Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for April 22nd

It's a special "Happy Birthday!!!" edition of the calendar, starring just one artist who we have to admit, we really have a lot of affection for...

4/22/1936 - Country singer-songwriter-and-actually-quite-a-superb-guitarist-too, we're sending out our best wishes to Glen Campbell, 80 years old today. Hosted the mighty fine "Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" on CBS-TV in the late 1960's and early '70's, and during his 50 years in the business, has sold 45 million albums and singles, along with recording the definitive versions of some of the most iconic American classics in the entire country catalog -- John Hartford's "Gentle On My Mind", Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "Galveston", and the totally mind-blowing "Witchita Lineman". (Glen made history in 1967 by winning four Grammys total, in the Country AND Pop categories, something that had never been done before by anyone!) As a session musician in the Sixties, he played with Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, The Monkees, Nat King Cole, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and The Mamas & The Papas, as well as having been a touring member of The Beach Boys in 1964/'65, filling in for an ailing Brian Wilson (you ought to read that list again, let it sink in). You can hear Glen playing on Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night", The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and The Monkees' "I'm A Believer"! These days, quite sadly, Glen is in the final stages of Alzheimer's. A rip-roaring talent for sure, with quite a catalog of work to admire.

Share your thoughts on the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"And I need you more than want you/And I want you for all time...", xoxo!