Glen Campbell – Duets: Ghost on the Canvas Sessions Review

Those southern nights are behind us and now we must scream into the nostalgia void. It is not enough for Glen Campbell to have bowed out with the respectable last order of Adios, as light a title as it may be for a darker charm and struggle during the recording process. Compilations after checking out is now an inevitability. We live in a day and age where hoovering up bootlegs, bits of live material and anything with a hint of a legend to it is sought after to complete the parts we miss. But there is a joy to not hearing it all, a sense of mystery. Shatter it with Duets: Ghost on the Canvas Sessions, the latest instalment in artists paying tribute to other artists. Dolly Parton and Eric Clapton show up, as do Elton John and Sting. The Four Horsemen of chart-topping shlock. 

A plain Carole King collaboration opens this. There’s No Me… Without You has a heavenly flourish to it and Ghost On The Canvas continues with a rigid structure. Covers is not quite the right word. Campbell is still the main player throughout this, and it is a neat, respectful nod to the original Ghost on the Canvas album, but it makes for a redundant tribute when singers from across the globe crop up to change a verse or two. It adds nothing. Every second of this piece has the lingering thought of the original and how you can just listen to it instead. Even then the likes of Ghost On The Canvas are not the strongest works. These are no Rhinestone Cowboy hits nor do they experience the certainty of a farewell, or a hidden depth with the passage of time providing new lessons. Hold On Hope without Eric Church is a poor, late-game piece of country stock. With Church it is the same but with strangled lyrics. 

Solid guitar work is of note with In My Arms, the Brian Setzer addition is solid enough and puts the preceding Clapton effort to shame. Even with the select legends coming through there is no sense of heartwarming intimacy. Naturally, the Brian Wilson section sees a lift in quality for his harmony work is stunning. It may be one of the last pieces he puts out there, a collaboration with a longstanding music figure who passed long before the pairing came about. Ghost on the Canvas Sessions is a puzzling experience. Campbell is the starring voice yet the interjections from musical cameos across history give it an underwhelming feel. It is the equivalent of a movie cameo. Easy to hear and clear to point at but adds little to the mood and moves of an album trying to cash in on the life and love of a legend. 

Electronically manipulated legends put what remains of their voice to tape and fire it off for an album trying to clamour for a work which was not thoroughly listened through when it was released over a decade ago. Death does not change this and as tragic as it may be to see Ghost on the Canvas did not get the listens it likely deserved, a series of punchy celebrity additions is not the way to go. Too many withered cooks in the kitchen, trying to put a spin of their own on works already established by an artist no longer capable of vetoing the interpretations of his work. Good intentions and bad results. Strong into A Thousand Lifetimes takes a Beach Boys-like creation and flings Campbell back into contemporary, stock country rock. Closer I’m Not Gonna Miss You is still a challenging, poignant listen because of the competent steps Campbell provides and the classy piano work Elton John provides, but these are slim pickings from a grief pile-in.