Glen Campbell – Some Early Stories

The first time I remember seeing Glen was when I was playing with Dick Dale at a high school prom and Glen was the opening act. All I could think was who was this guy? Amazing singing and guitar playing. This had to be around 1961-62.

The first time I met Glen was at the recording session for “King Of The Surf Guitar”. This was my first recording session with L.A. session players and Dick’s first album on Capitol. From what I understand Capitol and/or the producer wanted to use session players and not the Del Tones (big mistake as why would you want to NOT use the band?). Anyway Dick insisted on having at least one of the Del Tones on the session and I got to be that guy. I was scared to death but young enough not to know better. I get to the session and who am I sitting next to but Glen Campbell! I was never a good reader and at that time didn’t know much about “charts” but of course the first thing everyone gets is a chart. I said to Glen “but I don’t read music”. Glen said not to worry he really didn’t either and they would run it down a few times and by then you would know it. Of course that’s exactly what happened and I was thankful to Glen for calming me down!

I think the next time I ran into him was on the Righteous Brothers session for “Try To Find Another Man”. I wasn’t on the session but went to listen and sure enough Glen was playing that cool, low guitar part. I asked Glen about that guitar of his as it had such a great sound and he told me he had bought it in a pawn shop in Tijuana, Mexico.

Throughout the years I would continue to run into Glen. At one point he was opening for the Righteous Brothers. I would stand backstage every night watching him and listening to his many, very, “hot licks”. I would also pester him to show me something he had just played and he was always kind enough to do so.

The first picture to the left is of Glen and Drew Johnson (drummer for the Righteous Brothers). This was on a tour through the south. The second picture is of Mike Patterson (piano player and road manager) and Glen on the same tour in Corpus Christi TX.

Another time we were out on the road with the Brothers and ran into Glen playing bass for the Beach Boys!

One of my favorite stories about Glen is that he and I were sitting at the bar in the Red Velvet, a hot spot on Sunset Blvd (This was probably around 1963). We were commiserating about the music business and all the ups and downs. I asked Glen how he was doing and he proceeded to tell me that things were not that great and he was thinking about moving back to Arkansas!

And the rest, they say, is history.

Dick Dale and Will Ferrell.

What do Dick Dale and Will Ferrell have in common? Well bear with me and I will enlighten you!

I ran across some old pictures the other day and it reminded me of a bit of trivia that some of you might find interesting. BTW my meanderings have no chronological order – it’s just how they happen to pop up.

After I returned from Vietnam in 1962 I was discharged from the Marine Corp and rejoined Dick Dale and The Del Tones (or His Del Tones as we were sometimes referred to). At different times Dick would have two sax players. The one constant sax player was Barry Rillera, who, as I have mentioned before was a great guitar player. The second player would change from time to time. I believe Barry was there before I left for overseas, but I’m not sure of the other. It may have been Armando Frank or someone named Jerry? (not sure, help!).

When I rejoined Dick in 1962 he was playing at Harmony Park. The second sax player was a new arrival from North Carolina named Lee Ferrell (OK, now you know where this is going!). Because Lee and I were the new guys in the band we became friends and went on to work in a number of little bands around the area (on our off nights with Dick). Lee was a quiet guy off stage, but we would be playing in these small local bars and some nights he would just do the craziest things – Jump up on the tables or the bar while playing, pull out a crazy wig and just generally cut up. You never knew when it would happen and he would be totally spontaneous. He was very, very funny.
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Dick Dale, surf guitar and me

Check out the this video.

Yep that’s me in the center, goofy smile and all. An exciting group to watch huh? Still wish I had that Strat for the price they are going for today!

I was in the Marine Corps stationed at the Air Facility in Santa Ana CA. Being from Connecticut I soon discovered the beaches, Balboa Island and the Balboa peninsula. I used to watch Dick playing at the Rinky Dink ice cream parlor and then later at the Rendezvous Ballroom on the peninsula. [Read more]