Glen Campbell: The Rhinestone Cowboy
Documentary telling Glen Campbell's life story, from impoverished childhood to success as a guitarist and singer, fall from grace in the 80s and Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2011.
In 2011, Glen Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and that he would be bowing out with a final album and farewell tour across Britain and America. This documentary tells Campbell's remarkable life story, from impoverished childhood in Arkansas to huge success, first as a guitarist and then as a singer, with great records like Wichita Lineman and Rhinestone Cowboy. With comments from friends and colleagues, including songwriter Jimmy Webb and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, it is a moving story of success, disgrace and redemption as rich as any of the storylines in Campbell's most famous songs.
The peak of Glen Campbell's career was in 1975, when he topped the charts around the world with Rhinestone Cowboy, but his musical journey to that point is fascinating. A self-taught teenage prodigy on the guitar, by his mid-twenties Campbell was one of the top session guitarists in LA, a key member of the band of session players now known as The Wrecking Crew. He played on hundreds of tracks while working for producers like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, including Daydream Believer by The Monkees, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by The Righteous Brothers, Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra and Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley.
But Campbell always wanted to make it under his own name. A string of records failed to chart until, in 1967, he finally found his distinctive country pop sound with hits like Gentle on My Mind and By the Time I Get to Phoenix. The latter was written by Jimmy Webb, and together the two created a string of great records like Wichita Lineman and Galveston. Campbell pioneered country crossover and opened the way for artists like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.
By the end of the 1960s, Campbell was the fastest rising star in American pop with his own television show and a starring role in the original version of True Grit. Over the following ten years, he had more success with Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights, but his private life was in turmoil. Divorce, drink and drugs saw this clean-cut all-American hero fall from grace and a tempestuous relationship with country star Tanya Tucker was front-page news.
Despite a relapse in 2003, when he was arrested for drunk driving and his police mug shot was shown around the world, the last two decades have been more settled. He remarried, started a new family and renewed his Christian faith, and was musically rediscovered by a new generation. Like his friend Johnny Cash, he released acclaimed new albums with young musicians, covering songs by contemporary artists like U2 and The Foo Fighters. Therefore the diagnosis with Alzheimer's was all the more poignant, but his dignified farewell has made him the public face of the disease in the USA.
The film includes contributions by many of Campbell's friends and colleagues, including his family in Arkansas, fellow session musicians Carol Kaye and Leon Russell, long-time friend and collaborator Jimmy Webb, former Monkee Mickey Dolenz, broadcaster Bob Harris, lyricist Don Black and country music writer Robert Oermann.
Last on
Clip
Music Played
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Glen Campbell
Wichita Lineman
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Merle Travis
Pigmeat Strut
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The Champs
Tequila
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The Beach Boys
Good Vibrations
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The Beach Boys
Good Vibrations
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The Monkees
Daydream Believer
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The Beach Boys
Surfin' USA
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Frank Sinatra
Strangers In The Night
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Producer | Steve Freer |
Director | Steve Freer |
Executive Producer | Paul Bullock |
Broadcasts
- Fri 18 Jan 2013 21:00
- Sat 19 Jan 2013 00:50
- Sun 20 Jan 2013 21:50
- Sun 20 Jan 2013 22:00大象传媒 HD
- Fri 25 Jan 2013 02:00
- Sat 16 Mar 2013 23:10
- Sun 28 Apr 2013 00:00
- Mon 6 May 2013 22:05
- Fri 20 Sep 2013 22:05
- Sat 21 Sep 2013 03:00
- Mon 23 Sep 2013 01:05
- Sat 23 Nov 2013 00:10
- Sat 7 Dec 2013 23:00
- Sat 22 Nov 2014 00:10
- Mon 24 Nov 2014 02:40
- Tue 30 Dec 2014 01:45
- Tue 13 Jan 2015 23:00
- Sat 7 May 2016 23:30
- Sun 8 May 2016 02:50
- Sun 21 May 2017 00:40
- Fri 11 Aug 2017 22:55
- Sat 30 Dec 2017 23:35
- Sat 20 Oct 2018 23:30
- Sat 16 Feb 2019 23:10
- Thu 22 Oct 2020 22:40
- Thu 25 Mar 2021 23:20
- Fri 15 Jul 2022 22:30
- Sat 16 Jul 2022 02:20
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