Rhinestone Cowboy: An Autobiography - Hardcover

There's some good stuff here about Campbell's poverty-stricken Arkansas childhood; his recording sessions with Elvis, the Kingston Trio, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, and dozens of other acts; his days as a Beach Boy; his admiration for John Wayne, whom he met during the filming of True Grit; his affair with Tanya Tucker; and, not least, his friendship with Pat Paulsen, whose hilarious monologue on gun control is reprinted here. Campbell's career reached its zenith in the early 1970s, when he had his own TV show born of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The parent show, of course, went down for political reasons, which Campbell--and coauthor Carter, a straightforward stylist--talk about with some clarity. Campbell's own downward spiral late in the 1970s followed an unfortunately predictable pattern: alcohol and cocaine abuse. Those dark hours, however, give us the one affecting moment in Campbell's book, during which, with unknowing and ironic desperation, he snorts cocaine and reads his Bible with a kind of furious resolve to do better. Nowadays, Campbell is a sober Christian who tours, plays golf, and takes care of his family. His tone is tedious at times, particularly when he carps about the press, and the reader may long to know more about Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Bobbie Gentry, Roger Miller, and Merle Haggard than Campbell wishes to tell. A lot of good country people were moved by Campbell's recordings of Jimmy Webb songs such as "Wichita Lineman," however, and his book is a sure hit. John Mort

Campbell's autobiography shows the pop and country/western singer, guitarist and composer making it to the top, sinking and rising again as he overcame troubles with alcohol, drugs and three marriages--and found religion. Writing with Carter, who also collaborated with Ronnie Milsap and Ralph Emery on their books, Campbell recalls the grinding poverty he underwent as one of 12 children of an Arkansas sharecropper, the career he established playing backup for Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross, and his joining the Beach Boys at the height of their popularity, all before he made it on his own. As interesting as Campbell's story is, his book is disappointing, for his fundamentalism turns him to sermonizing against abortion, the banning of school prayer and the liberal press. Photos not seen by PW. Dou ble day Book Club selection; author tour.
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