Blame it on ego or decades of pop culture conditioning, but when most of us imagine the pinnacle of success for a musician, it’s somewhere on a stage, in the spotlight, at the center of public attention and the apex of fame. But for Glen Campbell and countless other working musicians like him, true success, stability, and satisfaction didn’t come from the stage at all. It was in the studio. The only difference between those other musicians and Campbell is that he was still thrust into the spotlight, despite the fact that he preferred the backstage alternative.
Videos by American Songwriter
Before he was the “Wichita Lineman” singer we know him as today, Campbell was a member of the esteemed Wrecking Crew, the de facto title for a group of session musicians that played on most popular records coming out of the West Coast in the 1950s and 60s. For Campbell, that’s where the money was, and that’s where he wanted to stay. “I was making so much money doing studio work, I didn’t want to go through that routine of going out and playing gigs for $100 a night,” Campbell said in a documentary about the Wrecking Crew. “You can make that in a session.”
Campbell was speaking from experience. After he landed his first hit in 1962, he tried to transition from his “day job” as a studio player to a performing musician working clubs at night. “I couldn’t make as much doing that as I could studio work,” he explained. “That’s why I just said, you know, I don’t really care to be an artist. I really enjoy hanging around—I was hanging around the greatest musicians in the world. That’s where you learn how to play.”
How Glen Campbell Begrudgingly Turned Into a Headlining Performer
Between session work, Glen Campbell got small tastes of what it was like being a headlining performer. He played small club circuits to promote singles in the early 1960s, and in 1965, he temporarily joined The Beach Boys after Brian Wilson left due to mental health issues. If that were to be any indication of what life was like for a headlining performer, it’s no wonder Campbell wasn’t interested.
Speaking to the New York Times, Campbell once said, “Right after one concert, The Beach Boys ran for the cars like mad, but I didn’t care. I took my time, figuring nobody would pay any attention to me, since I wasn’t really a Beach Boy. Well, I want to tell you, they jumped on me with all four feet. Started yankin’ my hair, stole my watch, tore off my shirt. From then on, I was the first one in the car.”
Campbell landed another temp spot as the host of The Summer Brothers Smothers Show in 1968 through his friendship with comedian Tommy Smothers. Even though he only hosted two episodes, Campbell noticed people started recognizing him in public seemingly overnight. “It didn’t dawn on me, the power of television,” Campbell said. The guitarist did such a great job hosting the show that CBS granted him his own variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran from 1969 to 1972. He added bluntly, “Four years of it was plenty.”
Whether or not Campbell wanted it, he was a household name by the late 1960s, thanks to hits like “Gentle On My Mind” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.”
Photo by Jasper Dailey/ Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.