Jitterbugging for Jesus

The tributes to his greatness Glen Campbell have poured in all week, for good reason.

As his musical partner Jimmy Webb said — he who wrote all those great Glen classics like “Galveston” and “Lineman For the County”–Glen Campbell was “the American Beatle.”

The humble Arkansas boy worked with or hung out with every giant in the music business spanning decades–Elvis, Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Wilson Pickett and every other big name in entertainment.

Including his close friend Alice Cooper.

Talk about an odd couple…

When Glen met Alice, a great personal and spiritual bond was created, borne out of their Christian walks and recoveries from cocaine addiction.*

Watch the following video or at least a few minutes of it (it’s long) of a TV interview with Alice or at least check out the Rolling Stone piece here.

In the 11-minute video, Alice gives a real sense of what Glen Campbell the gracious Christian man was like in the good times and bad. It includes yarns like the one about the time Campbell slugged a cop in a one-time “slip” from recovery and the time he hosted a “hillbilly Seder supper” for a Jewish neighbor.

More great videos for you are here, starting with his mind-boggling guitar pickin’ on “Gentle on My Mind” (written by John Hartford, not Webb)– one of my two or three top faves:

“Galveston” is my sentimental favorite (writ by Jimmy Webb), having grown up close enough to the coastal city and tramped around on its beaches so many times from the time I was standing to my daddy’s knees.

Him with Roy Clark, a most underrated guitar picker and singer himself, who like everybody else alway said he was in awe of Glen’s natural abilities:

* One thing I like about Alice Cooper, besides the fact that he’s an exceptional golfer (as was Glen) and I’m an exceptionally devout golf fan is this: He’s a devout, old-time gospel student and evangelical Christian–he grew up a PK (preacher’s kid) and rebelled as so many PK’s are prone to do–who’s always been open about his repentance and conversion. But he’s not one to wear his Christianity on his sleeve, saying he doesn’t like “celebrity Christianity because it puts the focus on me the celebrity and not on Jesus Christ.”