I have a lot of e-mails about Glen Campbell's recording of "Galveston" and yes, I guess I did make the connection when I first heard it. I did realize it was about a young soldier off fighting a war somewhere, wishing he was home with that 21-year-old lady he loved. I forgot or perhaps never knew it was a Jimmy Webb song. When I get through with this whole mixtape series, I need to go back and figure out how many Jimmy Webb songs I had on my tape. I bet a lot.
What I didn't know is that "Galveston" was first recorded by Hawaiian music superstar Don Ho. His version sounds sad and not all that interesting and if someone told me it could be turned into a top-selling hit with a few alterations, I'd have thought they were banana-wackie. Buzz Dixon pointed out to me that over on Wikipedia, they show how some lyrics were changed for the Campbell version. Originally, one section went like this…
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.
And it got changed to…
Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun
And dream of Galveston.
I didn't know most of this when I put it on my mixtape. I just liked the song.