Discussion of the Week: How do you listen to Glen's music?

[Mike Joyce]

I heard Glen on the radio yesterday. Ken Bruce played Galveston and remarked what a great sound the guitar was as the track ended. I was painting at the time at a clients house and as I was on my own I just sang right along. It really made my day.

[Mike Joyce]

You make a good point there shelia 6673. When I hear Glen played on the radio that really excites me for some reason. It is usually Wichita Lineman, Rhinestone Cowboy and also Galveston. It feels like being back in Glen's heyday. I remember the time Glen was played on the radio virtually every day and not just the hits but album tracks also. I remember I used to write it in a journal at the time but that ,sadly,has long since gone. Is radio in The US or Europe like the UK. If I want to hear country music there is a one hour programme once a week but this tends to cater for the newer artists.

[shelia6673]

I too usually listen to just certain songs like when I'm in the car going to work, have a 20-30 min drive to work so thats a good way to listen, when I'm
at work I have my ear buds and listen that way. Believe it or not we have an oldies country station that I listen too and sometimes I still get to hear
Glen on the radio!! so that is a treat. But when I was buying the albums I would listen over and over again I know I drove my parents crazy with
Glen! But it was a good crazy.

[Dee]

While we are waiting for Jay's reply.....

Mike, when you are working with glass, I suppose you don't listen to "Shattered"?

[Mike Joyce]

Yeah Dee, that is right. I also listen to "The straight life" when I am cutting with a saw.
I know its not on topic but I thought jay might like to hear about my experience last night.
I went into a bar and noticed two guys playing pool. As I looked I realised one was playing with a six string guitar.
Being curious, I went over and said to the guy with the guitar "Why are you playing pool with a six string guitar".
He looked at me and said." I always play pool with my guitar,it's........ ACOUSTIC"

[Dee]

Haha! I like how you match your GC music to your work, Mike!

When you are cooking at home, do you play "Kentucky Means Paradise"? You know...

You take a chicken and you kill it and you put it in the skillet
And you fry up a golden brown
That's southern cookin' and that's mighty nice!

[Mike Joyce]

I have to say Dee, with out my MP3 player and all my favourite songs. I don't know how I would get through the day. I love the feature which allows me to play recently added tracks over and over, which is great if I have uploaded a new CD or selection of tracks I really love at that point in time. If I am painting I always play "I'll paint you a song" and if I am doing some woodwork I play "If I were a carpenter".

[Dee]

Thanks, Cowpoke and Mike!
Good points: concept vs. non-concept albums and influences due to changes in technology.
I listen to individual songs (live performances, concert or television) on YouTube. On my home PC I listen to one-off songs that never made it to albums. For the most part, I listen to a full album (CD) at one sitting either at home or in the car. Probably because I grew up listening to Glen's albums as a whole, this is still the way I enjoy hearing his (and other artists') music.
If I hear another artist's song that I like, I usually end up buying the album and not just the song.
I have a knock-off iPod but have never loaded music on it! Mike, you inspire me to try it!

[Cowpoke]

Hi Dee,
great question! To me, some albums work best as a whole, but most of Glen's albums are more like a collection of songs which can be listened to in any order. There are a few exceptions though and in most cases these are also Glen's most consistent albums, because there aren't any real filler tracks. These albums by Glen I prefer to listen to completely:

Reunion, Rhinestone Cowboy, Basic, Old Home Town, Meet Glen Campbell

These are also some of my favorite *albums* by Glen, but of course other albums contain brilliant songs as well, but there they are sometimes followed by significantly lesser songs.

These albums are the closest Glen ever came to "concept albums" I think. But of course Glen was of a generation that thought more in songs, than in albums.

I don't know why I haven't added Ghost to the list. I love that album and it definitely fits the bill of a "concept album" but I find myself skipping some of the instrumental parts so...

[Mike Joyce]

That's a good question Dee,
For me it has evolved with the changes in technologies. Obviously when I was young I bought the albums and played them over and over never missing a track. As CD's came out I purchased those and played them through. like vinyl albums. Of course as time moved on MP3 came out and I also found Youtube was a great source for video footage which I really yearned for. I had never seen Glen singing in his early years. My first time was seeing Glen on BBC TV when the Festival Hall concert was broadcast in 1977. MP3 is great for me because I can create a play list of my ultimate favourite songs and listen to them when I am working away with a paint brush or some other simple task.
When at home I like to put a CD on while doing paperwork or cooking etc. That allows me to focus on the songs and sing along as well.
One thing that I do notice though, I like to hear the original albums whether a CD or the vinyl, as it some how transports me to that period in Glen's career which I don't get from the greatest hits or compilation albums. Certainly I find putting on the vinyl albums takes me back to my younger days with the hiss and the pops and an album cover to paw over. Happy times