Glen Campbell Duets: Ghost On The Canvas Sessions

批評家から高く評価されたグレンの2011年の別れのアルバムを再解釈した作品。没後に完全にデュエットとして再作成されたアルバムで、グレンのオリジナルのボーカルとエルトン・ジョン、スティング、エリック・チャーチ、キャロル・キング、エリック・クラプトン、ドリー・パートン、ブライアン・ウィルソンなどのアーティストの才能を融合させて制作。ラインストーン・カウボーイ最後の乗車を祝う芸術的な作品群です。

Pay attention, because this can get confusing. Glen Campbell intended his 2011 album Ghost on the Canvas as a farewell album of sorts. Aware of his declining faculties due to the onset of Alzheimers, he, his family, and producer Julian Raymond decided that he could summon the energy for a final record, one that was cut between 2009 and 2010. As it turns out, Campbell was well enough to continue recording for a few more years, sessions that resulted in 2013s See You There and 2017s Adios, albums that found him revisiting his hits and favorite songs, respectively. Campbell died after the release of Adios, and apart from the release of Sings for the King -- a collection of demo recordings intended as guides for Elvis Presley -- there wasnt much activity on the posthumous release front until Ghost on the Canvas approached its tenth anniversary. Dave Kaplan -- the head of Surfdog Records, the label that put the album out back in 2011 -- decided to revisit the original record by recasting it as a series of newly recorded duets, a la what Natalie Cole did with her father, Nat "King" Cole, and "Unforgettable" in 1991. Enlisting a varied cast of duet partners -- superstars like Carole King, Sting, Elton John, Dolly Parton, and Brian Wilson sit alongside X, Hope Sandoval, Brian Setzer, and Eric Church -- Kaplan retains some of the sumptuous nature of the original Ghost on the Canvas, but opening the album up to other singers removes some of the haunting quality of the 2011 set. Another big difference is the absence of Roger Manning, Jr. songs: every one of his five songs is missing, replaced by "Im Not Gonna Miss You," the theme song from the 2014 documentary Glen Campbell: Ill Be Me. While some of the pairings seem unnatural on paper, the results are generally seamless: although X may seem painted onto "Any Trouble," they play with great affection, as does Setzer on "In My Arms," while Sandoval suits the delicate "The Long Walk Home," Sting doesnt seem out of place singing Paul Westerberg, nor does Church seem ill at ease with the words of Robert Pollard. Ultimately, Duets: Ghost on the Canvas Sessions is an effective revision of a good album, one that complements the original without replacing it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine