Since I was a kid I have always been into rock, but a few boys from Country found their way onto my playlist. I grew up on a heavy dose of the man in black. Johnny Cash transcended conventional country music, was considered a rebel of his time, so along with that gravel voice he found his way into my playlist and heart. Another icon from the same era was Glen Campbell. You could not be within distance of a radio without hearing songs like: By the time I get to Phoenix, The Wichita Lineman or the smash hit Rhinestone Cowboy.
Those songs bring back memories of my adolescence, walking down the dirty old train tacks in my hometown Chilliwack. Playing Scrub baseball with my pal Khalad and most of his family on a homemade ball diamond worn into the park grass by 11 year old sneakers. It was the best time of a boy’s life, unhindered by the worries of status or money, our biggest arguments or worries were over foul balls or "Tick balls don't count," as Khalad liked to declare when he barely caught a piece of a softball pitch.
Behind those memories there was the music, always the music. The theme to every man or woman's childhood. When I think back, I remember hearing the theme to the television show: Barretta. That was before actor Robert Blake became an oddity. We loved Barretta, I remember my other pal Mike, doing impressions Barretta, saying things like: I'm gonna bust yuh man. Or Khalad would retort: Don't do the crime if yuh can't take the time.
Life is a funny thing, when you’re a kid it seems that it just goes on and the soundtrack to life just plays along as we trek forward to those points when we look back and think, “Wow! When did I get here? When did my hair become grey? When did the musicians who were always there in the background strumming their guitars and singing chorus become old?
Last night I watched a documentary on what I thought would be the story of Glen Campbell. It was called: I'LL BE ME. What it was, was a look at the life a Musical Icon who, along with his family decide to take his last album on the road despite the fact that he, Glen Campbell, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
What a downer eh?
In one way, yes, but also very uplifting, because although Glen Campbell loses himself and his long and short term memories, by some miracle he still strums that guitar like no other and his voice is still melodic and haunting. Such a wonderfully talented man, who by the grace of design, holds onto the thing that made him one of the defining musicians in the soundtrack to so many lives. I caught this documentary on Netflix and by the time it was over I felt sort of sad, but it also stirred in me those memories that make smile.
I’ll end my post here with a link to Glen Campbell’s final poignant recording: I’M NOT GOING TO MISS YOU.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=176&v=U8TsAh-zYFI
Those songs bring back memories of my adolescence, walking down the dirty old train tacks in my hometown Chilliwack. Playing Scrub baseball with my pal Khalad and most of his family on a homemade ball diamond worn into the park grass by 11 year old sneakers. It was the best time of a boy’s life, unhindered by the worries of status or money, our biggest arguments or worries were over foul balls or "Tick balls don't count," as Khalad liked to declare when he barely caught a piece of a softball pitch.
Behind those memories there was the music, always the music. The theme to every man or woman's childhood. When I think back, I remember hearing the theme to the television show: Barretta. That was before actor Robert Blake became an oddity. We loved Barretta, I remember my other pal Mike, doing impressions Barretta, saying things like: I'm gonna bust yuh man. Or Khalad would retort: Don't do the crime if yuh can't take the time.
Life is a funny thing, when you’re a kid it seems that it just goes on and the soundtrack to life just plays along as we trek forward to those points when we look back and think, “Wow! When did I get here? When did my hair become grey? When did the musicians who were always there in the background strumming their guitars and singing chorus become old?
Last night I watched a documentary on what I thought would be the story of Glen Campbell. It was called: I'LL BE ME. What it was, was a look at the life a Musical Icon who, along with his family decide to take his last album on the road despite the fact that he, Glen Campbell, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
What a downer eh?
In one way, yes, but also very uplifting, because although Glen Campbell loses himself and his long and short term memories, by some miracle he still strums that guitar like no other and his voice is still melodic and haunting. Such a wonderfully talented man, who by the grace of design, holds onto the thing that made him one of the defining musicians in the soundtrack to so many lives. I caught this documentary on Netflix and by the time it was over I felt sort of sad, but it also stirred in me those memories that make smile.
I’ll end my post here with a link to Glen Campbell’s final poignant recording: I’M NOT GOING TO MISS YOU.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=176&v=U8TsAh-zYFI
