Wednesday August 24, 2022 “Rhinestone Cowboy” Glen Campbell
OK today we have an unexpected kind of cowboy, a rhinestone one.
Today’s song was written and originally recorded by Larry Weiss, a Brooklyn singer/songwriter whose writing credits include "Bend Me, Shape Me" by The American Breed and "Help Me Girl" by The Animals. Glen Campbell first heard “Rhinestone Cowboy” while he was on tour in Australia and kept playing the song from a cassette of it that he purchased while there.
When Campbell got back to the US he told his A&R representative at the record label that he had a great song that he wanted to record but his A&R guy said, “ Sure Glen, but first you have to give a listen to this tune that I found, which will be perfect for you”...and he played him the same song, “Rhinestone Cowboy”.
Campbell has said that this was a very important song for him, and one he would call "maybe the best song I've ever sung." It came at a time when his career had gone flat: his popular TV show had been canceled, acting gigs dried up, and he hadn't had a hit since 1971. The story of the faded star who perseveres in the song held a lot of meaning for Campbell.
Before he was Glen Campbell the superstar, Campbell was a member of the often sought after studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew who provided the music on the recordings of hundreds of hit songs in 60s and 70s working primarily out of the Gold Star studios in LA.
Stay safe and well…and Glen Campbell was a guitar great who rarely gets mentioned as the extraordinary player that he was.