The Essential Glen Campbell, Vol. 1: The Capitol Years 1962-1979

I love all things Glen!

Many of the best of Glen Campbell.

Glen Campbell, now ill with Alzheimer's, and retiring from touring (but with a new album out worth checking out), displays his extraordinary talents on this compilation, which was bought used but in new condition on amazon. I usually don't buy used items, but this was compelling, the reviews of the seller were excellent, so I took a chance. Arrived promptly and in perfect condition, inside and out.Other copies of this item are available on amazon, and for fans of GC, wow this is terrific. (Inlayed on the neck of Glen Campbell's favorite Ovation® guitar(s) are the initials GC.) This compilation includes True Grit, the theme song from the original film with John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, and a young Robert Duvall. Also in the cast was a young Dennis Hopper. When I first heard this song in the movie theater in the sixties, I liked it so much, I stayed to see the film again, just to hear Glen Campbell perform it over the opening title sequence. The version on this album is a studio version, not the film version, but equally good, with GC at the height of his considerable powers as a singer. (Glen has commented publicly that he was more surprised than anyone that he became famous as a singer, and far less so as a guitarist. Fans know he was a session player in the studios, and one of the best in his genre.)Galveston is here -- still beautiful; Wichita Lineman and some of the other tunes for which Glen is well known are not; however, the other things on this album are very interesting and worthwhile, including all kinds of tracks we've never heard before -- some from early years at the beginning of GC's career. Some of the tunes familiar to us bring back great memories; e.g., Dreams of the Everyday Housewife.Not expensive, wonderful album, we're still absorbing all the tracks and enjoying them a great deal. Technical quality is high of this compilation. Try it, you'll like it.P.S. The original True Grit was filmed here in the Telluride, Colorado area; more specifically in nearby Ridgway, CO, and in Ouray, CO. Many of the locations and buildings in the film are still here. And certainly the spectacular long views of the San Juan mountain range will always be here, on the mesas near Telluride, e.g., Hastings Mesa, where those beautiful long shots of the mountains were filmed.

This cd has a little bit of everything. Hit songs, album cuts, unreleased cuts and instrumentals. And most of the songs except for the biggest hits hadn't been put on cd at the time this came out in 1995. The songs are in order of the time they were recorded. Starting with Kentucky Means Paradise which was on Glen's first album. Which was actually a bluegrass album. It has Burning Bridges on here. Which after some of the monster songs that Glen came out with later. People kind of forget that I think it was actually his first top ten song.He does a very good version of Mary In The Morning. And a totally different arrangement on I Walk The Line. Sort of a lounge act type version. He also does a very good Dock Of The Bay. It's got some of his biggest songs like Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife, Galveston, and Country Boy. And one of his best songs of all time that wasn't a hit Bloodline. The whole Bloodline album has been released on cd now. But this was the first cd it was on. It has an instrumental called Twelve Blues. And a banjo instrumental called Banjo Garden. That is as good as anything that he has done on guitar. All in all this show's how versatile he is.It also has folk songs Shenandoah and live songs like My Way. This is just a very good cd. By my favorite singer. And my musical hero.