NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Fans stopped by a memorial Wednesday at the Country Music Hall of Fame to say goodbye to country artist Glen Campbell, who died Tuesday at age 81.
A table with flowers and a condolence book for people to sign was set up in the rotunda near Campbell’s Hall of Fame plaque.
“We used to listen to him in the 70s,” said Ellis Sharadin, who was there with his wife, Rosemarie. The couple is on vacation from Yorktown, Virginia. Sharadin named the 1975 smash hit “Rhinestone Cowboy” as one of his favorite Campbell songs.
Paige Lashlee of Tullahoma, Tennessee, said she grew up listening to Campbell’s music and watching his variety show. Campbell was a gifted guitarist, which many took for granted because he was known mostly known for his voice, she said. Her husband, Frank, said Campbell “had a style, and of course girls loved him.”
Joni Bertram, visiting Nashville from Vermont, also said she grew up listening to Campbell. “Mostly because we had to,” chimed in her younger brother, Mark Green, who lives in Massachusetts. Their mom was a huge country music fan and exposed her children to her favorite tunes. Even though they had little say in their early experiences listening to country, both have grown up to be country music fans.
Born in Arkansas, Campbell lived for a time in California before moving to Nashville and worked as a studio musician for the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and others. He broke through as a country superstar in the late 1960s. Between 1967 and 1980, he straddled country and pop and racked up 30 Top 20 country hits and 19 Top 40 pop records. His hits included “Galveston,” “Southern Nights” and “Country Boy.”
Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2011 and went on a farewell tour. He released a final album, Adiós, this past April, recorded during his final sessions in 2012 and 2013.
My favorite Glen Campbell song is “Witchita Lineman.”