It has been a while, but there was a time when I was a part of Glen Campbell’s life, as a friend. He truly had an amazing gift for performing, singing and playing guitar. His voice seemed to get better and better as the years went by.
I was a friend of his when he was married, but he was soon divorced and going out with Tanya Tucker. When he married again after Tanya and moved to Arizona, we didn’t see each other after that.
When I knew him, Glen had a mansion in Beverly Hills. He had some amazing parties where I got to meet Roger Miller and Tanya Tucker, for starters. I would also visit from time to time.
One visit I took my daughter, Jennifer, when she was about eight years old. I’ll never forget how impressed she was with his big and beautiful mansion. His wife sat with Jennifer on the couch. Jennifer sat very properly with her hands folded in her lap. She looked at Glen’s wife and said, “Boy, I bet you have a lot of dusting and vacuuming to do here.” We all got a big kick out of it.
I sang on a lot of his demos for the Glen Campbell publishing company. I remember singing a lot at his home and that was always fun. I sang with Glen at times and I got to sing with Tanya Tucker, as well, after Glen started dating her.
Tanya was a real kick – a lot of fun. She had such a strong singing voice, which I really liked. It made me step up my game.
There were times in Las Vegas when I got to hang out with Tanya and we laughed a lot – and maybe drank too much one night. We both just went to our rooms and slept it off, thank goodness, and didn’t get into any trouble.
One time I was given the keys to Glen’s classic 1957 Corvette and he said to drive it around for a few days. Wow, that was a blast. The car was beautiful. It was a convertible with a hard top. The weather was nice, the hard top was taken off, and away I rode – in style.
Because I sang on the publishing demos, I was asked to go to James Garner’s house to sing some songs for Waylon Jennings and Jessie Coulter. There was a party in progress and it was pretty low-key when I first arrived.
I was so excited to be there that I became this very bubbly person who couldn’t stop smiling. The party seemed to pick up and there was more and more music being performed by different artists there. I had the time of my life.
When everybody started to leave, James Garner stood at the door to say goodbye. He was a great host. I will never forget what he said to me when he gave me a good night kiss and hug. He said, “You are like a flower sent to my party.”
These are only a few of the memories I have of Glen. Those days were another lifetime ago, but I will always feel honored to have been a part of his life – even though it was a very small part.
RIP dear Glen – and God bless all of your loved ones.
By Elizabeth Stevens
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