Glen Campbell, "I'll Be Me"

Bobw235

Bobw235

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
The other night my wife stumbled across this movie, which details the 2011 tour of Glen Campbell in the wake of his Alzheimer's diagnosis. What a wonderful, yet heartbreaking documentary. I can recall my parents having one of his first records, probably back in the '60s. This documentary didn't focus so much on his early career as it did the tour and how the singer and his family coped with the illness. I marvelled at his guitar playing in this movie, especially in one scene with his daughter while she played banjo and they dueled on their instruments. An amazing piece. The documentary was sometimes hard to watch, especially for my wife, whose father is in the midst of this awful disease. The same traits that we see in her father at this stage (he's probably in stage 5-6 of the 7 stages of the disease) are evident in Campbell towards the end of the film. If you were once a Glen Campbell fan, you'll appreciate this last look at a true artist. The fans seemed to greet him warmly and understood that the performance would not always be perfect (and the documentary makes that quite evident). Highly recommend this if you can catch it on TV or DVD. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/glen_campbell_ill_be_me/
 

Thank you Bob, I used to have some of his music on vinyl, I did see him on tv, I think he was doing a tour here in Britain as well in the last couple of years,while he still could.
 
Thank you Bob, it's like Linda Ronstadt coming out about Parkinson's. Such a tragedy there...but good to get rid of the shame of these illnesses.
 

I always liked Glen Campbell and watched his show regularly. It's a shame for anyone to get this disease. I don't know much about it, but I have heard many people say that it has a slow progression from bad to worse.

Glen's song, "I'm Not Gonna' Miss You." (Listening to it brought tears to my eyes.)

 
oldman said:
I always liked Glen Campbell and watched his show regularly. It's a shame for anyone to get this disease. I don't know much about it, but I have heard many people say that it has a slow progression from bad to worse.
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Watching my father-in-law go from someone who was this lively, talkative, energetic soul to someone who is now confused by the simplest of tasks or questions, is just horrible. He is a shell of his former self, as is Glen Campbell. Hard to witness.
 
I saw this documentary and it's not easy to watch. Glen Campbell is such a huge talent....it's sad to see him eclipsed by this horrible disease. I watched him on Smother's Brothers Show and later on his own. My favorite Glen Campbell song of all time is Wichita Lineman.

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Bob,I also saw it. I came away feeling a little down, how sad. But what a great talent and career he has had. I also saw The Wrecking Crew. A lot of talent was behind the scenes early on. Gleen was one of the many 'session musicians' during the '60's. My 3 favorites but all are good is, Rhinestone Cowboy, Gentle on My Mind and Galveston. Yes it is sad,but his music will live on for future generations.
 

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