Glen Campbell

I ended this week's show with a little tribute to Glen Campbell by playing his version of Jimmy Webb's "Adios". It's such a perfect farewell song that you might have thought it was specifically written by Webb for Campbell's farewell album. Why, it even seems to make a sly reference to Campbell's stint in the Beach Boys back in the '60s:

Our dreams of endless summer
Were just too grandiose

Surprisingly, though, the song is decades old, making its first appearance on Linda Ronstadt's 1989 Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind album. 

Still, I don't think any version can match Glen Campbell's from here on out. It's the perfect song for this moment. Sentimental, reflective, spare and beautifully sung. A worthy ending to a long enduring career.

Also worth reading:

* Steve Crawford's appreciation of Campbell is the best one I read this week

* In 2015, country critic David Cantwell wrote a nice profile of Campbell in the New Yorker