The country music singer joined the Beach Boys from 1964 to 1965
Credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty;Lisa Lake/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Glen Campbell temporarily replaced Brian Wilson in the Beach Boys after Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown in the mid-1960s
- Campbell collaborated with Wilson on the 1965 song “Guess I’m Dumb” after it was rejected as a Beach Boys track
- Brian Wilson contributed to a posthumous Glen Campbell album in 2024, revisiting their earlier musical partnership
When Brian Wilson stepped away from the Beach Boys between 1964 and 1965, the band called upon another star — Glen Campbell. Wilson, having suffered a nervous breakdown, was replaced by the country music star and guitarist.
Campbell was a session guitarist familiar with the Beach Boys' sound and was among the musicians featured on Pet Sounds. As a guitarist, he played on "Good Vibrations," "I Get Around," "Help Me, Rhonda" and a few others.
Campbell played his last show as a temporary member of the Beach Boys on April 24, 1965.
Credit: Andre Csillag/REX/Shutterstock
In Keith Badman's book The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio, the "Wichita Lineman" singer admitted that he didn't know the words, but it didn't matter much.
"The only problem was, I didn't know all the words to the songs. They'd be singing 'Pasadena,' and I'd be singing something else. I didn't know what I was saying. But the screams were so loud from the girls, you'd walk onstage, and you couldn't hear a thing anyway."
Wilson and Campbell collaborated on the song "Guess I'm Dumb," released in 1965. The song, written by Wilson and Russ Titelman, was rejected as a Beach Boys song. When it was rejected, Wilson shared it with Campbell.
"Brian [said], 'Glen, you want to sing it?' " recalled Campbell. "I said, 'Sure, I do.' Because I kind of liked it. It was a great track, and the guys already had some background on it."
Brian and Carl Wilson both lent their voices to the song.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Credit: Al Pereira/Getty
The next time Wilson and Campbell would work together was after Campbell died. Glen Campbell Duets – Ghost on the Canvas Sessions was a posthumous album released in 2024, featuring a collection of duets and reworked songs featuring artists like Dolly Parton, Carole King, Elton John and Sting. Wilson added his vocals to Campbell's 2011 song "Strong," which addresses Campbell's concerns about his Alzheimer's diagnosis. He died from complications of Alzheimer's on Aug. 8, 2017.
"Glen was a great singer and a great guy," Wilson said when the posthumous collaboration was released. "Our intention in doing 'Strong' was to echo back to 'Guess I'm Dumb' and the times that Glen and I worked together. It's kinda got that vibe to it, and I dig the sound of it."
Brian Wilson died on June 11, 2025, of respiratory arrest.
Read the full article here
