The Archivist - Glen Campbell - Ghost On The Canvas

 

 

Many moons ago I heard a song on the airwaves which I loved immediately. It was a LONG time ago. It was Witchita Lineman.

 

 

Ever since then I have loved Glen Campbell's voice. I started buying some Glen albums and discovered his association with Jimmy Webb. Jimmy obviously wrote Witchita and many other excellent songs which Glen has covered over the years.

 

 

Ghost On The Canvas was released back in 2010. In fact, it was my album of the year and still gets played regularly on Vinyl, cd and mp3 formats. Ghost is Glen's 61st album. That's some career. And followed his renaissance album Meet Glen Campbell, which contained Glen's interpretation of some of the more recent songs of the time by artist such as Green Day & Foo Fighters.

 



 



 

 

This new interest in Glen's music however became bittersweet as it was announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease which affected his ability to play guitar and remember the words to his songs. During this time it was expected that Ghost On The Canvas would be his last released album of new material. See You There has since appeared this year with a portion of new material and some reinterpreted classics from Glen's career. But I like to think of this as his swansong for so many reasons. When you listen to it, you'll understand why.

 

The album opens with the heartbreaking, A Better Place.

 



 

Throughout the album, which runs as one uninterrupted piece of music, there are links and echoes of phrases from throughout Glen's career, such as the Morse code opening to Ghost on the canvas, which recall Witchita Lineman and the Beach Boys harmonies that link several tracks.

 



 

 Although there is understandably a very reflective feel running throughout the album, it is never morose. Indeed, the album rings out with Glen's signature Gretsch and Rickenbacker guitars.

 



 

I cannot think of a better final album by any artist out there. Yes, you can dip into it and pick out songs but try and listen to it as a complete body of work. Here's the final track. Just make sure you listen to all the previous tracks too.

 

 



 

This is from the Ghost Sessions but appeared on See You There - still a great song though.

 

 

http://glencampbellmusic.com/