Editing Glen Campbell (section)

===1960–1966: Early career===

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| quote = He played with all kinds of genres, with different instrumentation and different styles. If it was a just and righteous world, Glen would be credited as one of the great, seminal influences of all time. He was a secret weapon in the armory of Sixties record producers.
| source = Singer-songwriter [[Jimmy Webb]]<ref name=RollingStone>[https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/jimmy-webb-on-glen-campbell-american-beatle-has-passed-w496802 "Jimmy Webb on Glen Campbell: 'The American Beatle Has Passed'"], ''Rolling Stone'', August 9, 2017</ref>
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In 1960, Campbell moved to [[Los Angeles]] to become a [[session musician]].<ref name=laurel_canyon>{{cite book|last=Kubernik|first=Harvey|title=Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon|year=2009|publisher=Sterling |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4027-9761-3|page=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bANZjtz2qUkC&q=%22glen+campbell%22+%22los+angeles%22+1960&pg=PA37}}</ref><ref name = hartman-wrecking-crew>{{cite book |last=Hartman |first=Kent |title=The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret |year=2012 |publisher=Thomas Dunne |isbn=978-0-312-61974-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312619749 }}</ref>  That October,<ref name=champs>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Glen|title=Rhinestone Cowboy|year=1994|publisher=Villard Books|location=New York|isbn=0-679-41999-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/rhinestonecowboy00camp/page/50 50]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/rhinestonecowboy00camp/page/50}}</ref> he joined [[the Champs]]. By January 1961,<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Billboard Magazine|date=January 30, 1961 |volume=1|issue=36|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jiEEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22glen+campbell%22&pg=PA26|title=Glen Campbell|access-date=June 17, 2012}}</ref> Campbell had found a daytime job at publishing company American Music, writing songs and recording demos.<ref name=bransonsreview /> Because of these demos Campbell soon was in demand as a session musician and became part of a group of studio musicians later known as [[The Wrecking Crew (music)|the Wrecking Crew]].<ref name = hartman-wrecking-crew />

Campbell played on recordings by [[the Beach Boys]], [[Bobby Darin]], [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Ricky Nelson]], [[Dean Martin]], [[Nat King Cole]], [[the Monkees]], [[Nancy Sinatra]], [[Merle Haggard]], [[Jan and Dean]],<ref name="laurel_canyon" /> [[Bing Crosby]], [[Phil Spector]], [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], [[Doris Day]], [[Bobby Vee]], [[The Everly Brothers]], [[Shelley Fabares]], [[The Cascades (band)|The Cascades]], [[Paul Revere & the Raiders]], [[Wayne Newton]], [[Kenny Rogers and The First Edition|The First Edition]], [[The Kingston Trio]], [[Roger Miller]], [[Gene Clark]], [[Lou Rawls]], [[Claude King]], [[Lorne Greene]], [[Ronnie Dove]], and  [[Elvis Presley]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Flynn|first=Keith|title=Keith Flynn's Elvis Presley pages |url=http://www.keithflynn.com/recording-sessions/630830.html|website=KeithFlynn.com|access-date=June 10, 2012}}</ref><ref name = hartman-wrecking-crew /> He befriended Presley when he helped record the soundtrack for ''[[Viva Las Vegas]]'' in 1964. He later said, "Elvis and I were brought up the same humble way – picking cotton and looking at the south end of a north-bound mule."<ref name=Chicago />

In May 1961, he left the Champs<ref name=champs /> and was subsequently signed by [[Crest Records]], a subsidiary of [[American Music Records|American Music]].  His first solo release, "[[Turn Around, Look at Me]]", a moderate success, peaked at number 62 on the [[Hot 100]] in 1961<ref>{{cite web|title=Allmusic – Glen Campbell – Awards|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/glen-campbell-mn0000664378/awards|website=AllMusic.com|publisher=Rovi Corp.|access-date=June 17, 2012}}</ref> but reached number 7 on the Hot 100 in a 1968 [[The Vogues|Vogues]] cover.  Campbell also formed the Gee Cees with former bandmembers from the Champs, performing at the Crossbow Inn in [[Van Nuys]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kramer|first=Freda |title=The Glen Campbell Story|year=1970|publisher=Pyramid Publications Inc.|location=New York|page=63}}</ref>  The Gee Cees, too, released a single on Crest, the instrumental "Buzz Saw", which did not chart.

