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Country Music Stations/Glen Campbell

TheBigA said:
Sales of the album were pretty small too: About 25,000 copies.

To be honest, it was an awful song. Glen's voice was overly processed, and it sounded like John Lennon's Imagine.
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OK, Country is not really my thing but how awful could it be if it got a Grammy for Best Country Song and an Oscar nomination?
 
semoochie said:
I have to admit that this song did not feel gentle on my mind. :) It sounds like there's a market for it, albeit old. There's a lot of water under the bridge since the Smothers Brothers Summer Show.
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There's always a market for the last recordings of artists who have died, are gravely ill and near death, or, like Campbell, soon will be physically unable to perform, even if the performances on those recordings would under normal circumstances be considered among their poorest in quality. Sales and airplay of these last-will-and-testament-ish items invariably do not correlate.

There are an awful lot of rock fans who snapped up David Bowie's "Blackstar" in the weeks immediately before and after his death who have played it only once. The only significant airplay the thing got, as far as I can see, is on SiriusXM's quirky free-form channel The Loft, which is basically programmed to its staff's tastes, the way '60s free-form used to be. But you didn't see FM rock stations of any format niche adding a single track from it.

The Loft also dipped heavily into Warren Zevon's final album. Zevon is known to the general public for one song, "Werewolves of London" (assuming that the general public has no idea he wrote Linda Ronstadt's "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me"), but is a personal favorite of the channel's PD and air staff, so it got a lot of exposure. Sales of the album probably benefited, though not to the extent that those of the much better-known Bowie and Campbell did.
 
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Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather remember Glen Campbell, David Bowie, Johnny Cash, et al in their prime, and listen to that work, than their "last will and testament".
 
For those who don't know, Campbell is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease and has, for the most part, lost his ability to play guitar and perform. Big A is right about the vocals on the track mentioned...it is poorly processed but the deeper problem is Glenn's vocal range and tonality are not very good any more.
I'm surprised it got even 2000 spins although it is a great song and resonates with those who have loved ones with Alzheimer's
 
It's not that hard to understand the song you are all talking about. Musically speaking, it did not really matter if the production was not up to certain standards. That did not change the number of stations or airplays. IF you are a true fan of REAL country music from decades past, then you would love and appreciate the song for the person who sang the song and understand that it is actually a wonderful representation of where Glen was in his life and career at that time. You might even think it was intentionally designed to sound like the old 45's. He had one of the most pure male voices to ever hit the airwaves. The demographic that grew up listening to his music would feel nostalgic and not over judge the sound or quality.

The fact that radio programmers did not gravitate to the song is simply because of the current times and audience. Honestly, most of the "desired" demographics and listeners will probably not even know who Glen Campbell is. Right or wrong, the song was intended to be something in honor of the man for the listeners that listen to Classic Country or stations like WSM-AM in Nashville and his following. Not some 25 year old who likes the "non country" sound of country music in 2017.

Speaking of today's country music listener...people can say what they will, but Nashville has about 200,000 visiting fans in this booming city for CMA Week and they are exactly the proper demographic that all the industry desires to appeal to and profit from. I don't deal with the country format here. But the energy is amazing and the amount of money spent on hotel stays, food and billions of beverages and souvenirs is hundreds of times that of thirty years ago with Fanfair and the "older" demographic that was then the prime visitor. There is NO better place to be in America than Nashville and this week top's the charts in EVERY way. There are some very smart folks doing some amazing things that are keeping this genre of music alive.

If Glen Campbell was not failing in his health or voice, he would be right in the middle of things!
 
I never considered Glen Campbell to be a Country singer. He was a pop singer with a Country flair. You could say the same about John Denver.
 
semoochie said:
I never considered Glen Campbell to be a Country singer. He was a pop singer with a Country flair. You could say the same about John Denver.
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Denver came from a folk background. Campbell was a pop-country singer who was an excellent guitarist but seldom had the opportunity to display his instrumental chops on record. He recorded some excellent material by others, but also had hits with dreck like "Dreams of an Everyday Housewife." It was only when his health began to fail that belated recognition among hipsters started to come his way, because his music wasn't "too country" and went down so easy. You want to hear some real country singers who died tragic deaths? Try Gary Stewart or Keith Whitley.
 
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semoochie said:
I never considered Glen Campbell to be a Country singer. He was a pop singer with a Country flair. You could say the same about John Denver.
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You could say the same about Eddy Arnold. Or Jim Reeves. Or Brenda Lee. Or Kenny Rogers. All in the Country Music Hall of Fame, with Glen Campbell.

None of this has anything to do with this specific song or its possible airplay.
 
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