Glen Campbell as a Session Musician

For those of you who don't have the second Bear Family Rick Nelson box (and shame on you!):

Challenge was founded in 1957 by Joe Johnson, who was already running Gene Autry’s music publishing interests. Among the label’s roster were stars Wynn Stewart, Jerry Wallace, Jan Howard, Huelyn Duvall and Johnny and Jonie Mosby; but their strongest assets were songwriter-performers Dave Burgess and Jerry Fuller, and instrumental group The Champs.


Burgess’s and Fuller’s names coincided with Nelson’s for many years. Both wrote songs the pop idol recorded; more importantly, perhaps, they and Glen Campbell sang vocal backgrounds on many of his Imperial and early Decca recordings. Nelson also sang with Burgess and Fuller, uncredited, on a couple of Challenge singles pseudonymously-credited to The Trophies and The Fleas. (Other Challenge singles featured Burgess and Fuller singing with Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts of The Champs. The ones with Campbell can be heard on Rick’s first Bear Family box, ‘Ricky Nelson -- The American Dream.’)


The Champs were both Challenge’s house band and a recording act in their own right; a situation that would be echoed in later years by The Meters in New Orleans and Booker T and the MGs in Memphis. Unlike those bands, The Champs seemed to consist of anybody who happened to be in the studio when it was time to record, though the original group that played on the mega-hit Tequila consisted of Burgess on vocals and rhythm guitar, saxophonist Danny Flores, guitarist Buddy Bruce, drummer Gene Alden, and bassist Cliff Hils. (Tequila, Burgess says, was jointly written by Flores, Bruce and himself; “Chuck Rio,” credited as writer, was a collective pseudonym, though from then on, Flores billed himself as “Chuck ‘Tequila’ Rio”).


Jumping forward a few years (and passing over some interim names, like guitarists Jerry Cole and Johnny Meeks, and pianist Dean Beard) a late touring and recording edition of The Champs consisted of Jimmy Seals on saxophone, Glen Campbell on guitar, Bob Morris on bass, and drummer Dash Crofts. Burgess had retired to Challenge’s business office, while holding on to the Champs’ name, which he eventually retired..

“When I retired from The Champs, Joe and I bought Gene out,” Burgess explains. “The first thing we bought was Four Star. Then Joe bought Gene out of Challenge, and then I traded some of my Four Star stock for Challenge.


“I don’t know why we didn’t sign Glen as a solo after The Champs,” Burgess continues. “He was discovered so fast – L.A. was ready for Glen, who was good-looking, and could perform country or pop. We should have signed Seals & Crofts, too, but we didn’t.”

Campbell was signed, though, to Crest Records. Located at the Beverly Hills end of the Sunset Strip (Challenge was further east, in an Autry-owned property near “Gower Gulch” – so named because of the many westerns filmed in the area), the label was a subsidiary of the song publisher, American Music.


Sylvester Cross had started his publishing company in 1947 (the same year as Four Star!), and struck it rich with Merle Travis’s Nine Pound Hammer, Sixteen Tons and so on. Long Black Limousine, by American Music writers Vern Stovall and Bobby George, was first recorded by Wynn Stewart on Challenge’s Jackpot subsidiary, and was on its way to becoming a standard. American also published Terry Fell’s 1954 Truck Drivin’ Man; though as an artist, Fell was signed to RCA Victor’s “X” subsidiary. Coincidentally, he’d recorded for Four Star before writing his hit.


Crest was never as strong a label as Challenge, or even Four Star. But the label had the occasional hit, and a very strong roster; chief among whom was Eddie Cochran. His first singles, including Skinny Jim, were on Crest; he played guitar on many Crest sessions; and most of his hits were published by American, even after he left for Liberty. But when Cochran left – and died in a 1960 automobile crash – Crest took on another handsome young singer and guitarist, Glen Campbell.


As Cochran had before, Campbell played on many Crest sessions. “Jimmy Bowen and I got $10 a song for putting them on tape, and we’d do a lot of stuff.” Never a prolific writer, as Cochran was, Campbell did write his sole Crest hit single, though Cochran’s manager, Crest’s Jerry Capehart’s name was on Turn Around, Look At Me – as it was on many of Cochran’s songs: “He said ‘Glen, let me put it in my name, because I owe BMI some money.” He lied so much, he had to hire somebody to call his dog!”

The song turned out to be a valuable copyright; not so much from Campbell’s own versions (he later recorded again, for Capitol), as for The Vogues, whose 1968 version went top-10, and Ronnie Milsap’s 1974 country hit. Another valuable American copyright – and hit Crest single – was You’re The Reason, written and recorded by Bobby Edwards, originally from Alabama..


Circa 1968, American Music was acquired by Elvis Presley Music. On January 13, 1969, Presley himself opened his first Memphis recording session since the Sun years with an impassioned reading of Long Black Limousine.


Burgess had discovered Glen working in Albuquerque, while the Camps were there on tour.

 

Glen even played in two late Nat King Cole pop sessions, January 14, 1964 and May 27, 1964. As with the Sinatra sessions listed by BobF, there are multiple guitarists present so it's hard to determine where or if one hears him specifically (Was That The Human Thing To Do? and Only Yesterday if I had to guess). Never the less I think it's a neat example of the diverse sessions he played.

