As a teenager trying to learn how to play guitar Glen Campbell came along and although I would have considered myself a rocker, I couldn’t believe how much I loved his music. I watched his TV show with my grandfather every week. So when I read in the paper that he was doing a farewell show, I had to go see it. On February 23rd at the Wilbur in Boston I went to the show. I got lost and was a few minutes late for the opening act, and had no idea who they were. When their set was over, the girl said “in a few minutes, we’re going to bring out our dad, and he’s going to blow your minds.” Somewhat confused, I asked the woman next to me what the girl on piano was talking about. She said “those are Glen Campbell’s kids.” This was a complete and total unexpected surprise. Much to my amazement, when Glen came out, his kids were his backup band. And she didn’t lie, he did blow our minds.
He messed up a few words here and there, but when he played guitar, he meant it and there were no mistakes. I could see why he’s a legend. The biggest and best surprise of the night was when he did Didn’t We Almost Make It This Time, a Jim Webb song originally done by Richard Harris (Dumbledore on the first two Harry Potter movies). His rendition of this song was flawless and amazing, as though he was forty years younger. It was worth seeing him just for that one song. It was an amazing show.
I didn’t get to meet him, unfortunately. It would have been up there with meeting the Beatles. I did meet his daughter and got her autograph. She was very personable, talking to people who came to the stage. I hope his children can make it big too.
As a songwriter, it would be a thrill to have had Glen Campbell sing some of my songs. He could have done with them what I’m not quite good enough as a singer to do.