For Rhinestone, I made him play guitar because I knew the other musicians would be excited to be sitting there playing with Glen Campbell. He'd give you one or two great takes, and you knew you had it. When he started singing, he'd drown out the track, and that's how he was able to finesse his vocal. In the studio, he didn't wear headsets: he liked a little speaker instead. He doesn't read music, but he is a virtuoso guitarist, and it transfers to his voice. His pitch is impeccable he's got the soul of a true musician. Why fix something that isn't broken? I've made over a hundred albums, but the two and a half I made with Glen were my absolute favourite times in the studio. We didn't copy Larry's version, but took the essence of it, which was right on the money. He either feels something and jumps right on it or he doesn't: he thought the song was great. A whirlwind happened within the space of a few days. At the same time, Al Courey had somehow got a copy. Larry wasn't that excited to hear that we were going to be producing Glen, I think because he was more concerned about his own album, but he gave me permission to play him the song.
I said, "Larry, this is amazing," and my mind was racing, because I was already thinking about Glen. We'd been talking about his feelings, writing and bringing him songs, when Larry Weiss came to play me some tracks from his recent album. Glen was a product of the LA recording system and understood what went into making hit records. If we could bring something special to the table, he had the artistry and the name to make it really great. I told Al that with Glen it was all about the songs. I thought he was an incredible singer and musician. Most importantly, I had always adored him.
Rhinestone cowboy movie tv#
He hadn't had a major hit since the late 60s, with songs like Wichita Lineman – but he was still a star, with a TV show. At that point, Glen's career was in a lull. Al Courey, who was then vice-president of Capitol Records, asked if we'd be interested in working with Glen Campbell. In 1975, Brian Potter and I had produced hits for the Tavares, the Righteous Brothers and the Four Tops.