Trying to find a disco angle to Glen Campbell's RHINESTONE COWBOY

[remicks]

*****

I've admitted it before ....

I 've got a soft spot for 70's Country Music .

In the mid-seventies just as disco was shakin' its booty into pop music ... country music likewise was successfully lassoing its share of the top 40 .
In 1975 ,wedged between the disco,rock, and soul hits ,
six country songs went all the way to the top of Billboard's Hot 100.

One of those was Glen Campbell's RHINESTONE COWBOY..... a heartfelt story of a guy's continuing hopes while battling the daily reality of city life as he seeks his evasive dreams of fame and fortune :


I've been walkin' these streets so long
Singin' the same old song
I know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Broadway
Where hustle's the name of the game ( DO THE HUSTLE )
And nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain
There's been a load of compromisin'
On the road to my horizon
But I'm gonna be where the lights are shinin' on me

Like a rhinestone cowboy
Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Getting cards and letters from people I don't even know
And offers comin' over the phone

Well, I really don't mind the rain
And a smile can hide all the pain
But you're down when you're ridin' the train that's takin' the long way
And I dream of the things I'll do
With a subway token and a dollar tucked inside my shoe
There'll be a load of compromisin'
On the road to my horizon
But I'm gonna be where the lights are shinin' on me

Like a rhinestone cowboy
Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo
Rhinestone cowboy
Gettin' cards and letters from people I don't even know
And offers comin' over the phone

Like a rhinestone cowboy
Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo

Rhinestone cowboy
Gettin' cards and letters from people I don't even know



While touring , Glen Cambpell heard the original recording and the lyrics resonated with him. He insisted that he needed to record and release a version of it . His close connection with the song can be sensed in his believable delivery and his conviction attributes to the massive success of his interpretation .

plenty of strings, bass guitar, and tambourine .....




........ So that's RHINESTONE COWBOY --- and what we need here now is a disco connection !!! ...

Well there's this and its a good one : The producing/ arranging of this tune , including the soaring strings, was by Capitol Records production duo
Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

These two fellows were also responsible for bringing Tavares to the forefront --- including their first disco charting song:

THE DISCO COMPILATION CONSENSUS: (10/26/74 - 12/27/75)


416) MY SHIP - Tavares
(Capitol) B= 3; Total points = 3
1 week on the chart (2/1/75); Peak: #24

written and produced by Lambert & Potter:




That same year Lambert & Potter put together Tavares third LP and in the summer of 1975 RHINESTONE COWBOY reached #1 for two weeks and then soon after Tavares hit Billboard's Top 10 w/ IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE ( sidenote: arranged by Michael "SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY" Omartian )..........


which more importantly to us ...... was also a giant top five disco song:

36) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE - Tavares
(Capitol/1975) P/W: Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter
Timing: 3:13 (45); 3:59 (LP); BPM: approx. 123 bpm
Pop: #10; R&B: #1 (1); A= 93; B= 24; C= 25; D= 14; E= 71; F= 41; G= 13; Total points = 281
15 weeks on the chart (7/26/75 - 11/1/75)/ 4 weeks in the Top 10/ Peak: #5

disco .....if not right up front ....usually found just around the corner ...

*****

(((to be fair ... this disco connection is already noted within Marky's compilation charts .....but I didn't know that until I was about 80% finished with this thread ..... )))

[boogyjuice]

Fast forward to 1:29 minutes

[70spop]

Fast forward to 1:29 minutes

:icon_lol: HAHAHA!! I'd forgotten about that.

Rhi, Rhi, Rhi..... Rhinestone Cowbooooyyy.....

[70spop]

disco ....usually found (lurking) just around the corner ... :icon_mrgreen:

Interesting info. I don't have the "Best Of" cd in front of me, but how about Glen's follow-up, "Country Boy"? Same disco-shaded sound as "Rhinestone Cowboy".



I really like these two songs, too. '70s "country-pop".

Brian

[remicks]

I really like these two songs, too. '70s "country-pop".

Brian

I knew you would !! :icon_biggrin:



I wasn't going to mention this but since you brought up that HIGH SCHOOL HIGH reference , boogyjuice :

Here's :

[C6 Vette]

Another country hit that came out in the 70's was Exile "Kiss You All Over".. I wonder how this song would have sounded if Jim Burgess added his talents to it..The song definately had the potential to be a super disco remix if given the chance...But what do I know..:icon_mrgreen:

I love Glen Cambell's music, I have Southern Nights on a 45 single as well .

[discopsycho]

Another country hit that came out in the 70's was Exile "Kiss You All Over".. I wonder how this song would have sounded if Jim Burgess added his talents to it..The song definately had the potential to be a super disco remix if given the chance...But what do I know..:icon_mrgreen:

This is interesting. I lived in Central America during the 70's and the radio airplay was heavily disco. I remember clearly that Exile's "Kiss You All Over" was played next to all the disco and soul songs. Also, Babrara Mandrell's version of "Woman to Woman" was described by a radio announcer as "musica soul". Vicki Sue Robinson was described by another radio announcer as a "salsera" (salsa singer). The categories seemed not to be as clearcut in other countries as they were in the states. Quite refreshing actually.

[70spop]

I wasn't going to mention this but since you brought up that HIGH SCHOOL HIGH reference , boogyjuice :

Here's :

Well, I guess that's a good indication of what a totally disco-fied "Rhinestone Cowboy" would have sounded like.... minus the annoying rap.

Maybe a little more "Rhinestone Houseboy". :icon_lol:

[70spop]

Another country hit that came out in the 70's was Exile "Kiss You All Over".. I wonder how this song would have sounded if Jim Burgess added his talents to it..The song definately had the potential to be a super disco remix if given the chance...But what do I know..:icon_mrgreen:

"Kiss You All Over" really wasn't a country song, though. Exile, of course, later went on to have a HUGELY successful country career, but KYAO was pure pop (with the then de rigeur disco paint job applied), written and produced by then hot Nicky Chin. Next to other big radio hits like "Boogie Oogie Oogie", "Everybody Dance", "Macho Man", "Copacabana" and "I Love The Nightlife (Disco Round)", KYAO didn't sound as much like disco. In retrospect, though, I do consider it to be disco.

Brian

[Videoskooter]

I was planning a thread on somebody but since this is a sort of Remicks Goes Country, I think I might as well add this one. Now I don't know that much about the man, only that he's a big C&W artist now.

I discovered this gem last year and I can not remember it being played on the old continent, but...I'm hooked!

Ray Dahrouge

www.myspace.com/raydahrougemusic

[70spop]

Wow, I really like "Steppin' Out". Don't think I've ever heard it before.

[70spop]

Hey, here's another Glen Campbell disco connection.

Listen to the end of Grace Jones' "La Vie En Rose". The piano or vibes accent melody line that plays is the same as the one that plays after the chorus of Campbell's "Witchita Lineman". :icon_eek: