-Yes, this is one of my “retro posts”-I’m actually typing this in the early morning of 8/15, but I finally got some free time to do this-as well as wanting to get this done before it’s too far past-like the other two I still have to do, but I digress…

-When I was growing up, the first music I remember being exposed to was stuff that my parents listened to. I don’t remember too much of it-in terms of initial impact, except for a number of specific songs: Some of those include “Seasons in the Sun” (Terry Jacks)-which was always a sad song for me cause it’s about saying goodbye to loved ones, “Cats in the Cradle” (Harry Chapin)-which, sorry, I didn’t like the song then and I’m still not too fond of it now, “Rubber Room” by Porter Wagner-which scared the crap out of my little mind back then, and “I Like Beer” (Tom T. Hall)-which is kinda funny cause I have never, ever, liked the taste of beer. 😛 I have to say that Elvis got a lot of play on the record player back then, as well as Tom Jones-which is my earliest memory with music. This is all pre-1977 by the way-from what I remember. After that I started buying records-my first being a choice between “Double Vision” by Foreigner and “Destroyer” by KISS. Kind of ironic that, considering how big of a KISS fan I am, I picked Foreigner…Followed soon afterwards with anything that had to do with Star Wars and what was on the radio at the time.

-The other song that I remember the initial impact was “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell. It just had a great hook and, it’s kinda funny how, a few times, during the days when I was heavily into playing out and pushing with my band CAROLINE BLUE, how that song would kind of pop into my head-cause it talks about pushing and surviving in the music business. Followed closely by that was his song “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” which-to me-is just a very sad song. Maybe it’s the depressive part of me, but I can visually that song very vividly.

-Of course, there are other hits like “Southern Nights,” “Wichita Lineman” and “Gentle On My Mind,” but I also discovered early on what a phenomenal musician he was-specifically on guitar. Years ago I saw a clip of him playing “Classical Gas” ( Mason Williams) and was like, “Wow!” I didn’t know he could play like that-and in the 70’s no less. I just searched for it and, this isn’t the same clip, but it’s the same show. Listen to some of those runs when it’s just the orchestra in the middle-again, this was the 70’s. I also had no idea, at the time, that he was part of the famed Wrecking Crew-who have played on so many hit records in the 60s and 70s.

-Years ago, I read that Glen Campbell had Alzheimer’s Disease- a condition that which is a slow, progressive loss of memory to where it’s almost like one just disappears into their own little world, unable to remember even close loved ones. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. Once diagnosed, life expectancy is from three to nine years. There is currently no cure. For someone like me, who cherishes memory so much, this disease is so terrifying. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have your memory slowly stripped away from you. I really do wish I had a chance to see him perform live. From what I read, performing live is where he was like his “old” self-almost like he didn’t have the disease more often than not.

-Initially, I was thinking of putting “Rhinestone Cowboy” or even “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” as the music video for this, but in the end, I chose his last song-“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”-which is incredibly sad-especially when you realize real quick that he’s saying that “he’s not going to miss you” because he won’t be able to remember you due to the Alzheimer’s. Like I said before, I can’t even imagine what’s it’s like to go through that, but I hope he is now at peace.

-R.I.P. Glen…