Remembering Glen Campbell and The Wrecking Crew

It's time for a music post at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog! Today we pay tribute to the guitarist, vocalist, recording artist and consummate entertainer Glen Campbell (April 22, 1936 - August 8, 2017), seen here on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.



Have been reading writer Paul Sexton's excellent and scholarly article about Glen Campbell on the udiscover music website, while checking out compilations of Glen's guitar solos on YouTube.



Here's Glen, rocking the twelve-string big time in a duo with fellow stringed instrument virtuoso Roy Clark.



Before he hosted his own TV show and made memorable guest appearances on such popular programs as The Tonight Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Glen was one of the ace session musicians of the legendary Wrecking Crew, whose musical genius enlivened darn near every pop record to be waxed in Los Angeles throughout the 1960's.



Along with Louie Shelton, Tommy Tedesco and Barney Kessel, Glen was prominent among The Wrecking Crew's roster of ace guitarists.







For maestro Brian Wilson, The Wrecking Crew was his New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic!





Glen, session player of numerous Gold Star Studio recordings, toured with The Beach Boys in 1965 and played bass while Brian was busy writing new songs and arrangements for their next album, Pet Sounds. Brian produced a memorable single by Glen Campbell, backed by The Wrecking Crew.



The Wrecking Crew proved particularly mind-blowingly stellar on Good Vibrations, the Beach Boys' hit single and "pocket symphony," Brian Wilson's magnum opus between the epic Pet Sounds album and the unreleased (until 1993) SMiLE sessions.



In closing and in tribute to the great Glen Campbell, interview shows on late-night TV I liked a great deal included those of Tom Snyder, Bob Costas and Larry King. All interviewed Glen!







Thanks a million for the enduring great music, Glen Campbell and fellow Wrecking Crew stalwarts (Carol Kaye, Lyle Ritz, Don Randi, Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer and the aforementioned Louie Shelton and Tommy Tedesco, to name just a few).



Fondly remember the halcyon days before the narrowcasting that took hold in the 1980's when music in varied genres, from Sinatra to Roy Clark to Aretha Franklin to British invasion rock and pop bands to Count Basie & His Orchestra, could be seen on network television.