Version City #66 - Glen Campbell sings Nico

Though we all knew the day was coming, the death of Glen Campbell on Tuesday was still a painful blow. In the days since the announcement, the tributes have been warm and plentiful and much of the great man's music has received a deserved airing.

On his 2008 'Meet Glen Campbell' LP, Glen, backed by musicians such as Cheap Trick's Rick Nielson and the great Jason Falkner, covered songs by Tom Petty, Travis, Foo Fighters, The Replacements, U2, Lou Reed, Green Day and John Lennon. Also on that record was Glen's reading of 'These Days', a much covered song written by Jackson Browne, one that I initially became familiar with on Nico's first post-Velvet Underground LP 'Chelsea Girl'.

Glen Campbell - These Days 

Nico - These Days 

As a bonus, to round things off, here's the aforementioned Jason Falkner, performing an acoustic version of 'Wichita Lineman'. Farewell Glen.

Version City #48 - The Mad Lads sing Glen Campbell

Charity Chic caused a good natured kerfuffle last weekend, when he posted a pretty shocking cover of 'Wichita Lineman' by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (check out the grizzly evidence here). All is well in the world once again though, following yesterday's post, which featured a brace of Jimmy Webb penned classics performed by Glen Campbell himself (here).

Many, many years ago, a friend who worked in local radio let it slip that he was due to interview Glen Campbell later that week. The next time I bumped into my chum, I 'coincidentally' happened to have a couple of Glen's singles from my own collection tucked under my arm. My mate took the hint and managed to get the labels signed for me after the interview. Unfortunately, Glen was under the impression that the records actually belonged to my pal, making the dedication out to him instead of me. No matter really, I'm well pleased to have them.

I always though that Roy Orbison should've had a crack at 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix'. Here though are The Mad Lads from the Summer of 1969 with their soulful take on the song. The single, on Stax subsidiary Volt, was produced by Al Jackson of the MG's and proved to be the group's final hit. Check out those moves.