Ronda Rich
Syndicated Columnist
A few years before singing star Glen Campbell was forced to give up his fabled career due to illness, I spent a couple of hours listening to his stories.
Actually, I was the guest of his opening act, Grand Ole Opry star Roy Clark. A story that I’ll save for another day was Roy talking of his friendship with baseball legend Mickey Mantle. I’ll remember always the sadness that covered his face when I asked about the song he sang at Mantle’s funeral.
After a nice conversation, Roy drifted over to talk to others and, oddly, Glen and I wound up on a well-worn sofa, conversing. He talked about Bobbie Gentry and the short time she was married to Bill Harrah, the casino magnate.
He and Bobbie had recorded a duet album.
“Do you know where she is?”
I asked. This is a question I have been asking for 15 years.
He shook his head. “She just disappeared. Walked off stage one night and that was that.”
That night as we talked, it was evident that something was wrong.
Sometimes, his sentences didn’t make sense and, at other times, he would suddenly jump from one subject to another in one sentence.
But there is a story that he told fully and, in such a way, that it was powerful and inspiring. Recently, I saw a clip of a country music star telling the story almost identically to how Glen had told me.
Glen was sitting in the Atlanta airport, waiting for a connecting flight. A pretty, blonde flight attendant walked up to him and said – he repeated it in a high female voice – “Mr. Campbell, my husband is a singer and he wants to go to Nashville.” From her purse, she pulled a cassette. This goes to remind us: Always be prepared for an opportunity.
Being the nice guy that he way, Glen told her that he should write songs and if he did, he’d have the manager of his publishing company listen to them. He gave her a card with the manager’s name, address and phone number. A day or two later when Glen talked to his publishing company manager, he told him that might get a call or cassette from a guy in Georgia.
A short time later, a cassette did, indeed, arrive at the Nashville office. After listening to the songs the hopeful singer had written, the publishing manager called Glen.
“Remember that guy you told me about in Georgia? The one whose wife is a flight attendant?”
“Yeah,” Glen replied. “Did he send you anything?”
“He sure did and I’m sure that this cassette has two or three hits on it.”
Glen shook his head, looking off in the distance as he recollected on the conversation. “I don’t think he had written anything before I met his wife and songwriting isn’t as easy as it looks. You’ve either got the talent or not.”
“Were the songs good?” I asked.
He laughed. Not because of the question but because life is funny and unpredictable. The bravado of the young woman who had approached had taken a turn that no one could predict. His manager made a copy of the cassette and mailed it to Glen. As soon as he played it, he called back to Nashville, “You’re right. He’s a winner.
Sign him to a writing contract and get him to Nashville as quick as you can.”
Glen Campbell closed his eyes, remembering the songs. “Wanna know the first song on the cassette?” By this time, I was spell bound.
“Of course.”
In a moment of magic, Glen Campbell begin singing, “But here in the real world it’s not that easy at all; ‘Cause when hearts get broken, it’s real tears that fall.”
My mouth dropped. “Alan Jackson?”
“Yeah, first song he ever wrote.”
He shook his head in admiration.
“What a great song.”
What a great story, too.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of the Stella Bankwell series.
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