Bryant,his daughter's oldest son,and Dad has a daughter named "Anita".I wish there were no rock star named "Alice Cooper',a man,though.I get jokes about it,not all friendly either.All my life. Anita L. Cooper
Tanya Tucker's loving tribute to Glen
Posted by Larry Jordan on August 29, 2017, 10:21 pm, in reply to "R.I.P. Glen Campbell"
This is so sad, you can see and hear and feel the heartbreak in Tanya Tucker as she performs a tribute song she wrote to Glen Campbell, to whom she was once engaged.
She was a young gal, in her early 20s, when she and Glen fell in love. Theirs was a tempestuous relationship and she said recently that after they broke up, he had come to see her and wanted to patch things up. But, Tanya reflected, at that time she was young and cocky and if he had tried just a little harder, she would have eagerly gotten back together with him. The truth of her statement is evidenced by how she has carried a torch for him all these years.
Sadly, she was deprived of an opportunity to see her ex-lover when he started to become ill, and although she was in the audience in Nashville the night Glen stopped there on a farewell tour when he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, she apparently was still blocked from even saying hello to him.
I think that's really cruel, frankly.
Tanya and Glen shared something special and when someone dear to us is about to leave this earthly scene, we shouldn't be deprived of the opportunity to say goodbye, just out of someone's spite.
I am glad a network TV show recently invited Tanya to come on and perform her tribute to Glen live. Click the link below to view it.
And for the record, I have some advice to offer to people who may have a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's. My Mother had it for 9-1/2 years and I took care of her in my home. I learned a lot from this experience. Caregivers do NOT necessarily know how the patient feels about a particular person or topic. Too often AZ victims are treated as if they are mindless, but they are not. Anyone who is truly paying attention will likely still see breakthroughs of awareness and surprising orientation even when someone is in the advanced stages of the disease. The day we left for the hospital my Mother reached out to hold my hand. And the day before she passed away, with her eyes closed, she reached out and grabbed ahold of my hand and gave me three hard yanks to draw me closer, then threw her arms around my neck and pressed her cheek against mine and mumbled words I could not discern...but yet I understood. She was saying goodbye.
So whomever blocked Tanya from seeing Glen made a dreadful assumption, because while short term memory is largely gone, and self-care and verbalization is gone, there is still a person inside there who has feelings...
One of Glen Campbell's daughter's did arrange a FaceTime session between Tanya and Glen, perhaps without the second family's knowledge, while he was in the facility. Apparently Glen didn't recognize her but she told him they used to love each other.
Hi Larry I tried viewing the Tanya Tucker tribute video to Glen Campbell but it said this video is not available due to a copyright claim by NBC Universal.
on August 8, 2017, 8:57 pm, in reply to "