Like Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell ended his career by releasing some of his most sympathetically curated albums.
For Ghost On The Canvas, recorded the year after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he mixed songs written with producer Julian Raymond with those by writers such as Paul Westerberg and Jellyfish’s Roger Joseph Manning Jr. And that, apparently, was that.
But a decade later the album has been dusted down, and a bevvy of A-listers – including Carole King, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Sting – have ‘duetted’ with the late star (Campell died in 2017).
All this studio trickery adds another layer of poignancy to an album that was already imbued with late-life love and loss, but Campbell’s voice is so beautifully unadorned that his new singing partners fit in without too much trouble, and only Brian Wilson’s frail contribution jars. Best in show? Dolly Parton.
