Glen Campbell

Slip Slidin' Away: My Life as a Rock Journalist With the Houston Press

I had a hernia operation in the early summer of 2006, and had nothing to do all day but hobble around with cool cane a borrowed from Grandpa Hlavaty and play on the Internets for two months or so. I had developed the injury while working at Domino's, but it was cool because their insurance helped ... More >>

Surely Galveston Can Do Better Than "Galveston"

Notwithstanding the recent Galveston-based Carnival cruise liner whose faulty engines landed its passengers in a world of hurt (and national headlines), the island is again throwing its arms open for the upcoming summer season. Last week the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau announced th ... More >>

Red, White, and Rehab: Country Music's 10 Douchiest Moments

It might be hard to believe, but the same musicians responsible for singing lyrics about big green tractors and diggin' up bones are also responsible for a lot of my Internet entertainment. You see, when famous people do douchey things, it makes me giggle. When those acts are committed by people t ... More >>

Saturday Night: George Jones at Arena Theatre

George Jones Arena Theatre September 8, 2012 I never wondered what it's like to be almost 81 until Saturday. I never expected to live that long, and still don't. But while watching George Jones onstage at the Arena Theatre, it was difficult to not at least wonder. But hell, I'm not even 40 and mos ... More >>

Like To Cry? Watch This New Glen Campbell Video

Glen Campbell's long slow goodbye has been going on now for a little more than a year, since he announced he was suffering from Alzheimer's. "A Better Place" is the second video from Glen Campbell's 2011 album Ghost On The Canvas, and it's a tearjerker. It's the goodbye. Featuring Queens of the ... More >>

New Book Gives Session Aces the Wrecking Crew Their Past Due

The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret By Kent Hartman Thomas Dunne Books, 304 pp., $25.99. Motown had the Funk Brothers, Nashville had the A-Team, and Stax/Volt had their Memphis men, but gold-record-for-gold-record, no group played on more hits in the '60s and '70 ... More >>

Upcoming: Glen Campbell, Toadies, Norah Jones, Crystal Method, Etc.

13 Black Coffins, Ese, Zipperneck, The Failed Attempt: Fri., June 1, 7 p.m., $10. Mango's, 403 Westheimer Road, Houston. 23 Shades, The Solidier Thread: Fri., June 1, 8 p.m., $10/$12. The Bronze Peacock Room @ House Of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Aesop Rock: Fri., Aug. 10, 8 p.m., $18/$22. Fitz ... More >>

The American Bandstand (Extended) Hot 100

Somehow it's hard to believe that Dick Clark was only 82 years old when he died after suffering a "massive heart attack" Wednesday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. (Since I managed to survive one myself, I've noticed that anytime someone dies of a heart attack, it's always "massive."). Despite his yo ... More >>

Top 5 Old Musicians Actually Using Twitter

Like youth itself, Twitter is wasted on the young. But not everyone over 35 has completely tuned it out -- after a recent upgrade to a smartphone, even I'm using it now after years of Twitterphobia. (Hit me up at @ThePhantomTX.) Since I've been on, I've learned that most musicians have handed off t ... More >>

Oklahoma Dust Storm

Jimmy Webb, songwriting legend, is still on the line.

The Beats Go On As Grammys Take Care Of Their Own

Hands up, everyone who is surprised.​The Grammy Awards on CBS Sunday night could have easily turned into a wake - or worse, a funeral. After Whitney Houston's death Saturday, the mood was appropriately somber until a dance party broke out, or perhaps a coming-out party for dance music. Foreve ... More >>

Last Friday Night: Glen Campbell At Arena Theatre

After reading Chris Gray's review of the last Glen Campbell show here in Houston back in September at the Stafford Centre, I was expecting the worst at Campbell's Friday night show at the Arena Theatre. The country legend had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few months before the Stafford show, a ... More >>

Upcoming: Dropkick Murphys, Glen Campbell, Il Divo, Red Fang, Dax Riggs

"The 15th Annual Townes Van Zandt Wake": Sun., Jan. 1. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (413 20th St., Galveston), 413 20th St., Galveston, Galveston. Adrian Bourgeois, Street Violence, Art Institute: Tue., Dec. 13. Super Happy Fun Land, 3801 Polk, Houston. Band Of Skulls: Fri., March 16. Fitzgerald's, 2 ... More >>

Wednesday Open Mike at Blanco's

The seating area next to the dance floor and stage. ​Guitarist Chet Akins, the Country Gentleman, would describe the Nashville sound by jingling some the change in his pocket and saying, "It's the sound of money." Mainstream country's lucrative turn toward pop in the late 1950s eventually blos ... More >>

Last Night: Glen Campbell At Stafford Centre

Photos by Jason Wolter​Glen Campbell Stafford Centre September 21, 2011 Thursday night may have been the most profoundly uncomfortable Aftermath has ever been watching a live performance. In the past year, we have seen many artists of advanced years in concert, from Merle Haggard and Willie ... More >>

Glen Campbell's 15 Greatest Hits - As A Guitarist

Yet another reason to love Pet Sounds.​In a few hours, Rocks Off will be down at the Stafford Centre, watching the sold-out first Houston-area stop on Glen Campbell's extended "Farewell Tour." It might be the only one, but the tour is booked well into 2012, so we figure there's got to be a Dos ... More >>

Wayback Machine To Bad Houston Fashion And Even Worse Ads

News brought to you by THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BOW EVER​Local media Mike McGuff has made a YouTube discovery that should make happy anyone who grew up in Houston in the `70s and early `80s -- a compilation of old news clips and ads. There are some famous faces: Dan Rather, Jessica Savitch, a very ... More >>

Charlie Louvin, Country Music Hall Of Famer, Dies At 83

​Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Louvin, who with his brother Ira ranked with Ralph and Carter Stanley as one of the greatest duos in bluegrass history, passed away overnight. Louvin, 83, had been receiving experimental treatment for pancreatic cancer. Nashville-based entertainment ... More >>

Merry Christmas From Rocks Off

Rocks Off polled our staff for their favorite Christmas songs to create a playlist for you to enjoy while you open presents, drink egg nog, or however else you celebrate. Enjoy. Ahh, the gift that keeps on giving...​Editor's Pick: U2, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)": Neph Basedow: Ped ... More >>

How the West Is Won

The Coen brothers take their tongues out of their cheeks for True Grit.

