GLEN CAMPBELL RETURNS TO CAPITOL RECORDS FOR HIS DYNAMIC NEW STUDIO ALBUM

New Album to be Released August 19; Campbell Premieres Select Songs at Stagecoach Festival

July 29, 2008, 01:40 PM

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Hollywood, California – April 29, 2008 – In a legendary music career that spans more than five decades, Glen Campbell has achieved chart-topping, platinum-selling pop and country success singing everyday tales of life, love, work and heartache. For Meet Glen Campbell, his inspired, dynamic new studio album, the music icon has returned to his longtime label home, Capitol Records. Meet Glen Campbell will be released on August 19 on CD, limited edition vinyl and digitally.

The songs on the album all strike a personal and musical chord with Campbell. He has reinterpreted and re-imagined both older and contemporary songs with his own signature vocal and guitar arrangements. A true musician’s musician, Campbell’s distinct guitar playing, along with the clarity and emotion of his powerful vocal performance, come together to give new life to the songs he selected for Meet Glen Campbell.

The influential singer, guitarist and stylist, who has long made others’ songs his own, is doing it again, recording high-spirited, emotionally charged versions of tracks that have personally moved and inspired him. Campbell’s intimate performances convey an autobiographical and deeply personal connection to the album’s songs, which include Travis’ “Sing,” Tom Petty’s “Angel Dream” and “Walls,” The Replacements’ “Sadly Beautiful,” U2’s “All I Want Is You,” The Velvet Underground’s “Jesus,” and Jackson Browne’s “These Days,” among others.

“I really like all of the songs and I had a great time recording them. While I didn’t write these songs, this sounds like a Glen Campbell album, which is important to me,” says Glen Campbell.

A musician at heart, Campbell has maintained a sense of truth, respect and authenticity throughout his career. The songs on his new album were written by others, but become undeniably Campbell’s own as he has personally styled them for the new album. Titled evocatively by design, the album is certain to surprise and delight longtime fans and turn many new ears to the music icon’s legendary career. Meet Glen Campbell welcomes discovery and re-discovery of the legend and his music.

Recorded in March and April at The Recording Studio and Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles, Meet Glen Campbell is produced by Julian Raymond (Rosanne Cash, Fastball, Shawn Mullins, Wallflowers) with engineer/co-producer Howard Willing. The album features musical contributions by Campbell contemporaries as well as younger rock and alt-country artists who joined him in the studio, including Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and Jason Faulkner from Jellyfish, and Chris Chaney from Jane’s Addiction. Campbell’s sons and daughters, who regularly perform with their father, recorded backing vocals for the tracks, providing the album’s warm family tone.

Conceived by Julian Raymond to honor Campbell’s musical legacy while showcasing his creative versatility and vitality, Meet Glen Campbell has been long in the making since its creative inception to the recent studio sessions.Says Raymond of the new album, “I’ve been listening to Glen since I was nine years old, so making this record is an honor and a dream come true. I am incredibly proud of this project.”

Meet Glen Campbell begins an exciting new chapter in the 50-year career of one of America’s most beloved musical icons. On May 2, during his set at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California, Campbell was joined onstage by special guests to premiere select songs from his new album.

To watch a video trailer for Meet Glen Campbell, please visit Campbell’s official Website, MEET GLEN CAMPBELL | THE NEW ALBUM COMING AUGUST 19.

Meet Glen Campbell (CD, limited edition vinyl, digital album)
1. Sing (Travis)
2. Walls (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
3. Angel Dream (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
4. Times Like These (Foo Fighters)
5. These Days (Jackson Browne)
6. Sadly Beautiful (The Replacements)
7. All I Want Is You (U2)
8. Jesus (Velvet Underground)
9. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) (Green Day)
10. Grow Old With Me (John Lennon)

A Brief History
Hailing from Arkansas, Glen Campbell made his way to Los Angeles in 1961, after performing for several years as a member of his uncle’s band in Albuquerque. Soon recognized for his phenomenal guitar playing and singing, he became a key member of the “Wrecking Crew,” an influential group of LA studio musicians.

A respected and sought-after session guitarist, his playing is heard on many of America’s greatest popular songs of the era, including Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers In The Night,” The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas,” five tracks on The Beach Boys’ seminal 1966 album, Pet Sounds (Campbell also toured with The Beach Boys in 1965). Campbell also performed on recordings by Ricky Nelson, Nat King Cole, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees, Wayne Newton, and on Phil Spector-produced hits, including Darlene Love & the Crystals’ "He's A Rebel" and The Ronettes’ "Be My Baby," among others.

When Campbell broke through as a chart-topping solo artist in 1967, his sound embodied the new American West. His pop-country style steered away from cowboy nostalgia and honed in on America’s new search for balance and the preservation of classic western traditions as the suburbs encroached on rural life in a new, fast-paced sprawl of tract homes, freeways and TV dinners.

He made musical history in 1967 by sweeping the Grammys’ song and performance awards in both the Country and Pop categories. “Gentle On My Mind” snatched the honors for Best Country & Western Recording and Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance, while “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” won for Pop Best Vocal Performance, Male and Best Contemporary Male Solo Vocal Performance. The songs’ album source, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, was honored with the coveted Album Of The Year Grammy Award in 1968.

Campbell also scored his first #1 Country hit that year with “I Wanna Live.” His success continued and crossed genre chart lines with the late 1968 release of his Country and Adult Contemporary #1, “Wichita Lineman.” In 1969, “Galveston” revisited that crossover #1 chart success and also made the Pop chart’s Top 5, and Campbell’s striking good-looks and folksy charm made him an instant television success with his variety series, “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.” Seen in millions of homes across the U.S. for more than three seasons, Glen Campbell became a household name and a true entertainment superstar. The show was also broadcasted internationally by the BBC, introducing him to an even wider audience.

In addition to his five Grammy Awards, Campbell has been honored with trophies for Male Vocalist Of The Year from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy Of Country Music (ACM). In addition to being inducted into the CMA’s Hall Of Fame, he has been awarded its top Entertainer Of The Year honors, and the ACM has honored him with its prestigious Pioneer Award.


Blender magazine has inducted “Wichita Lineman” to its list of “Greatest Songs Ever,” and the UK’s New Musical Express ranked “Lineman” at 46 in its list of “The 100 Greatest Singles, Ever.” Glen Campbell has released more than 70 albums, which have sold in excess of 40 million copies around the world. Of his 75 charting releases, 27 have reached Billboard’s Top 10.

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