Glen Campbell Farewell Tour Visits Kent on Sunday

Glen Campbell is facing some daunting challenges by celebrating his music and legacy with one final tour. The popular and versatile entertainer plays the Kent Stage this Sunday at 8 p.m.

Campbell and his wife, Kim, revealed last summer that he’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and they announced he would head out on the road one last time to share his music with his fans.

The 75-year-old Campbell is best known for a string of hit records in the 1960s and 1970s, and his well-received variety show that aired on CBS from 1969 to 1972. But with a career that spans more than 55 years, his achievements go far beyond that.

The Arkansas native received his first guitar when he was just four years old. In 1958 he moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. He eventually began playing with the “Wrecking Crew,” a group of hot session players who performed on scores of hits by artists such as Elvis Presley, the Monkees, Frank Sinatra and the Mamas and Papas, as well as Phil Spector’s legendary Wall of Sound productions.

When Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys decided he could no longer handle the stress of touring with the group, Campbell took his place on the road. He also played on the group’s revered album Pet Sounds.

In the early 1960s, Campbell signed with Capitol Records as a solo artist. After a few years with limited success, he hit it big with his cover of John Hartford’s Gentle on My Mind. The hits kept coming with Galveston, By the Time I Get to Phoenix and the enduring classic Wichita Lineman, all Jimmy Webb compositions.

“Glen Campbell is a very well-known artist, but I think is he a very misunderstood artist,” said Howard Kramer, curatorial director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

“Generally I don’t think people understand his depth as a musician and the versatility he’s exhibited throughout his career. His collaborations with Jimmy Webb are gorgeous records,” Kramer said.

After his TV show The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour was canceled in 1972, Campbell continued to make regular appearances on variety and talk shows, and he enjoyed pop/country crossover success with songs such as Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights.

This week it was announced that Campbell will perform at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12 in Los Angeles. Campbell, a five-time Grammy Award winner and Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, will be joined by current nominees Blake Shelton and The Band Perry.

“Within the community of musicians, Glen Campbell is incredibly well-respected,” Kramer added. "There are a number of session musicians who’ve tried to have solo careers and it doesn’t work out for them. It worked pretty nice for Glen.”

Last year Campbell released Ghost on the Canvas, his 61st and final album. The release features the singer tackling tunes by hip contemporary composers such as Guided by Voices’ Robert Pollard and Paul Westerberg, formerly of the Replacements.

The Farewell Tour features a few of Campbell’s new songs, but the set list is heavy on the hits and his extraordinary guitar playing. Reportedly the good-natured performer occasionally forgets a line or needs some prompting, but overall the shows are all about good vibrations.

Sunday’s concert, a coup for the Kent Stage, is sold out. “I wish I had another couple hundred tickets to sell,” said venue owner Tom Simpson.