Posted on 06/22/2011 12:04:28 PM PDT by Justaham
NASHVILLE – Country legend Glen Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, his wife told People magazine Wednesday.
Though the "Rhinestone Cowboy" singer has suffered from minor short-term memory loss for several years, the Alzheimer's diagnosis came about six months ago, wife Kim Campbell said.
The 75-year-old has decided to give a set of farewell live performances this fall and his family wanted to go public with the news of his disease so the public would be aware of his condition.
"Glen is still an awesome guitar player and singer," his wife told People. "But if he flubs a lyric or gets confused on stage, I wouldn't want people to think, 'What's the matter with him? Is he drunk?'"
Campbell, a 2005 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame, has recorded more than 50 albums over the past 50 years, though his biggest hits came in the 1960's and 1970's.
"I still love making music," he said. "And I still love performing for my fans."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Prayers for Glen
I am so sorry. Alzheimers is such an insidious disease. It is probably worse on the care-giver than for the patient. But is absolutely awful.
That’s not gentle on his mind.
Glen rec’d poor reviews here at the Carmel Boondoggladium recently. This could explain a lot.
I saw a performance of his about a year ago on TV. He could still pull it off and well. As someone who helps care for an Alzheimer’s patient, I pray for him and his family.
Little known is what an awesome guitar player he is. I wish he would play more and sing less. Sorry to hear of his condition
Apparently DVD release is being held up due to licensing.
Glenn was a studio musician (guitarist IIRC) before he made it with a hit song. Studio musicians have to be very able ...
Glen Campbell can play guitar better than just about everyone. Even if his ability is compromised 90% he would still rank in the top 10% of guitar players. I wish I could find the listings on all of the studio sessions he was a part because it would surprise most.
Yes -- for example, he was a session player for the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds.
Glen was a member of “The Wrecking Crew”, back in the 1960s. A group of journeyman studio musicians who played the instruments on a whole bunch recordings done of numerous musical groups such as Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Monkees, The Beach Boys etc.
Fumble fingers put an extra “N” in Glen’s name. So sorry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uexpSuwYQtk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOEVmxJ5gCU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBKodIRDGkw&feature=related
Coca-Cola erupted from my nostrils at that! Prayers for Glen, but that was funny.
Glen Campbell has real talent, rare today and not terribly common at any time.
I remember Rhinstone Cowboy. I was young and didn’t quite have the words figured out when it was a hit:
‘Like a rhinestone cowboy - getting pardon letters from people I don’t even know’.
Still laugh about that.
Gentle on My Mind:
These Days:
Time Like These:
Good One!
A couple of interesting versions of “Less of Me”.
Roger Miller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk4bg6RBwuY
Loretta Lynn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEOJH8m93I&NR=1
I remember the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour. Can’t believe they killed him off in True Grit.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066162/
It’s one of my favorite lesser known offbeat comedies.
As the spouse of a hubby with ALZ I cannot begin to tell you how hard this role is..there are no words.
“Like a rhinestone cowboy
Getting cards and letters from people I don’t even know”
I am so sorry. You are in my prayers.
My heart goes out to you. A beautiful late forties Lady and her husband lived next to my condo in Dalton. She was so dedicated to her declining late forties husband with Alzheimers. He was as a little boy by the time she had to have help with him. What a courageous thing it is to sacrifice oneself for a loved one. Truly, you are heroic.
The family should step in, he may not be able to realize his limits. When a person with ALZ becomes disoriented it can be very scary experience for them.
Thank you..There is a website, for anyone here who is a spouse of an ALZ victim which has a wealth of information. It is thealzheimerspouse.com. It was started by a woman whose husband has this DX as her blog and has since grown to become one of the best sites for info on the internet. ONLY SPOUSES OF ALZ VICTIMS CAN LOG IN AND POST. Others are welcome to read the site and of course there is information and resources that are of great value to anyone who is in this fight.
