Editing Glen Campbell (section)

==Early life==
Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936, in [[Billstown, Arkansas|Billstown]], a tiny community near [[Delight, Arkansas|Delight]] in [[Pike County, Arkansas]], to John Wesley Campbell (a [[Sharecropping|sharecropper]]) and Carrie Dell (née Stone) Campbell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=603 |title=Glen Campbell (1936–) |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=August 19, 2015}}</ref> Campbell was of [[Scottish people|Scottish]] descent and was the seventh son of 12 children.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/2009/11/19/1258219916447.html |title=Through a rhinestone darkly |last=Dwyer|first=Michael|date=November 20, 2009|work=The Age |location= Australia |access-date=June 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1473574/a-glen-campbell-christmas.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607032519/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1473574/a-glen-campbell-christmas.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 7, 2011|title=A Glen Campbell Christmas The Rhinestone Cowboy Celebrates Holiday Season with New Album, TNN Special and Tour |last=Gray|first=Michael|date=December 2, 1998|work=Country Music Television|access-date=June 26, 2011}}</ref> As a child he almost died from drowning.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW0ilivQreM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/KW0ilivQreM| archive-date=2021-10-29|title=Glen Campbell Talks With Dan Miller| date=August 27, 2015|access-date=August 5, 2021|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His family went to the [[Churches of Christ|Church of Christ]], and Campbell's brother Lindell became a Church of Christ minister.<ref name="auto3"/> In 2011, Campbell said his mother was [[Irish people|Irish]];  although his mother was born in the United States, her family had emigrated from [[County Tipperary]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/glen-campbell-family-ireland-scotland|title=Glen Campbell's Irish roots: what you need to know|date=August 9, 2017|website=IrishCentral.com|access-date=August 5, 2021}}</ref> The family lived on a farm, where they barely managed, by growing cotton, corn, watermelons and potatoes. "We had no electricity," he said, and money was scarce. "A dollar in those days looked as big as a [[saddle blanket]]."<ref name=Tampa>"Glen Campbell-The Hottest Hick in Show Business," ''Parade'' magazine, February 8, 1970</ref> To supplement income the family picked cotton for other farmers. "I picked cotton for $1.25 a hundred pounds," Campbell said. "If you worked your tail off, you could pick 80 or 90 pounds a day."<ref name=Newsweek>"Interview with Glen Campbell", ''Newsweek'', April 15, 1968</ref>

Campbell started playing guitar at age 4 after his father gave him a [[Sears]]-bought five-dollar guitar as a gift, with his uncle Boo teaching him the basics of how to play.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6J99mWFqMU;t=4m15s "CBS News Sunday Morning"], CBS News, February 12, 2012</ref> Most of his family was musical, he said. "Back home, everybody plays and sings."<ref name=NYPost>''New York Post'', January 25, 1969</ref> By the time he was 6 he was performing on local radio stations.<ref name=NYT-obit />

Campbell continued playing guitar in his youth, with no formal training, and practiced when he was not working in the cotton fields. He developed his talent by listening to radio and records and considered [[Django Reinhardt]] among his most admired guitarists, later calling him "the most awesome player I ever heard."<ref name=Chicago>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-glen-campbell-dead-20170808-story.html "Glen Campbell, 'Rhinestone Cowboy' singer, dead at 81"], ''Chicago Tribune'', August 8, 2017</ref><ref name=bransonsreview>{{cite web|last=Antus|first=Paul L.|title='Turn Around, Look at Me' A Glen Campbell Invitation |url=http://www.bransonsreview.com/story_June02.html|website=Branson's Review|access-date=June 10, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326191430/http://www.bransonsreview.com/story_June02.html|archive-date=March 26, 2012}}</ref> He dropped out of school in the 10th grade<ref name="auto3"/> at 14 to work in [[Houston]] alongside his brothers, installing insulation and later working at a gas station.<ref name=Dispatch>"Took More Than Grit to make Campbell a Star", ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', August 25, 1981</ref>

Not satisfied with that kind of work, Campbell started playing music at fairs and church picnics and singing gospel hymns in the church choir. He was able to find spots performing on local radio stations, and after his parents moved to Houston, he made some appearances at a local nightclub.<ref name=Dispatch />

In 1954, at age 17, Campbell moved to [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], to join his uncle's band, known as Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys.<ref name=cmt_bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/campbell_glen/bio.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223010401/http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/campbell_glen/bio.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 23, 2003|title=CMT Artists - Discover Music Artists and Bands|website=Cmt.com|access-date=May 2, 2017}}</ref> He also appeared there on his uncle's radio show<ref name=bransonsreview /> and on ''K Circle B Time'', the local children's program on [[KOB|KOB television]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hollis|first=Tim|title=Hi There, Boys and Girls!: America's Local Children's TV Shows|year=2001|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=1-57806-395-7|page=180|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3nCJAlg5qUC&q=k+circle+b+time+dick+bills&pg=PA180}}</ref> It was there that he met his first wife, whom he married when he was 18 and she was 16.<ref name=Dispatch />

In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers.<ref name=cmt_bio /> "We worked hard," he said. "Six, sometimes seven nights a week. I didn't have my eye set on any specific goals or big dreams."<ref name=Tampa />