Today’s extremely rare classic song of the day is “Guess I’m Dumb” by Glen Campbell. Don’t kick yourself if you don’t remember this one; hardly anyone does.
“Guess I’m Dumb” was one of Glen Campbell’s very first releases, while he was still a studio musician with the Wrecking Crew and before he became famous. It was released as a single in June of 1965 on Capitol Records but didn’t chart.
The track was written by the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and lyricist Russ Titelman. It was originally intended for the Beach Boys, but Brian’s bandmates rejected the track, for whatever reason. So he gave it to Glen Campbell, who’d been filling in for Brian with the Beach Boys on the road. Here’s what Glen remembers about it:
“Brian [said], ‘Glen you want to sing it?’ 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 Wilson produced the record and enlisted members of the Wrecking Crew to record it, including Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on bass, and Tommy Tedesco on guitar. Brian himself, along with his brother Carl and the female group the Honeys (Marilyn Wilson, Diane Rovell, and Ginger Blake), provided backing vocals.
Glen’s recording of “Guess I’m Dumb” sounds a little like Roy Orbison meets Pet Sounds, but it was a major flop on the charts, probably because Capitol didn’t promote it. I have to admit I’d never heard it until a year or so ago; it had almost completely faded into obscurity. It’s a great track, though, with big instrumentation and interesting melody and chords. And a young Glen Campbell sings the heck out of it, too. I can’t stop listening to this—where has it been all my life?
Which leads us to today’s daily bonus video of the day, a young Glen Campbell, backed by Darlene Love and the Blossoms, lip synching “Guess I’m Dumb” on Shindig in 1965. It really should have been a hit.
