'Meet Glen Campbell' a reintroduction to talent

By Wayne Bledsoe (Contact)

Knoxville News Sentinel

http://www.knoxnews.com/
Sunday, August 10, 2008



"Meet Glen Campbell," Glen Campbell (Capitol)

Considering his formidable talents, it's unfortunate that Glen Campbell became better known more for his fiery relationship with Tanya Tucker and substance-abuse problems than for being a musician. It's also a shame that Campbell himself seemed to forget where his talents lay for many years.

At his best, Campbell can be one of America's most distinctive song interpreters. In the 1960s and '70s, Campbell released definitive versions of songs by John Hartford ("Gentle On My Mind"), Allen Toussaint ("Southern Nights") and, most notably, Jimmy Webb ("Galveston," "Witicha Lineman," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and several others). However, as the 1970s wore on, Campbell became more of a celebrity than a musician. Instead of championing great songwriters, his music seemed churned out by a particularly uninspired committee.

At first glance, Campbell's new album, "Meet Glen Campbell," simply seems like a coldly calculated effort to sell Campbell to a young audience.

After Rick Rubin restored Johnny Cash to his deserved stature and Jack White introduced Loretta Lynn to a fresh audience, aging stars have clamored for the same. Even Porter Wagoner, who had been dismissed as a lowly purveyor of Opry kitsch, enjoyed a deserved re-evaluation shortly before his death.

While "Meet Glen Campbell" doesn't benefit from a celebrity producer, it succeeds by following the formula established by Rubin and White: Return the artist to what made him great in the first place.

On this new album, Campbell looks to some particularly unexpected sources for song material - Foo Fighters, the Velvet Underground, Travis, Tom Petty, U2, Green Day and the Replacements. But, hey, it was a devastating cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" that sold Cash to a new generation.

None of Campbell's interpretations carries the heft of that number, but Campbell does make them sound like naturals for him. Campbell's style is marked by crisp enunciation and solid guitar work (he was once a member of the Los Angeles A-list session musicians the Wrecking Crew).

Producers Julian Raymond and Howard Willing surround Campbell with arrangements that would not have seemed out of place in Campell's classic work from the 1960s. A banjo, a steel guitar, bells and strings grace Travis' "Sing" (the disc's opener). Throughout the disc, though, the sound is subtle and tasteful. And Campbell gets some help from members of Cheap Trick, Jellyfish and his own sons and daughters.

Some songs might be expected. Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" is on the way to becoming a standard. Petty's style is really not that far from Campbell's. But Campbell particularly shines on the Replacements' "Sadly, Beautiful" and the cover of the Velvet Underground's little-known "Jesus." While Lou Reed's song was a sweet oddity on the Velvet's third album (released the same year that Campbell had a No. 1 with "Galveston"), Campbell turns the song into a plea from a believer who has, as the song says, "fallen out of grace."

"Meet Glen Campbell" might not restore Campbell's standing in the charts or in sales, but it restores the credibility he deserves.

Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444 or bledsoe@knews.com. He is also the alternating host of "All Over the Road" midnight Saturdays to 4 a.m. Sundays on WDVX-FM.