Glen Campbell listening

What do you know about the musician Glen Campbell?

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1 Glen Campbell had more than 20 top 10 hits on the country / rock / classical and pop charts.2 He hosted his own radio / TV / theatre show.3 He died at 71 / 81 / 91. 4 His biggest hit topped the charts in 1975 / 1985 / 1995.

Circle the options which you think are correct in these statements, and then listen to the first part of the report and check your ideas:

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1 How did Campbell learn to play the guitar?2 Why don’t we know for sure how many recordings Campbell made?3 Who did he provide guitar parts for?4 How long was he a Beach Boy for?

Listen to the next part of the report and answer these questions:2

His career took off quickly.Songwriter Jimmy Webb became Glen Campbell’s musical partner. Campbell’s chart success led to opportunities in film and TV.Campbell had ten siblings.

Listen to the next part of the report and say whether these statements are true or false:2

Listen to the next part of the report and note down what happened at the height and towards 2

Suggest words for the gaps in the lyrics on the next page and then listen to the final part of the report and check your ideas.

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the end of his career.

It’s knowing that your door is always ___________And your path is free to walkThat makes me tend to leave my sleeping ___________Rolled up and stashed behind your couchAnd it’s knowing I’m not shackledBy forgotten words and bondsAnd the ink stains that are ___________ upon some line

Do you like Glen Campbell’s music?b2/2

That keeps you in the backroadsBy the rivers of my memoryThat keeps you ever gentle on my ___________It’s not clinging to the rocks and ivy_______________ on their columns now that bind meOr something that somebody ___________Because they thought we fit together walkingIt’s just knowing that the world will not be cursingOr forgiving when I walk along some railroad ___________ and findThat you’re moving on the backroadsBy the rivers of my memoryAnd for hours you’re just gentle on my mindThough the wheat ___________ and the clothes linesAnd the junkyards and the highways come between usAnd some other woman’s crying to her motherCause she turned and I was goneI still might run in silence tears of ___________ might stain my faceAnd the summer sun might ___________ me till I’m blindBut not to where I cannot see you walking on the backroadsBy the rivers flowing gentle on my mindI dip my cup of soup back from a gurglingCrackling caldron in some train yardMy beard a rustling, cold towel, andA dirty hat pulled low across my ___________Through cupped ___________ round the tin canI pretend to hold you to my breast and findThat you’re waiting from the backroadsBy the rivers of my memoriesEver smiling ever gentle on my ___________

Glen Campbell listening

advanced (C1)week of 11.09.17

student pages 2

Transcript

Teacher’s notes 1/2

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Over the course of a career that spanned half a century, Glen Campbell sold more than 40 million records and scored more than 20 top 10 hits on the country and pop charts. He also acted in movies and hosted his own TV show. Glen Campbell died today after a well-publicized struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81. Blake Farmer of member station WPLN in Nashville has this remembrance of a session musician who became a star.BLAKE FARMER, BYLINE: Glen Campbell’s biggest hit topped both the pop and country charts in 1975.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RHINESTONE COWBOY”)

GLEN CAMPBELL: (Singing) I’ve been walking these streets so long, singing the same old song.FARMER: Campbell once said he didn’t consider himself a country singer, but rather a country boy who sings. And historian John Rumble from the Country Music Hall of Fame says Campbell had something few do.JOHN RUMBLE: When he was on stage and started to sing, you knew there was a star on stage. I don’t know how to explain it because it’s an aura. It’s a feeling. You knew this was somebody special.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RHINESTONE COWBOY”)G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) Like a rhinestone cowboy riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo.

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FARMER: Long before he was a household name, Campbell was a studio musician in Los Angeles, part of the famous Wrecking Crew. He was a self-taught guitarist whose training consisted mostly of informal lessons in the lap of his Uncle Boo back in Arkansas. Campbell couldn’t read music, but Rumble says he could play anything.RUMBLE: Glen just fit right in. He was so doggone good.FARMER: We don’t know for sure how many recordings Campbell made because in the ‘50s and ‘60s producers cloaked who actually played on a session. But he provided guitar parts for records by Jan and Dean, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and

the Beach Boys.(SOUNDBITE OF THE BEACH BOYS SONG, “BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL”)FARMER: Campbell even became a Beach Boy for about six months, replacing front man Brian Wilson on tour. Years later, Campbell joked about it in his own concerts.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) It’s the little old lady from Pasadena. It’s the little old lady from Pasadena.That’s about the way it sounded. It was fun, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my musical career playing bass and singing the high part.

