The Beach Boys on The T.A.M.I. Show.

Beach Boys YouTube wormholes can take many paths, from sunshine-draped reveries to sudden decisive turns towards the seriously depressing. But no clickbait-enhanced listicle of questionable Mike Love sartorial/dance/aesthetic moves, horrifying Brian Wilson zombie moments, made-for-TV movies, or John Stamos appearances could ever possibly top the legendary bootleg Endless Bummer: The Very Worst of the Beach Boys, which has all the Brian rap, Budweiser ads, drunken in-studio rants by stage-father Murry Wilson, and Spanish versions of "Kokomo" that one might (hopefully) ever desire. With the band coming to town for two shows at the Beacon Theater this week, and at least a few people planning to go—plus the onset of actual summer and all that—it's good vibrations only today. You can Google the rest yourselves.

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Glen Campbell w/Instant People
Town Hall
Saturday, January 7

Better than: Not getting to say farewell.

At a sold-out Town Hall on Saturday, Glen Campbell yodeled as well as Hank Williams, crooned like a country Sinatra and played flashy, funky leads that sounded like he was channelling both Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix. For a man of 75, it would have been amazing. But considering the guy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a year ago? Something magical—or maybe religious—was happening on that damn stage.

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Last night, country music's biggest stars (not to mention welcome outsiders like Lionel Richie and Kenny Loggins, who joined Male Vocalist of the Year Blake Shelton for a performance of "Footloose") convened in Nashville for the CMA's annual awards show. By the time hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood ended the ceremonies, joking that they'd see us at the Oscars, The Band Perry's three awards had put them above the rest of the pack, their "If I Die Young" winning both single and album of the year, and the group themselves taking home New Artist of the Year over Luke Bryan and Eric Church (who somehow qualified for the category despite releasing, between the two of them, four top-ten albums before 2010). And despite losing Album of the Year to Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party, Taylor Swift came out as entertainer of the year, thanking everyone who has a made a guest appearance on her ongoing Speak Now tour, a list that includes, among others, Tim McGraw, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Kenny Chesney, and T.I.

As far as performances go, the night's best both involved Paisley, though the first—a duet with Underwood, performing "Remind Me," the lead single off Album of the Year nominee This is Country Music—was dominated by his co-host's flawless vocals and the second —a run through three Glen Campbell songs with Keith Urban and Vince Gill—by the ailing man sitting in front of the stage. Meanwhile, before the show Sound of the City favorite Luke Bryan held his own reporting on the red carpet for Ellen. List of all winners below the fold.

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It's a funny thing about Paul Westerberg. The legendary ex-Replacement, who brought humor, hypersensitivity and hymns to drinking yourself stupid to the left side of the dial, doesn't like to talk to the press. But on the rare occasion that he decides to do so, he's like a man on sodium pentathol: he'll tell you anything! We spoke to him about writing songs for Glen Campbell (well, indirectly), the demos in his basement, scoring children's films and—drumroll please—whether he's ever going to put out another official Paul Westerberg album.


I'm guessing you're a longtime Glen Campbell fan.

Absolutely. But in the sense that I heard all the hits on the radio. Songs like "Galveston," which is a favorite. I also used to watch his TV show (The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour). And I know about his guitar playing before that, with The Wrecking Crew.

Both your contributions to his album, "Ghost On The Canvas" and "Any Trouble," sound like they were written just for Glen. Especially after you heard the news about him having Alzheimer's. They both seem to be about death and where you might go afterwards. Was that deliberate?

No, not at all. One song is about two years old. The other is from the late '90s. Glen did my tune "Sadly Beautiful" on his last record, but I'm still surprised when anyone wants to do something of mine. Even if I tailor a song, it rarely works out how I planned it. Like, I'd love to tell you that "Dyslexic Heart" was written for [the Cameron Crowe movie] Singles, but it was just a nice accident. Like this.

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