 

About 12 years ago, Glen and his band was the entertainment for
an event I was involved with. Backstage prior to his going on I was was chatting with he and one of his band mates.
I told him I always admired the solo he did on The Monkees Valerie.
He said "wow, was that me?". His band mate said "come on man, you don't remember that?" Kinda funny. Nice guy.

Useless trivia: Just recently, I saw video of Witchita Lineman, circa 1969. That awesome solo was played on a Fender VI, 6 string bass. Genious.

 

Wasn't Glen on the Ramblin' Rose sessions? Twilight on the Trail sounds like Glen or maybe Billy Strange.

 

Wasn't Valerie played by Louis Shelton(later producer for Seals and Crofts)?

 

Billy Strange

 

Really? I always believed it was Glen Campbell.
(Maybe that's why he couldn't remember it.)

 

Yeah, Louie Shelton played the Valleri stuff. Glen played the lead guitar riff on "Mary Mary".

 

He played lead guitar on Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" in 1965, according to the liner notes to 'You Heard It Here First! an ACE Records compilation.

Does anyone know if a discography exists for all the songs for other artists Glen has played on?

 

Glen Campbell wrote "Turn Around, Look at Me"? Wow, that's a great song...For a guy who rarely wrote anything, that's a real corker...

 

I've looked, and could never find a good discography. I've never been able to confirm about Dang Me...
in his autobiography, Glen mentions that he played on some sessions for Merle Haggard.

 

Didn't he also do a lot of session work for Rick Nelson and The Everly Brothers?

It's a shame his session work has not been documented, apparently.....

 

Also in his book, Glen writes about being on Buddy Greco Sings the Beatles. I've never seen that record in the used bins.

 

ELVIS PRESLEY - VIVA LAS VEGAS (sound track)

30th AUG.1963 ... RADIO RECORDERS HOLLYWOOD

1 song recorded on this date = WHAT"D I SAY

MASTER.TAKE 4

Guitar.Billy Strange
Guitar.Alton Hendrickson
Guitar.GLEN CAMPBELL
Bass .Ray Siegel
Drums.Frank Carlson
Percussion.Roy Hart
Piano .Artie Cane
Sax .Steve Douglas

 

The Champs were in some ways the house band at Challenge Records. Campbell was one of many musicians who ran through the group, but he was not on Tequila. (The biggest other names to come out of the Champs were Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts, who played sax and drums, respectively, in the group).

The Varese album mentioned above was, um, inspired by the cuts by the Trophys and Fleas that first appeared (digitally, that is) on the first Rick Nelson Bear Family box. Campbell, Jerry Fuller and Dave Burgess replaces The Jordanaires on Nelson records after Travelin' Man, and all of 'em (including Nelson in a couple of cases) were the Trophys and Fleas. One of those cuts features Campbell singing New York-style doo-wop; something you're unlikely to hear him do anywhere else.

 

That's very odd indeed. I believe that I'm very well acquainted with Buddy Greco's discography, and there is no such title to be found. Could be that the album was never released ... or maybe Glen is misremembering -- another singer instead of Buddy. I don't have the personnel for every single Buddy album, but of those for which I have personnel, there is no mention of Glen. And as for recordings from the Beatles songbook, the one and only number that comes to mind is "Help!" from his mid-1960's album From the Wrists Down (aka I Love a Piano).

Does Glen write anything else that could give a clue as to which LP this is?

 

That's not useless trivia to me. I didn't know he played the lead with a bass guitar.

 

I developed an appreciation for Glen Campbell when I saw this collaboration with Stevie Wonder from 1969. They cover a Bob Dylan song!!

This is just jaw droppingly fantastic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oSQn20V0m0&feature=related

 

Glen Campbell also played in sessions by Lou Rawls, The Kingston Trio, The Four Freshmen, Merle Haggard indeed, Rose Maddox, Tex Ritter, Gene Vincent, Bobby Edwards, and The Honeys.

 

The Avalanches
Dean Martin sessions produced by Jimmy Bowen
Hal Blaine's Dueces, "T's", Roadsters and Drums

just to name a few more.

 

I read in the past couple of weeks, that Glen has been performing "you've lost that lovin' feeling" at his recent shows, and that he played guitar on the Righteous Brothers' hit...BTW, I will be seeing Glen next month, along with Mike Love's 'Beach Boys' band, and BJ Thomas...obviously I'm hoping Glen will sit in, and play the requisite songs he played with the Beach Boys...and perhaps BJ Thomas can sing "Don't worry baby" with the Beach Boys band?

 

The first concert I ever went to was in 1965. It was the Beach Boys in Montreal. It was the first tour that Brian wasn't with them. Glen Campbell was there in his place on bass. Mike Love introduced him as "Capitol Records recording artist Glen Campbell" and he sing Crying by Roy Orbison. Not really an example of GC as a session musician but still a sideman.

 

I've always wondered why Glen's early Capitol recordings arrived in the UK on the independent Ember label.....didn't Capitol UK want his stuff?????

 

I thought it was Tommy Tedesco.

 

Actually, according to Tommy Tedesco the solo on Valerie was played by Louie Shelton