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3 FARMER: That career got off to a slow start - a few minor hits. But then he found a groove.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “GENTLE ON MY MIND”)G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) It’s knowing that your door is always open and your path is free to walk.FARMER: A long-term collaboration began with songwriter Jimmy Webb, who says he grew up daydreaming about working with Glen Campbell. The two would become musical partners. And Webb says Campbell doesn’t get enough credit for his contributions beyond performing.JIMMY WEBB: Nobody compared with him when it came to picking a song and then arranging it. He left his stamp on whatever material he did.FARMER: Together, Webb and Campbell produced such top 40 hits as “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “Wichita Lineman.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WICHITA LINEMAN”)G. CAMPBELL: (Singing) And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. And the Wichita lineman is still on the line.FARMER: Campbell’s chart success led to opportunities in film and TV, including a stint on network television. He hosted “Glen Campbell’s Good Time Hour.” Guests ranged from actor John Wayne to The Monkees to his own family. The 12 siblings became source material for Campbell’s well-known wit.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)G. CAMPBELL: Dad said they come cheaper by the dozen. I guess Mom was hard of hearing. You know, down on the farm there’s not too much activity. And he said, you want to go to bed or what? And she says, what?

FARMER: At the height of his fame, Campbell hit personal lows, divorces and a drug and alcohol problem. His struggle with cocaine surprised those who knew him best considering his Christian upbringing and outspoken faith. He got his life back in order and continued performing. Then in

2011, he announced he’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. And instead of receding into the shadows, he planned a tour. For more than a year, he played shows around the country backed by a band that included some of his children.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

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Glen Campbell listening

It’s knowing that your door is always openAnd your path is free to walkThat makes me tend to leave my sleeping bagRolled up and stashed behind your couchAnd it’s knowing I’m not shackledBy forgotten words and bondsAnd the ink stains that are dried upon some lineThat keeps you in the backroadsBy the rivers of my memoryThat keeps you ever gentle on my mindIt’s not clinging to the rocks and ivyPlanted on their columns now that bind meOr something that somebody saidBecause they thought we fit together walkingIt’s just knowing that the world will not be cursingOr forgiving when I walk along some railroad track and findThat you’re moving on the backroadsBy the rivers of my memoryAnd for hours you’re just gentle on my mindThough the wheat fields and the clothes linesAnd the junkyards and the highways come between usAnd some other woman’s crying to her motherCause she turned and I was goneI still might run in silence tears of joy might stain my faceAnd the summer sun might burn me till I’m blindBut not to where I cannot see you walking on the backroadsBy the rivers flowing gentle on my mindI dip my cup of soup back from a gurglingCrackling caldron in some train yardMy beard a rustling, cold towel, andA dirty hat pulled low across my faceThrough cupped hands round the tin canI pretend to hold you to my breast and findThat you’re waiting from the backroadsBy the rivers of my memoriesEver smiling ever gentle on my mind

ASHLEY CAMPBELL: Introduce me, Dad.G. CAMPBELL: Huh?A. CAMPBELL: Introduce me.G. CAMPBELL: I have. I got it right here. I had to write it down or you would’ve got it first.FARMER: A teleprompter helped Campbell stay on track, though not always perfectly. Aside from the lyrics to his songs, the screen provided notes that he would occasionally read aloud, like, play long solo here.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)G. CAMPBELL: I’ll play one then.FARMER: Campbell couldn’t remember his kids’

names and faces, but he could still feel out a fretboard and wow a crowd. Filmmaker James Keach directed a documentary, “I’ll Be Me,” that chronicled the farewell tour.JAMES KEACH: It was completely embedded in this guy’s psyche. And he’d done it since he was, you know, 5 years old. It’s his default, is that his hands will start doing that. You know, that he - that’s his language. That’s his first language, is music.FARMER: Keach says Glen Campbell never warmed up and never sang out of key. It was an unexpected blessing to Campbell’s fans that his musical talent was one of the last things to go.

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advanced (C1)week of 11.09.17

Teacher’s notes 2 /2

Glen Campbell listening