Kickass Movies of the Year

Our Ten Favorites from 2010 – including Jackass 3D.

Top Five Christmas Movies From Alternate Realities

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn GrayChristmas in an alternate dimension has the potential to be significantly more badass.​If, as so many quantum physicists and dubious science-fiction shows suggest, there are infinite alternate dimensions, then of course that means there are infinite poss ... More >>

Galveston Of The `60s, As Seen By A Glen Campbell Music Video

When was the last time former Galveston County Commissioner Jimmie Vacek got a shout-out in a music video? The answer, we're guessing, is whenever this video came out. A friend of Hair Balls discovered it and passed it on to us. It's Glen Campbell singing "Galveston" to scenes of a forlorn young w ... More >>

Allen Toussaint

Busted! 20 Musician Mugshots

​ Getting arrested and booked isn't the end of the world, by any means. Well unless you just killed a shit-ton of people at a bowling alley or something, it really is. But if you are a rocker or a celebrity who committed a minor offense, it's just a funny footnote in your public life you can look ... More >>

G.I. Blues: A Soldiers' Playlist

​Today is the anniversary of one of the truly momentous occasions in popular music: On March 23, 1958, Elvis Presley reported for induction into the U.S. Army, thus opening up a thousand alternate timelines for musical historians to formulate "What if he hadn't?" scenarios. For the next few years, ... More >>

Eyeballin: James Brown Cape-Walks Away With The T.A.M.I. Show

Often written about, mythologized, and showing up in clips on rock docs and YouTube, the 1964 concert movie The T.A.M.I. Show has amazingly never been released in uncut format until now. And though it was shot in black and white, the exuberance and energy of the concert overcomes any pigmentation pr ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Country Store Buffalo on Breast Implants, Beer-Drinking Bison and That Old Devil Cocaine

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com.​ You are in the enviable ... More >>

The Shredder Returns

One show, one sentence

Songs Slightly Less Inappropriate Than R. Kelly's Latest Single, "Number One"

So R. Kelly's newest single is called "Number One." Seriously? Okay, we know Kelly was found innocent of all child-related golden-shower charges by a jury of 12 idiots, but when the subject of Dave Chappelle's "(I Wanna) Piss On You" releases a single called "Number One"... sorry, but we have to be ... More >>

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: Houston and "Brazoria"

The final installment of our Five States of Texas project brings it all back home, to the new state of Brazoria, encompassing all of Southeast Texas from the Brazos Valley to Sabine Pass. ​Patron Saint: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. A master of rock and roll, country, Cajun/Creole, blues and jazz, n ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Band of Heathens, Glen Campbell, Mastodon, Thursday, etc.

​The Academy Is..., The Secret Handshake, Set Your Goals, Mayday Parade: Thu., Oct. 22. Warehouse Live. All Time Low, Hey Monday, We The Kings, Friday Night Boys: Wed., Oct. 28. House of Blues. Band of Heathens (CD Release Show): Fri., Sept. 11. Warehouse Live. Brand New: Sat., Oct. 31. Verizon W ... More >>

Jimmy Webb

Listening Room: What's Been Tickling Our Earholes Lately

As Rocks Off has noted in our periodic Mail Call entries, even though the tide of promo CDs has been greatly reduced by the digital revolution - Rocks Off can count on one finger (the middle one) the times he's actually used the streaming/download email link publicists are ever more fond of these d ... More >>

Aftermath: Reba McEntire at RodeoHouston

Photos by Mark C. AustinReba McEntire is the closest modern country will ever get to the artistic heights of its pioneering female vocalists. Sure Tanya Tucker had her run but the booze, powders and Glen Campbell took their toll. Shania Twain was just a Nashville/Pat Benatar Frankenstein proje ... More >>

The Country Soul of R. Kelly's "Feelin' on Yo Booty"

The Gourds didn't invent the idea of a ragtag roots-rock band spicing up its set with hip-hop and R&B covers, but thanks to their cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" (endorsed by the Doggfather himself), everybody probably thinks they did. But Gourds co-frontman Kevin Russell, playing&nb ... More >>

Hurricane Ike's Wake

Forgotten and overlooked, Galveston and the Texas Gulf Coast struggle on in the storm's aftermath

The Not-So-New Kids on the Block

Still Hangin' Tough?

SXSW Ephemera, Part Deux: More Random Notes from the Field

The Houston 100: The Master List

Never Go to a Party in Friendswood

Where does your town rank in the Houston-area good-taste stakes?

Black-Ass Fleas

Are they sellouts -- or just really bad rappers?

Git'r Spun!

Countrified DJ Jester the Filipino Fist is the stand-up comedian of scratchers

Let the Eagle Soar

Alt-country hero Fred Eaglesmith dumps guitars and makes a pre-Beatles pop record

New Angels in Rock Heaven

Scoring the grim reaper's 2004 harvest

Glen Campbell

Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and May 2

Dwight Yoakam

Thursday, August 21

Music Awards 2001

A preview of this year's show

World Class?

Houston can't join the ranks of other cities until it has an anthem of its own

Dwight Yoakam

Refusing to be piegeonholed