Glen Campbell: See You There

Glen Campbell
See You There
(Surfdog)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This “might be final” album — Campbell’s well publicized Alzheimer’s diagnosis pretty much guarantees that — consists of new renditions of the singer/guitarist’s hits spliced with recently recorded vocals without much input from it star. On the surface, it seems like a studio concocted, cash grabbing, wince- inducing creep fest.

Surprisingly the results are pretty great and even if they won’t make you forget the often charmingly dated originals, it’s cool to hear these songs stripped down without the syrupy orchestrations and bloated slick pop arrangements that made them such beloved radio mainstays over the years.

Campbell is in fine voice throughout, a little deeper and rough around the edges but that only helps some of the sadder ballads such as “Galveston” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” resonate with additional gravitas. Credit producers Dave Darling and Dave Kaplan for pulling this off with remarkable panache, adding lap and pedal steel guitars but keeping the arrangements far closer to the country roots they always seemed to be tugged away from.

Campbell’s new take on old chestnut “Hey Little One” is a wonderful way to open the disc and damn if the two versions of the gospel “Waiting on the Comin’ of My Lord” won’t bring a tear to even the most skeptical eye.

Feature Story: Glen Campbell, Memory Maker