I would encourage everyone to at least read that site to see what we, as caregivers, and patient as well, contend with on the day to day basis.
Many caregivers die before the victim of the disease due to the stress alone. We can face financial ruin,..the biggest fight caregivers have is not to be lost to this disease too.
We lose our life to this disease..friends vanish, phone calls stop, the doctor visits etc are endless, we find ourselves behind in ordinary tasks because what once was a shared environment is now all on one person...and in the end we are going to be taking care of , to be brutally honest, very large babies as they lose the ability to even go to the bathroom, dress themselves, feed themselves, walk, etc.
Go look at the website I posted and then if you do have friends who have this affliction within their homes, don’t be one of the “friends” who moves on and is not there for support..respite time is the most valuable gift a caregiver can receive and all to often we even have to pay and pay a lot for it ( out here it is at least 22 bucks an hour) for someone to stay with a LO so we can get break.
Don’t abandon people in your live who are struggling with this disease.
Ditto. Prayers for Glen. He was always one of my favorites.
Good call! It’s an excellent CD that shows Glen is right at home with the newer stuff.
Prayers for you and your husband. My friend’s mother had ALZ and saw first hand how hard it was to take care of an ALZ patient.
What a great cd! It was produced and band-backed by Tom Petty, right?
Nobody was better at interpreting Jimmy Webb’s songs than Glen.
That is sad.
Glen Campbell was a studio musician who played on a very famous recording...”The Unicorn” from the Irish Rovers.
I am sorry to hear this. What a talented musician and singer.
Quote:
“Wouldn’t mind seeing Campbell perform...”
I was fortunate enough to see him play in Nevada in the mid-80’s. A great performance.
That’s not all, even with the Beach Boys:
” he was touring the South as part of the Western Wranglers. In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. He was part of the 1959 line-up of the group the Champs, famous for their instrumental “Tequila”.
Campbell was in great demand as a session musician in the 1960s. He was part of the studio musicians clique known as “the Wrecking Crew”, many of whom went from session to session together as the same group. In addition to Campbell, Hal Blaine on drums, Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Leon Russell on piano, Carol Kaye on bass guitar, Al Casey on guitar were part of this group of session musicians that defined many pop and rock recordings of the era. They were also heard on Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” recordings in the early 1960s.
He was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson in 1964 and 1965. He played guitar on the group’s Pet Sounds album, among other recordings. On tour, he played bass guitar and sang falsetto harmonies.”
—from Wikipedia article about Glen.
Note: The Wrecking Crew were the core musical group for BB albums, most especially Pet Sounds and the Smile sessions.
Prayers for Glen and his family. I also keep praying for new discoveries to fight Alzheimers Disease.
Fantastic! (And I don’t care for Green Day.)
I pray supernatural strength for you and give God thanks for you
I purchased the CD from Amazon....so no liner notes. He did cover two Tom Petty songs. Walls and Angel Dream, I think.
Prayers for Glenn, but I hope they did a brain scan as part of his diagnosis. My husband was diagnosed in Jan. with a non-malignent meningianoma (brain tumor). His was the size of a lime and was removed in a 5 hr. operation. The symptoms were a lot like alztheimers — forgetfulness, searching for the right word, etc. Since then we have discovered about 5 friends who have the same disease.
My husband appears to have made a full recovery, although he has a heart-stopping scar across his head. Glenn should get a 2nd opinion.
Actually, I believe he had a hit before his studio work. If I remember correctly, Campbell was a member of the CHAMPS [short for Texas High School musical champions) along with Seals and Croft and others, and had a hit record with “Tequila”. Read that somewhere.
Prayers up for Glen. One of my all-time Top 10 songs is Glen singing “Guess I’m Dumb”, written and produced by Brian Wilson. A magnificent song and a magnificent performance!
I’m not big into country music but Glen Campbell was one of my favorites, Wichita Lineman is one of my favorites. I always thought he had one of the best voices out there.
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