Re: started off as a session player

Songs You Didn’t Know Glen Campbell Played On
Angela Stefano
April 22, 2020


Glen Campbell's name is legendary in country music thanks to his iconic hit songs, but he's also a major figure in music as a whole due to his crossover hits and, especially, because of his work as a session musician. Whether fans know it or not, Campbell left his mark on myriad songs in the 1960s, before and as he was starting his solo career.

When Campbell moved to Los Angeles in 1960, he got a job as a writer and demo singer / player for a publishing company; that led to work as a session musician. Campbell became part of the Wrecking Crew, an in-demand group of session players who worked on songs for everyone from Sonny & Cher to Frank Sinatra. They were producer Phil Spector's go-to house band, but were sometimes uncredited players; the late Leon Russell was also a member.


The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
A Phil Spector-produced and -co-written song, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" became a hit for the Righteous Brothers following its release in the fall of 1964. The song is a prime example of Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique, for which he used the Wrecking Crew. Campbell later included his own version of this song on his 2014 album Love & Live.

Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried"
Campbell plays guitar and sings harmony on this famous Haggard tune. They recorded the song live, in one take, according to "The Hag."

"I loved being there," Haggard recalled of the experience. "I think I can say, without a doubt, Capitol Records was the premiere recording studio in the world."

Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night"
Campbell played guitar throughout Sinatra's 1966 album Strangers in the Night, including on its No. 1 title track. Campbell once admitted to being so starstruck during the experience that he couldn't help but stare.

Frank and Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid"
When Frank did this duet with daughter Nancy, they brought in Campbell to play guitar on "Something Stupid"

"A guy like Frank, it's like they don't laugh much. I always thought he was bashful," Campbell recalled. "He was kind of off-standing until you made him mad, and then he was a tyrant."

Elvis Presley's "What'd I Say"
Originally recorded and released by Ray Charles, "What'd I Say" found its way onto the soundtrack to Presley's movie Viva Las Vegas. Campbell also sang a few demos for Presley -- though he did not, in fact, play on the song "Viva Las Vegas." That's a popular misconception.

Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas"
Elvis Presley had his own band of musicians who were considered among the best sidemen ever. But Campbell was brought in to play on the studio version of "Viva Las Vegas"

The Monkees' "Mary, Mary"
The Wrecking Crew were prominent players in the Monkees' studio work, including "Mary, Mary," from the Monkees' sophomore album. In fact, on the group's debut album, the music is largely performed by session musicians, including Campbell. Because session musicians were not given credits on early albums, there's some confusion as to who played on what record. That happened with a lot of The Monkees records. Campbell played guitar on "Mary Mary", even though we see Mike Nesmith playing it in the video. Don't be fooled.

Roger Miller's "Dang Me"
This song's a Grammys winner for Best Country & Western Song. Miller and Campbell were good friends, too; in fact, Campbell served as best man at one of Miller's weddings.

The Beach Boys "Fun, Fun, Fun"
His session work begins and ends with Beach Boys songs. Great guitar intro and they all had "Fun, Fun, Fun" til daddy took the T-Bird away.

[theboot.com]

Who Were the Wrecking Crew? [www.udiscovermusic.com]

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