Tonight we will celebrate my third post! YAY!
In our celebrations we will be playing a game six degrees of country music...well more like one. You'll see in a bit....
Also, I'm still working the kinks out of this baby, so all one of you who reads this (probably this person) be patient.
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Artist: Glen Campbell
Year: 1967
Label Number: ST 2851
Side 1 Side 2
1. By The Time I Get To Phoenix 1. Hey Little One
2. Homeward Bound* 2. Bad Seed
3. Tomorrow Never Comes* 3. I'll Be Luck Someday*
4. Cold December 4. You're Young And You'll Forget
5. My Baby's Gone 5. Love Is A Lonesome River
6. Back In The Race*
The story: I don't have one. I talked to my mom today to ask if Frank or Frankie really liked this record. She said Frank (grandpa) hated Glen Campbell while Frankie loved him. Campbell tip-toed the boundary of pop and country so much it just meant more to Frankie.
"So you jerk, what DO you have for your devoted reader(s)?" What I have, for anyone willing to take the time to read, is a few lessons I learned the past couple days.
1. Frankie loved Glen Campbell, Frank hated it. But he still listened to it with her, he still enjoyed it with her. Why? Because he loved her (One of the facets of that love? Frank adored my grandmother). A lesson learned.
2. For the past eight months I've been a self-centered cynic. I've been terrible to those I don't know and those dear to me and to one that never deserved it. Frank nor Frankie would never do that to each other or their loved ones. I am changing it, slowly but surely, I am changing it. A lesson learned.
3. I love being right all the time. Fact is, I am wrong sometimes. I hate admitting it, but there it is. In my mind, Glen Campbell was going to be an all out flop. You'll see why I was wrong. A lesson learned.
4. Don't sell myself short. I'll explain more when I describe my top track, but this has been a feature of my personality for years. Slowly but surely, eh? A lesson learned.
I'm sure I will be learning more soon, but instead of dreading it, I am ready for it. And why do I share this with you? Because if I help just one person with this, then a lesson learned.
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How is this one degree? If you recall my last post, I visited Marty Robbins and his album of the same name. While searching around my sea of records, I happened onto this one.
Now, buckle up for this...this record surprised me. I knew Glen Campbell at best by his hit "Rhinestone Cowboy," and that's mainly because of the 1996 award winning movie High School High. Nothing, though, prepared me for this.
The title track blows Marty Robbins' out of the water. Actually, this version of the second (originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965) won Mr. Campbell a grammy in 1967.
SIDE ONE: Glen doesn't croon. He doesn't twang. He cries into the microphone. He drawls up emotion from the pit of his stomach (while it's probably also rising in yours). I just imagine him in the studio having to stop the take because he starts feeling too down. Meh, probably not, but this record still gets to me. It's that sad.
Tomorrow Never Comes (Track 3)? The man literally belts it out. Not only that, his voice breaks at the end of the song, not really finishing the phrase. Just for reference, here is the youtube link, but don't say I didn't warn you. (Also here is the Elvis version)
SIDE TWO: Campbell streaks on with the heartache and doesn't miss a beat. He feels misunderstood, forgotten, and lost. The songs, like side one, mix up tempo and feel, but still each tells of his sadness.
Best Song: Back in the Race
Well I'm fallin' just about as far as I'm gonna fall
Well I've never been this slow before that I recall
And I'm gettin' tired of people picking on me
And I ain't a goin' down from here wait and see
There's gonna be a new dawn and a new day
From this moment on things are gonna break my way
I'm gonna wear a new smile and a new face
And then I'm goin' out and get back in the race
Well the people been a walkin' on me way too long
And the way I gotta figure I've been doin' it wrong
So from now on I'm a gonna look out from me
I'm gonna do what I want to be what I want to be
There's gonna be a new dawn..
Why? Because this reminds me of a song my Papaw Buckler would make up on the spot just to cheer me up.
I'm ready for a new day, how about you?
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