美国国家公共电台 NPR Glen Campbell, Country Music Legend, Is Dead At 81

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Over the course of a career that spanned half a century, Glen Campbell sold more than 40 million records and scored more than 20 top 10 hits on the country and pop charts. He also acted in movies and hosted his own TV show. Glen Campbell died today after a well-publicized struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 81. Blake Farmer of member station WPLN in Nashville has this remembrance of a session musician who became a star.

BLAKE FARMER, BYLINE 1: Glen Campbell's biggest hit topped both the pop and country charts in 1975.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RHINESTONE 2 COWBOY")

GLEN CAMPBELL: (Singing) I've been walking these streets so long, singing the same old song.

FARMER: Campbell once said he didn't consider himself a country singer, but rather a country boy who sings. And historian John Rumble 3 from the Country Music Hall of Fame says Campbell had something few do.

JOHN RUMBLE: When he was on stage and started to sing, you knew there was a star on stage. I don't know how to explain it because it's an aura. It's a feeling. You knew this was somebody special.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RHINESTONE COWBOY")

G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) Like a rhinestone cowboy riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo.

FARMER: Long before he was a household name, Campbell was a studio musician in Los Angeles, part of the famous Wrecking 4 Crew. He was a self-taught guitarist whose training consisted mostly of informal lessons in the lap of his Uncle Boo back in Arkansas. Campbell couldn't read music, but Rumble says he could play anything.

RUMBLE: Glen just fit right in. He was so doggone good.

FARMER: We don't know for sure how many recordings 5 Campbell made because in the '50s and '60s producers cloaked who actually played on a session. But he provided guitar parts for records by Jan and Dean, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE BEACH BOYS SONG, "BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL")

FARMER: Campbell even became a Beach Boy for about six months, replacing front man Brian Wilson on tour. Years later, Campbell joked about it in his own concerts.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) It’s the little old lady from Pasadena. It’s the little old lady from Pasadena.

That's about the way it sounded. And it was fun, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my musical career playing bass 6 and singing the high part.

FARMER: That career got off to a slow start - a few minor 7 hits. But then he found a groove 8.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GENTLE ON MY MIND")

G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) It's knowing that your door is always open and your path is free to walk.

FARMER: A long-term collaboration 9 began with songwriter Jimmy Webb, who says he grew up daydreaming 10 about working with Glen Campbell. The two would become musical partners. And Webb says Campbell doesn't get enough credit for his contributions beyond performing.

JIMMY WEBB: Nobody compared with him when it came to picking a song and then arranging it. He left his stamp on whatever material he did.

FARMER: Together, Webb and Campbell produced such top 40 hits as "By The Time I Get To Phoenix 11" and "Wichita Lineman."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WICHITA LINEMAN")

G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. And the Wichita lineman is still on the line.

FARMER: Campbell's chart success led to opportunities in film and TV, including a stint 12 on network television. He hosted "Glen Campbell's Good Time Hour." Guests ranged from actor John Wayne to The Monkees to his own family. The 12 siblings 13 became source material for Campbell's well-known wit.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

G. CAMPBELL: Dad said they come cheaper by the dozen. I guess Mom was hard of hearing. You know, down on the farm there's not too much activity. And he said, you want to go to bed or what? And she says, what?

(LAUGHTER)

FARMER: At the height of his fame, Campbell hit personal lows, divorces and a drug and alcohol problem. His struggle with cocaine 14 surprised those who knew him best considering his Christian 15 upbringing and outspoken 16 faith. He got his life back in order and continued performing. Then in 2011, he announced he'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. And instead of receding 17 into the shadows, he planned a tour. For more than a year, he played shows around the country backed by a band that included some of his children.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ASHLEY CAMPBELL: Introduce me, Dad.

G. CAMPBELL: Huh?

A. CAMPBELL: Introduce me.

G. CAMPBELL: I have. I got it right here.

(LAUGHTER)

G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) I had to write it down or you would've got it first.

FARMER: A teleprompter helped Campbell stay on track, though not always perfectly 18. Aside from the lyrics 19 to his songs, the screen provided notes that he would occasionally read aloud, like, play long solo here.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

G. CAMPBELL: I’ll play one then.

FARMER: Campbell couldn't remember his kids' names and faces, but he could still feel out a fretboard and wow a crowd. Filmmaker James Keach directed a documentary, "I'll Be Me," that chronicled the farewell tour.

JAMES KEACH: It was completely embedded 20 in this guy's psyche 21. And he'd done it since he was, you know, 5 years old. It's his default, is that his hands will start doing that. You know, that he - that's his language. That's his first language, is music.

FARMER: Keach says Glen Campbell never warmed up and never sang out of key. It was an unexpected blessing 22 to Campbell's fans that his musical talent was one of the last things to go. For NPR News, I'm Blake Farmer in Nashville.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M NOT GONNA MISS YOU")

G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) I'm never going to hold you like I did. I've said...