A native son returns home to Arkansas for a 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12 performance at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the University of Central Arkansas campus.
Award-winning performer Glen Campbell, a native of Delight (Pike County), will continue the UCA Nostalgia Series with a show that surely will delight his audience with sounds as varied as rock, pop, country, bluegrass and gospel.
“His popularity is evident in his recording – he has over 35 albums to his credit, the first released in 1962 and the most recent in 2008,” said UCA Director of Public Appearances Jerry Biebesheimer. “In addition, there have been over 80 compilation albums released (by Campbell).”
The Country Music Hall-of-Famer left Arkansas and was touring the South at the age of 18 as part of the Western Wranglers. He eventually landed in California where he performed with the Champs for their hit, “Tequila”, and spent the better part of the 1960s performing as a session musician, even filling for Brian Wilson in 1964-65 as a touring member of the Beach Boys.
But it wasn’t until the latter part of the decade that he made an even bigger name for himself. He had a string of No. 1 hits in the late ‘60s, including “Gentle on My Mind”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston”, and two more in the late 1970s with “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights”.
Campbell even parlayed his musical success, which featured being named the coveted Country Music Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, into an acting career that included appearances in seven motion pictures, including 1969’s True Grit starring John Wayne, and numerous specials and appearances on television.
In 2003, the eight-time Grammy Award winner was ranked 29th on Country Music Televisions’ 40 Greatest Men of Country Music. With nine No. 1 singles to his credit, Campbell will not have a shortage of music to please the crowd.
His oldest daughter, Debby Campbell, who has performed with her father since 1987, will join him on the Reynolds stage.
Tickets, on sale now at the UCA Ticket Central Box Office, are $30-$40 for adults, $27-$37 for senior citizens, $25-$35 for UCA alumni, $23-$33 for UCA faculty and staff, and $10 for UCA students with a current student I.D. For tickets, call (501) 450-3265 or toll free from anywhere in Arkansas at 1-866-810-0012 or visit www.uca.edu/tickets. — Phil Seaton
