"Galveston" | ||||
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Single by Glen Campbell | ||||
from the album Galveston | ||||
B-side | "How Come Every Time I Itch I Wind Up Scratchin' You" | |||
Released | February 24, 1969 | |||
Recorded | November 27, 1968 and January 9, 1969 Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:39 | |||
Label | Capitol 2428 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jimmy Webb | |||
Producer(s) | Al De Lory | |||
Glen Campbell singles chronology | ||||
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"Galveston" is a song written by Jimmy Webb and popularized by American country music singer Glen Campbell who recorded it with the instrumental backing of members of The Wrecking Crew. [3] In 2003, this song ranked number 8 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music. Campbell's version, produced by Al De Lory, also went to number 1 on the country music charts. [4] On other charts, "Galveston" went to number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the "Easy Listening" charts. [5] It was certified gold by the RIAA in October 1969. [6]
The protagonist is a soldier waiting to go into battle who thinks of the woman he loves and his hometown of Galveston, Texas.
The song was first released in 1968 by a mournful-sounding Don Ho, [7] who introduced Glen Campbell to it when Ho appeared as a guest on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour . Campbell's recording of the song, released in early 1969, was perceived by many (who listened carefully to the lyrics) as being a Vietnam War protest song, [8] but Campbell performed it up-tempo. In his original promo video, Campbell was dressed as a soldier in a military-style outfit. Webb has challenged the implication of Campbell's version that it was in any way "a patriotic song". According to Webb, the song is "about a guy who's caught up in something he doesn't understand and would rather be somewhere else". [9] [10]
In Ho's recording, the second verse was:
However, in both Campbell's version and in Webb’s own 1972 album Letters (and his later performances), this verse was:
According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians appeared at the recording session. [13]
The original Capitol single's label (2428: 45-70488) also credits producer De Lory as the arranger and conductor.
Within a year of Campbell's hit version, Rolling Stone states, "recordings of 'Galveston' had sold six million copies, having been cut by 27 different artists, from fellow country star Faron Young to jazz great Dizzy Gillespie." [14]
Weekly charts
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Glen Travis Campbell was an American country singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from 1969 until 1972. He released 64 albums in a career that spanned five decades, selling over 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.
"Gentle on My Mind" is a song that was written and originally recorded by John Hartford, and released on his second studio album, Earthwords & Music (1967). Hartford wrote the song after watching Doctor Zhivago in 1966, as he was inspired by the film and his own personal experiences. The lyrics describe the reminiscences of lost love of a man as he travels through the country. An obituary for Hartford indicated that the lyrics are "about a hobo reminiscing about a lost love". The following year, Hartford released the song as a single on RCA Records.
"MacArthur Park" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb that was recorded first in 1967 by Irish actor and singer Richard Harris. Harris's version peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number four on the UK Singles Chart. "MacArthur Park" was subsequently covered by numerous artists, including a 1970 Grammy-winning version by country singer Waylon Jennings and a number one Billboard Hot 100 disco version by Donna Summer in 1978. Webb won the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the Harris version.
"Wichita Lineman" is a 1968 song written by Jimmy Webb for American country music artist Glen Campbell, who recorded it backed by members of the Wrecking Crew. Widely covered by other artists, it has been called "the first existential country song."
"The Morning After" is a song written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, winning Best Original Song at the 45th Academy Awards. Following this success, Maureen McGovern recorded a single version that became a No. 1 hit in the US for two weeks during August 1973, with Gold record sales. Billboard ranked it as the No. 28 song for 1973.
"Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written and recorded by Larry Weiss in 1974, then popularized the next year by American country music singer Glen Campbell. When released on May 26, 1975, as the lead single and title track from his album Rhinestone Cowboy, it enjoyed huge popularity with both country and pop audiences.
"It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer Conway Twitty, while they were touring across Ontario, Canada in 1958. Twitty was a relatively unknown rock n' roll singer at the time, and this song was his first hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard chart in November 1958 for two weeks.
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" is a song written by Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965, it was reinterpreted by American country music singer Glen Campbell on his album of the same name. Released on Capitol Records in 1967, Campbell's version topped RPM's Canada Country Tracks, reached number two on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, and won two awards at the 10th Annual Grammys. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) named it the third most performed song from 1940 to 1990. The song was ranked number 20 on BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century. Frank Sinatra called it "the greatest torch song ever written." It was No. 450 on Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Songs of All Time.
"Hurting Each Other" is a song popularized by the Carpenters in 1972. It was written in 1965 by Gary Geld and Peter Udell, and has been recorded many times by artists ranging from Ruby & the Romantics to Rosemary Clooney.
"Don't Pull Your Love" is the debut single by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds which became a top ten hit single in 1971. The song was written by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert.
Galveston is the twelfth studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Glen Campbell, released on March 17, 1969, by Capitol Records. The album was a major hit for Campbell, reaching number one on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and generated the number one hit single on the Hot Country Singles and Easy Listening charts, "Galveston", written by Jimmy Webb, who also wrote the follow-up single, "Where's the Playground Susie", which peaked at number 28 on the Hot Country Singles chart and number 10 on the Easy Listening chart. The front cover is a photograph of Galveston Beach, Galveston, Texas.
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album is the 19th album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1970.
Anne Murray / Glen Campbell is an album by American singer Glen Campbell and the sixth studio album by Canadian singer Anne Murray, released in 1971. The album contained both new material, and duet versions of songs each artist had recorded individually, as well as an early version of "You're Easy to Love", which later became a hit for Hank Snow, the standard "Canadian Sunset", and Brotherhood of Man's 1970 hit "United We Stand".
Try a Little Kindness is the thirteenth album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1970. The title track was one of Campbell's favorite songs.
Glen Campbell's Greatest Hits was the first official Capitol compilation album by Glen Campbell and was released in 1971. The Best of Glen Campbell followed in 1976, covering his later hits in addition to five on this compilation.
"Honey Come Back" is a song written by Jimmy Webb, and recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell. It would become a major hit for him.
"Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" is a song written by Chris Gantry and recorded by American country music artist Glen Campbell. It was released in July 1968 as the first single from his album Wichita Lineman. The song peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
"Where's the Playground Susie" is a song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. It was released in April 1969 as the second single from the album Galveston. The song peaked at number 26 on the Hot 100, number 28 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and number 8 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart.
Alfred V. De Lory was an American record producer, arranger, conductor and session musician. He was the producer and arranger of a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell in the 1960s, including John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind", Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston". He was also a member of the 1960s Los Angeles session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, and inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.
"The Straight Life" is a 1968 song written and originally recorded by Sonny Curtis. It was a top 40 hit for Bobby Goldsboro later that year.
...a series of lush, considered, heartsick country-pop singles that Campbell recorded with his Wrecking Crew comrades...1969's "Galveston"...
Songwriter Jimmy Webb's melancholy ode to a simpler time exemplified what one might consider to be the "tonal protest song," replacing as it does more typical anti-war language with a reflection on the emotional uncertainty of war that even hawks in the heartland could identify with.
In a Sound Observations interview, he claimed: "If there was a statement, and obviously I was saying something, I prefer to say it wasn't anti-war – that it was more about an individual getting involved in a war and realizing that he'd rather be somewhere else." He then went on to explain that it was not to be a "hit-you-over-the-head" protest song.