It was sad to see him pass away earlier this week but I knew it was inevitable from Alzheimer’s. Before he died, Glen did manage a couple more records I scored. Ghost on the Canvas was the most heartfelt finale in 2011 because he performed songs by “my bands'” writers: Paul Westerberg, Robert Pollard, Jakob Dylan (he’s my age even though I find the Wallflowers dull) and Roger Manning. To me it showed his influence in other genres, especially to those of us who grew in the Seventies and Glen’s stuff was on AM radio.
I remember him fondly for “Rhinestone Cowboy,” which I chose over the more popular “Convoy” by CW McCall in grade school during some silly religion class crap. He also held on to the moniker through variety shows. On Donny & Marie he was this pseudo-bond villain who was going to destroy the heroes with his rhinestone pinky. Then last Summer, I was on a big Seals & Croft kick (don’t laugh, those guys are skilled musicians) and on YouTube there was this variety show Glen had on CBS with the duo as guests. The three of them reminisced about their days as session musicians in the Sixties as they played snippets of hits they were on, e.g. “Tequila” by the Champs.
Anyway, as I grew into a cynical teen, poor Glen fell by the wayside since Country was now uncool. His on-again, off-again engagement to Tanya Tucker had become a joke in Hollywood gossip circles too. Ghost was when I had a bit of a reconciliation with his material, plus his last major hit “Southern Nights” was used to comical effect in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2.
Thanks for the musical memories Glen. I’m glad your suffering is over too. Losing your memories is one of the most painful things I could imagine given how far back mine go.