A Great Vocal With A Questionable Arrangement

I loved this one when I was a kid. Now that I understand more deeply what these lyrics are saying, the arrangement strikes me as hugely inappropriate. The horns are too bright, too celebratory; it’s just wrong.

Glen Campbell got it right, though. This is one of the best vocals he ever did. The song is Jimmy Webb’s “Galveston”.

A powerful reminder that one of the most-recorded songs of the 1960s had deep roots in … bluegrass.

That’s the composer – the late, great John Hartford – on banjo. He’s joined by Glen Campbell and Ricky Skaggs at the Grand Ole Opry for “Gentle On My Mind”.