Gentle On Our Minds: Glen Campbell Comes to Brum

Last trip for Glen?

Let’s see. There’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman” “Galveston”, “Rhinestone Cowboy” and ‘Gentle on My Mind.’

They’re songs that rumble and twang through your head as you’re driving, cleaning up the kitchen or letting your brain circle aimlessly in the late afternoon. You can love them or despise them. But they’re there.

And they’re all sung by Glen Campbell.

At one time, when he was top of the ladder with these gentle country songs (many of them written by Jimmy Webb) there were seen as slightly cheesy, especially in the late sixties when the Stones or The Who were ripping it up.

But Campbell kept going and, hopefully, if you can get a hold of a ticket, he’ll be singing them wistfully and gently this Sunday night at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

This just may be his last tour as he has accepted he’s  in the first stages of Alzheimers. Reviews suggest he may forget some of his unforgettable lyrics and he may be a bit vague at times. But his family backing group is there to help him along .

And, then again, there’s the ever smiling all American  country aw shucks persona we used to see and hear  so much for the past 4 decades- an entertainer who may be paying his last trip to the UK

Symphony Hall Box Office: 0121 780 3333 or website at http://www.thsh.co.uk/