article: In a career spanning six decades, he released more than 70 albums and amassed nine Grammy awards. His melodic songs found success in the pop charts with hits including Galveston, Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman. And he also made a foray into acting, notably alongside John Wayne in the film True Grit. Glen Travis Campbell was born in Pike County, Arkansas, on 22 April 1936, the seventh of 12 children. His father was a sharecropper, a tenant who paid his rent with a proportion of the crops that he grew. His first guitar cost $7 from a Sears catalogue and he whiled away the time teaching himself to play. "We didn't have power in the house, but we did have an old battery radio. And whenever I heard a new song, usually on a local country station, I'd learn it." His proficiency led to an offer to join a band fronted by his uncle, Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys. There were appearances on local radio and a spot on a children's TV channel. Campbell moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and became a member of a group of musicians named The Wrecking Crew, who backed artists such as Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. His first solo chart entry, Turn Round and Look at Me, reached 62 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. He also played a pivotal role in the producer Phil Spector's famous Wall of Sound technique. "When I met Phil, he was knocked out by my playing," Campbell later recalled. "He was like a child with a new toy." For three months in 1965 he toured with the Beach Boys, filling in for singer Brian Wilson, who had experienced a breakdown. His big break came in 1967 with the Jimmy Webb song By the Time I Get to Phoenix, which reached number two in the US Country charts. Campbell's partnership with Webb was to be a fruitful one, as hit followed hit. Wichita Lineman went to No 1 in the US and also broke him in Britain where it reached the Top 10 in 1968. "Jimmy used to write in the studio as I was recording," said Campbell. "When he sang me the parts of Wichita Lineman he'd written, I knew it was a hit." The song collected a Grammy and became much requested by US soldiers fighting in Vietnam. He followed it up with Galveston a year later, which again charted on both sides of the Atlantic. In January 1969 he started hosting his own primetime TV show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. The show, which ran for three years, made him a huge star and his fame encouraged a glittering roster of stars to appear with him. Johnny Cash, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson and the Monkees were among the artists who were guests on the show. He was also invited by John Wayne, a long time Campbell admirer, to appear in the Western True Grit. He won a Grammy for his performance of the film's title song. His biggest hit came in
summary: Glen Campbell was one of the most successful country singers of his generation.