Glen Campbell had years as an in-demand but relatively unknown sideman, with a series of low-profile albums to his name. But in his highly productive 1967-68 season, he was making the most of his hard-earned fame.
Having placed not one but two LPs on the pop charts in December 1967 in Gentle On My Mind and By The Time I Get To Phoenix — both of which would turn platinum — he was back on the country bestsellers on March 30, 1968 with Hey, Little One. Produced as usual by Al De Lory and recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, the album had one highly unusual feature.
Campbell’s remake of the Dorsey Burnette and Barry de Vorzon composition “Hey Little One,” a stylish Top 50 pop single for Burnette in 1960, was part of Glen’s By The Time I Get To Phoenix set. What’s more, it was a No.13 country hit and reached No.54 on the Hot 100. Then, oddly, the same recording also became the title track and opening song on the new release.
Soon afterwards, Campbell’s interpretation of John D. Loudermilk’s “I Wanna Live” was released as a single from Hey, Little One and gave him his first country No.1. The album also featured Glen’s versions of some well-known hits and lesser-known tracks. He cut Bob Lind’s “Elusive Butterfly,” Roy Orbison’s “It’s Over” and “Woman, Woman,” which had just become the first hit for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.
Campbell sings Dylan
Glen’s versatility as a vocal stylist was underlined by covers in such contrasting styles as Bob Dylan’s “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Have Never Met),” first heard on the 1964 album Another Side Of Bob Dylan; and the melodramatic “The Impossible Dream,” which had already attracted versions by the Temptations and Frank Sinatra. Campbell also re-recorded “Turn Around, Look At Me,” the Jerry Capehart song that had been his first singles chart entry as far back as 1961.
Listen to the best of Glen Campbell on Apple Music and Spotify.
Hey, Little One reached No.26 on the US pop album chart, spending an impressive 51 weeks on the survey, and became the third of no fewer than seven consecutive No.1s on the country LP chart.
Buy or stream Hey, Little One.