In 1962, Campbell signed with [[Capitol Records]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Graff|first=Gary|title=Like a rhinestone cowboy: Glen Campbell soldiers on through Alzheimer's disease|url=http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2012/05/06/news/doc4fa4438fdb4f9336419989.txt?viewmode=fullstory|work=The News Herald|access-date=June 17, 2012|archive-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508154310/http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2012/05/06/news/doc4fa4438fdb4f9336419989.txt?viewmode=fullstory|url-status=dead}}</ref> After minor initial success with "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry", his first single for the label, and "Kentucky Means Paradise", released by the Green River Boys featuring Glen Campbell, a string of unsuccessful singles and albums followed. By 1963 his playing and singing were heard on 586 recorded songs.<ref name=NYT-obit /> He never learned to read music, but besides guitar, he could play the banjo, mandolin and bass.<ref name=NYT-obit /> Fellow Wrecking Crew member [[Leon Russell]] said Campbell "was the best guitar player I'd heard  before or since. Occasionally  we'd play with 50- or 60-piece orchestras. His deal was he didn't read [music], so they would play it one time for him, and he had it".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Doyle |first=Patrick |date=September 1, 2011 |title=Glen Campbell's Long Goodbye|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/glen-campbells-long-goodbye-93645/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York, NY |publisher=Penske Media Corporation |access-date=June 7, 2024}}</ref>

From 1964 on, Campbell began to appear on television as a regular on ''Star Route'', a [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] series hosted by [[Rod Cameron (actor)|Rod Cameron]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Glenn Campbell Gets Role in New TV Show|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/albuquerque-tribune/1964-01-27/page-19?tag=cameron+star+route&rtserp=tags/cameron?pci=7&pd=01&pe=31&pem=12&py=1964&pm=01&pey=1964&pep=star-route&psb=dateasc|access-date=June 17, 2012|newspaper=Albuquerque Tribune|date=January 27, 1964}}</ref> ABC's ''[[Shindig!]]'' and  ''Hollywood Jamboree''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Color C&W seg for tv in january|journal=Billboard Magazine|date=December 26, 1964|volume=76|issue=52|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32|access-date=June 17, 2012}}</ref>

From December 1964 to early March 1965, Campbell was a touring member of [[the Beach Boys]], filling in for [[Brian Wilson]],<ref name=laurel_canyon /> playing bass guitar and singing [[falsetto]] harmonies. He was then replaced on the Beach Boys' tours by new member [[Bruce Johnston]]. Brian Wilson produced and co-wrote a single for Campbell, "[[Guess I'm Dumb]]", which failed to chart despite what writer David Howard called "a surging, elegant [[Burt Bacharach]]-inspired string and horn arrangement and Campbell's forlorn [[Roy Orbison]]-like vocal.".<ref>{{cite book|last=Howard|first=David N.|year=2004|title=Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9780634055607|page=58}}</ref>

In 1965, he had his biggest solo hit yet, reaching number 45 on the Hot 100 with a version of [[Buffy Sainte-Marie]]'s "[[Universal Soldier (song)|Universal Soldier]]". Asked about the pacifist message of the song, he said that "people who are advocating burning draft cards should be hung".<ref>{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Rose Marie|title=Singer thinks Draft Card Burners Should Be Hung|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/albuquerque-tribune/1965-10-22/page-13?tag=glen+campbell&rtserp=tags/?pci=7&py=1960&pey=1966&pep=glen-campbell&pw=pennsylvania|access-date=June 17, 2012|newspaper=Albuquerque Tribune|date=January 27, 1965|page=13|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Campbell continued as a session musician, playing guitar on the Beach Boys' 1966 album ''[[Pet Sounds]]'', among other recordings.  In April of that year, he joined [[Rick Nelson]] on a tour through the Far East, again playing bass.<ref name=rick_nelson_tour>{{cite book|last1=Homer|first1=Sheree|title=Rick Nelson Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer|date=2012|publisher=McFarland & Company Inc.|location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-6060-1|page=68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBiPOnnsslwC&q=%22glen+campbell%22+%22rick+nelson%22+tokyo&pg=PA85|access-date=December 27, 2014}}</ref>