Glen Campbell, the indelible voice behind 21 Top 40 hits including "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," died Tuesday. He was 81.
In his youth, Campbell started playing guitar and became obsessed with jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. He dropped out of school when he was 14 and moved to Wyoming with an uncle who was a musician, playing gigs together at rural bars. He soon moved to Los Angeles and by 1962 had solidified a spot in the Wrecking Crew, a group of session pros. In 1963 alone, he appeared on 586 cuts and countless more throughout the decade, including the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man," Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas,” Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" and the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."
Glen had one recording session with Elvis and is listed as a participant on the "Viva Las Vegas" soundtrack and also on the 'B' side of the 45 containing "What'd I Say", in 1963. Glen also played and sang on demos for Elvis on the following three songs: "Slowly But Surely", "Stay Away Joe" and "All I Need Is the Rain". He did not play on the actual recordings of these songs.