{"id":4038,"date":"2017-08-07T10:12:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=4038"},"modified":"2017-08-08T17:09:23","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T00:09:23","slug":"glen-campbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2017\/08\/glen-campbell\/","title":{"rendered":"GLEN CAMPBELL"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLEN CAMPBELL \u2013 Feature from Jul\/Aug 2011 Issue<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>GLEN CAMPBELL<\/h2>\n

A pop and country legend wraps up an astonishing career on his own terms<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Glen Campbell was recording his new album, Ghost on the Canvas<\/em>, when producer Julian Raymond handed him a guitar he\u2019d never played before. The Country Music Hall of Famer cradled the Gibson 335 and \u201cwhipped out the solo like he\u2019d been playing it his whole life,\u201d says Raymond, looking at Campbell with a sense of wonder as the two sit together on a couch in the den of Campbell\u2019s Malibu home. \u201cHe\u2019s just that good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such flashes of skill and inspiration have never seemed more precious. Earlier this year, Campbell, 75, announced that he is suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s disease. He says that Ghost<\/em> will be his last studio album of new material, accompanied by a farewell tour. Alzheimer\u2019s has already moderately affected his speech and short-term memory\u2014he uses a teleprompter in concert\u2014but his spirit and sense of humor remain undiminished.<\/p>\n

Campbell co-wrote many of the songs on the new album, including the plaintive opener \u201cA Better Place,\u201d but also turned to contributions from younger writers like Paul Westerberg, Jakob Dylan, Teddy Thompson and Guided by Voices\u2019 Robert Pollard. Many of the tunes reflect on faith in the face of daunting circumstances. \u201cI believe I was created by God, and I\u2019ve tried to live my life that way,\u201d Campbell says. \u201cI\u2019ve failed from here to there, but I get up and start again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Arkansas native credits his still-remarkable musical chops to his training as a session musician, playing during the 1950s and \u201960s on hits for superstar acts like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys. \u201cYou had to learn the songs, the progressions, whatever they were singing,\u201d he says. Campbell then established himself as a solo superstar armed with a smooth voice, sweeping strings and sympathetic collaborators like songwriter Jimmy Webb and producer Al DeLory\u2014all invoked in the sound of Ghost<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ve moved forward, it\u2019s more of a modern sound, but we included that where we could,\u201d Raymond says. \u201cTo make a great Glen Campbell record, there have to be those elements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell will undertake a three-week U.K. tour this fall before heading back to say goodbye to fans stateside. His bandmates now include four of his children, which makes playing live all the more enjoyable. \u201cI crack the whip on them, boy,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cI told them, \u2018This is professional. This ain\u2019t kicking-around time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Melinda Newman<\/p>\n

\n

“The Country Music Hall of Famer cradled the Gibson 335 and \u201cwhipped out the solo like he\u2019d been playing it his whole life.\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GLEN CAMPBELL \u2013 Feature from Jul\/Aug 2011 Issue GLEN CAMPBELL A pop and country legend wraps up an astonishing career on his own terms Glen Campbell was recording his new album, Ghost on the Canvas, when producer Julian Raymond handed him a guitar he\u2019d never played before. The Country Music Hall of Famer cradled the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,6],"tags":[2711,9449,9450,9451,9452,9453,9454,9455,6905,3886,9456,2710,1697,2709,9457,9458,3119,2373,3549,9459,2682,9460,9461,258,9462,10156,1907,2642,9463],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4038"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17603,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4038\/revisions\/17603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}