If anyone is interested on what Alzheimer's can to to a person and the effects on their families please watch this special that has been showing on CNN.
People may question the motives for the tour but I appreciated the raw, unvarnished portrait of Glen Campbell with this insidious disease. It was painful to watch at times but I'm glad I did. God bless Glen Campbell. What an immensely talented man.
If you ever get the chance to see Jimmy Webb perform, go and see him. Tells a lot of great stories about Glen and, trust me, you've never really heard "Galveston" or "Wichita Lineman" until you've heard Jimmy Webb sing them.
I was privileged to see Glen Campbell at The Birchmere in Alexandria VA on that final tour, before his disease took over completely. The joy that he got from being on stage and playing his music, surrounded by his protective children, was something that will stay with me forever...even more than the wonderful songs he played that night.
What a riveting special. Either had no idea, or completely forgot, how talented the guy was. He plays a guitar solo in the special that's among the best I've ever heard. There's a story in Rolling Stone that quotes his daughter saying he is not doing too well now. How sad. His wife comes off as pretty Kardashian in this special, however.
Very good documentary on Campbell and the toll of dealing with Alzheimer's. His wife may look Kardashian as someone noted above, but her love for her husband comes through. What's amazing to watch in the documentary is him forgetting or fumbling through the lyrics for his songs, but when he starts to play solo runs on the guitar, his playing skill is still there. Think about all the songs he played on as part of the Wrecking Crew back in the 1960s and his own stuff. His version of Wichita Lineman is a permanent part of my music mix. From what I last read a couple of months ago, his Alzheimer's has really taken hold and he is now in a special care hospice for advanced Alzheimer's patients in Tennesse.
Campbell was a great session musician in the 60's - 80's. Everyone wanted him to help record their albums. I wasn't going to watch all of it but once I started watching, I couldn't turn it off. Yes, very sad but he is lucky to have such a loving family and bunch of friends around him. I can't imagine being alone with that horrible disease.