The Glen Campbell classic "Southern Nights" wasn't actually penned by the country legend. Although he did make many personal changes that made it his own and a hit.
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According to many interviews that have led to
regurgitated information all over the net, we can piece together the story of how "Southern Nights" came to be.Everyone knows that not all singers write their own songs, or at least not all of them. This can be said for Glen Campbell, who had a song-writing friend Jimmy Webb. One time when he was around Webb's house, Webb had a record playing from artist Allen Toussaint. And the song that caught Campbell's attention?
"Southern Nights."
Toussaint had produced the song which was very personal to him. He recalled his own memories from the Louisiana backwoods. In the original recording, all the song consisted of was Toussaint on the Fender Rhodes and Tony Owens using an ashtray as an instrument.
It's a beautiful song, but he knew it wasn't hit material, and he didn't really care about that.
However, when Campbell heard the song, he knew he had something special.
Glen Campbell Turned "Southern Nights" Into A Personal Hit
Campbell brought the song to his producer, Gary Klein, but he was skeptical. Only when Glen Campbell modified the song did it get cut.
And those personal additions? Well, he changed the lyrics to better identify with them. As the song was so personal to Toussaint, it didn't exactly apply to the country legend. After tweaking the lyrics to reflect his memories growing up in an Arkansas farm.
After making the instrumental more mainstream and adding that iconic guitar lick opening (courtesy of Jerry Reed), "Southern Nights" was officially Campbell's.
Apparently, Campbell apologized to Toussaint for changing the song so much, but he didn't mind. In fact, he was very happy with the song.
Toussaint has gone on to remark that he loves Campbell's version, and credits him with turning the piece into a song. He enjoyed hearing it on the radio, and was surprised that anyone saw hit potential in the song.
Both versions of the song are beautiful and can be individually enjoyed.
