Glen Campbell - Meet Glen Campbell Review

Posted by Tom Santoro on 11.22.2008

The guy who sand "Rhinestone Cowboy" puts his spin on your favorite rock songs...you know you want to learn more!

Track Listing:

1. Sing (Travis)
2. Walls (Tom Petty)
3. Angel Dream (Tom Petty)
4. Times Like These (Foo Fighters)
5. These Days (Jackson Browne)
6. Sadly Beautiful (The Replacements)
7. All I Want Is You (U2)
8. Jesus (Velvet Underground)
9. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (Green Day)
10. Grow Old With Me (John Lennon)




Glen Campbell may best be known to you as the guy on late night infomercials crooning the chorus to “Rhinestone Cowboy.” What you may not know is that he started as a highly successful session guitarist that played on such songs as The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”, The Ronettes “Be My Baby”, Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas” and many tracks from The Beach Boys Pet Sounds. His successes as a studio musician led to a successful solo career and helped to usher in other down home country acts like Kenny Rogers and John Denver. Now that he has an AARP card, he is reaching out to a new generation of music lovers while introducing 1990’s alternative rock and some of your favorite classic rock to grandmothers and country lovers alike.

Now that Campbell is living off his residuals and his past hits, he has released Meet Glen Campbell, a compilation of songs he reinterpreted in his down home country lite style. In the same vain as Johnny Cash’s American recordings and Pat Boone’s In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, Campbell attempts to introduce himself to people unfamiliar with his musical past. Meet Glen Campbell is not as edgy and cool as Cash’s American recordings nor is it as self deprecating as Boone’s In a Metal Mood. It is somewhere in the middle, boring and at times cheesy.

Meet Glen Campbell features songs from the 1970s to the 1990s. What is most surprising about the record is the choice of songs. They range on the familiar (Foo Fighter’s “Times Like These” and Green Day’s Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)) and the obscure (The Replacements’ “Sadly Beautiful” and Velvet Underground’s “Jesus.”) The interpretations and arrangements are mostly different from the originals, taking the rock out and making them sound more Branson than Austin.

Upon listening to Campbell’s take on the Foo Fighters “Times Like These” you feel like this would be perfect on a Branson stage show. It features an arrangement that is full of 1970s Vegas style horns at the opening and moves forward slowly. While Dave Grohl sounds pained and is pleading that everyone should “give again”, Campbell feels disconnected from the message and the song in general. One reason may be that his kids play with him on this album, so maybe they chose the songs and dad liked the message and wanted to play them more upbeat.

Campbell’s interpretation of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” is a slow chugging country version of the often misinterpreted hit. While Billie Joe Armstrong’s version is about the pain of break up and love lost, Campbell tries to be upbeat. Most people take the message of an end of era or event from the chorus when it actually is a bitter break up song. Campbell again takes the positive message and uses it as if he is telling his fans that this may be his last hurrah.

I was happy “Sadly Beautiful” was placed on this record. It is a very emotional song by the ‘Mats and Campbell actually does it justice. It is about the pain of a dad who no longer is in his child’s life. It is a sad rendition of an already sad song probably chosen because of his numerous divorces. Campbell seems most comfortable and most genuine on this song. This album is at its best when Campbell shows his connection to the material giving it a more emotional and personal feeling.

Other songs where he feels that connection are Travis’ “Sing” and Velvet Underground’s “Jesus.” Both of these songs are worthy of being played at a house of worship on Sunday morning. The assumption would be that Campbell chose “Jesus” because of his drug riddled past. Both have tremendous arrangements which for the most part are the strength of the album.

Meet Glen Campbell is a well structured album that resonates at times with Campbell’s personal life. When Campbell feels most connected to the song he is at his best, however when he misinterprets the message it is down right cheesy and awful. If you can get past the cheese factor and learn about the man’s history, you may enjoy this compilation of covers.

BEST: “Sadly Beautiful”; “Sing”; “Jesus”
GOOD: “Walls”; “Grow Old With Me”
OK: “All I Want is You”; “These Days”; “Angel Dream”
YUCKY: “Times Like These”; “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

The 411: Meet Glen Campbell is full of covers that when Campbell feels a personal connection is good. But when he misses the point it is downright dreadful. The album is neither cool nor kitchy, but if you are fan of his or frequent Branson, MO you may like this album.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]