By Paul Sexton, U Discover Music | Friends and colleagues of the late and great Glen Campbell have been reminiscing about his artistic legacy in general, and his particular expertise as both a singer and guitarist on the demo recordings he made for Elvis Presley. The tracks he cut from 1964-68, for Elvis’ consideration to record himself, were unearthed and assembled for the 2018 album Glen Campbell Sings For The King.
Offering their thoughts about the much-missed Campbell are Stan Schneider, initially his accountant and then his manager from 1975 until his death; Steven Auerbach, who unearthed the demo recordings and whose wife’s uncle was Ben Weisman, who wrote the material on the album with Sid Wayne; singer-composer-producer Jerry Fuller, who was a close and longtime friend of the star; and world-renowned drummer Hal Blaine, Campbell’s fellow-member of the session A-listers known as The Wrecking Crew.
United in songs, and then in superstardom
Schneider met Glen Campbell when the former was Gene Autry’s accountant, and Glen was doing demos for Autry’s publishing company and looking for an accountant himself. “Working with Glen was very easy,” he says. “He was very laidback, just like you saw him on TV. He took advice and direction very well, and he became one of my closest friends for many years.”
Recalling his early impressions of the hugely sought-after session guitarist in the early 60s, before Campbell’s own breakthrough as a singing star and television personality, Schneider says: “I’m thinking, How can this guy work so much? But he worked morning, noon and night doing those sessions because he was in big demand. By that time, he had been established as probably the go-to guitar player in [Los Angeles].
‘He could play any genre of music’
“It seemed like he could play any genre of music. He could do The Mamas And The Papas and he could do Andy Williams or Frank Sinatra. It was easy, he could learn a song in two seconds. He didn’t read music, but he would hear it and then, boom, he would start out.”
Some of the performances on Sings For The King showcase Campbell’s talents not only as a vocalist and guitarist, but as a mimic: he offers an accurate impersonation of Presley’s singing style. “He did a lot of sessions all the time because he could sing like anybody,” says Schneider. “If he did a Johnny Mathis song he’d sing like Johnny. If he did a Johnny Cash song he’d sing like Johnny. He was just that versatile. Just like his guitar playing, he could do anybody.”
Campbell and Presley first met in 1956, when the new figurehead of rock’n’roll played a show in Albuquerque; Glen had recently moved there to join his uncle’s band, Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys. In later years, they became firm friends.
“Glen was absolutely a tremendous fan of Elvis,” says his former manager. “Sinatra and Elvis were his favourite singers. Elvis wasn’t that much older, but Elvis was a star by the time Glen was doing sessions. Those were the two that he thought were the two best singers that there ever were, and he got to work with both of them.
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‘He Could Do Anything’: Glen Campbell Remembered By His Closest Friends
