"Galveston" is a song written by Jimmy Webb and popularized by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

who recorded it with the instrumental backing of members of The Wrecking Crew. In 2003, this song ranked number 8 in '' CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music''. Campbell's version, produced by Al De Lory, also went to number 1 on the

charts. On other charts, "Galveston" went to number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the "

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

" charts. It was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in October 1969.

Background and writing

The protagonist is a soldier waiting to go into battle who thinks of the woman he loves and his hometown of

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. The song was first released in 1968 by a mournful-sounding Don Ho, who introduced

to it when Ho appeared as a guest on '' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour''. Campbell's recording of the song, released in early 1969, was perceived by many (who listened carefully to the lyrics) as being a Vietnam War protest song, but Campbell performed it up-tempo. In his original promo video, Campbell was dressed as a soldier in a military-style outfit. Webb has challenged the implication of Campbell's version that it was in any way "a patriotic song". According to Webb, the song is "about a guy who's caught up in something he doesn't understand and would rather be somewhere else". In Ho's recording, the second verse was:
:''Galveston, oh Galveston'' :''Wonder if she could forget me'' :''I'd go home if they would let me'' :''Put down this gun'' :''And go to Galveston.'' However, in both Campbell's version and in Webb’s own 1972 album '' Letters'' (and his later performances), this verse was: :''Galveston, oh Galveston'' :''I still hear your sea waves crashing'' :''While I watch the cannons flashing'' :''I clean my gun'' :''And dream of Galveston.''

Personnel

According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians appeared at the recording session. * Al De Lory — session leader *Bob Felts — contractor * Joe Osborn *Harry Hyams *Armand Kaproff *Jesse Ehrlich *Arnold Belnick *Assa Drori *Tibor Zelig *Ronald Folsom *Joseph DiFiore *William Kurasch *Sid Sharp *Ralph Schaeffer *Leonard Malarsky *Jack Redmond * Gene Cipriano *David Roberts *Lew McCreary * Roy Caton * Ollie Mitchell *Gene Estes * Leon Russell The original Capitol single's label (2428: 45-70488) also credits producer De Lory as the arranger and conductor.

Other cover versions

Within a year of Campbell's hit version, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' states, "recordings of 'Galveston' had sold six million copies, having been cut by 27 different artists, from fellow country star Faron Young to jazz great

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

More complete lyrics
at lyricsfreak.com
Don Ho version
via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Jimmy Webb live version
via YouTube
Glen Campbell - Galveston
via YouTube {{authority control 1969 singles Glen Campbell songs Culture of Galveston, Texas Songs written by Jimmy Webb Songs about cities in the United States Songs about Texas Capitol Records singles Song recordings produced by Al De Lory 1969 songs Anti-war songs