GLEN'S NEWSPAGE
Glen Campbell Recording Selected for Grammy Hall
of Fame
Glen Campbell’s 1967 recording
of “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” was one of the 33 recordings
that has just been selected by The Recording Academy to add to its
Grammy Hall of Fame. The Hall Of Fame serves as a celebration and
reminder of the triumphs and achievements of the recording arts. Selections
are drawn from all major categories of music, acknowledging the diversity
of musical expression for which the Academy has become renowned.
“I’m very pleased,” said Glen Campbell.
“It’s great to be recognized. I’m very happy for Jimmy
Webb, who wrote the song, and everybody that worked on the record. The
song will always be very special to me. It ignited my career.”
“By The Time I Get To Phoenix” was recorded
by Pat Boone and Johnny Rivers. Glen Campbell claimed that “they
didn’t get a hit record because they didn’t pronounce ‘probably’
the right way in the song. Boone and Rivers said probably. They should
have said prob’ley.”
There is an interesting story about how Glen found
“By The Time I Get To Phoenix.” “I was standing in
the old Western Studio 3 in Los Angeles looking at record albums. I
saw a Johnny Rivers album with a song whose title intrigued me. I didn’t
know if ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ was about the town
or about the mythological bird coming out of the ashes. “I listened
to the song and it made me cry. I was homesick for Arkansas. I told
my producer that I had a follow up release for ‘Gentle On My Mind’
“Some people have said that I can ‘hear’
a hit song, meaning that I can tell the first time a song is played
for me if it has potential. I have been able to hear some of the hits
that way, but I can also ‘feel’ one. There is a special
feeling that falls over a studio and its musicians when a hit is created.
I’ve heard actors talk about a familiar feeling during the production
of a motion picture. Although most movies are shot in segments and out
of sequence, seasoned actors talk about the quiet but actual feeling
that saturates a cast and crew when a true work of art is under way.
That’s the feeling I got during the recording of ‘Phoenix.’
I had been in Los Angeles for seven years, during
which time I had worked as hard as any studio player in town and earned
a good living. My ultimate dream to become a successful recording artist,
was confirmed with “Phoenix.’”
(Above release by Glen's publicist, Sanford Brokaw)