LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Glen Campbell covering Green Day and Foo Fighters?
The inevitable first reaction to news that the pop rodeo rider is doing an record album of covers by those bands and others including U2 and the Velvet Underground is, "Uh-oh, is this the long-dreaded recurrence of Pat Boone's alloy mood?" The second mightiness be, "Then again, Johnny Cash pulled it turned late in his career."
While clearly aiming at the latter, Campbell's effort falls somewhere betwixt those extremes. "Meet Glen Campbell" -- a dexterous title for the reintroduction of a man world Health Organization has made 70-plus albums -- is a kinky, enjoyable record that stamps vintage Campbell-type arrangements on songs with recurring themes of ripening or self-fulfillment. There's no cheeky malva sylvestris like Boone churned kO'd.
But Campbell and producer Julian Raymond, world Health Organization picked the songs, seem content to let the musicians do too very much of the interpreting. And Tuesday's jam-packed show at the bantam, sweaty Troubadour in West Hollywood, which coincided with the album's release, exacerbated that. In the intimate live setting, the band, which included two drummers and four-spot guitarists, forced the attention to the music quite than Campbell and that honey-dipped voice.
The result was an exclusively pleasant hourlong show only one that felt like a missed opportunity.
"Yep, tranquil kicking," the 72-year-old aforementioned before playing Tom Petty's "Angel Dream," which was both rustic and rocked up, determined by a little trap hook. Campbell introduced Travis' "Sing" as "one of my favourite songs." He expressed like admiration for many of the covers during the show, just though he performed them with a smile, he rarely seemed genuinely affected by them.
An exception was the Replacements' "Sadly, Beautiful," a father's lament that Campbell sang with determination. Two of his sons were in the band.
Campbell picked up a guitar only when he played his country-pop classics, basketball team of which were illogical throughout the set. He closed his eyes to deliver "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and earned a long ovation after "Wichita Lineman." Stripped of their generic orchestration -- which clouded some of his well-nigh popular corporeal more than driving it -- both were moving reminders of how poignant Campbell's vocals can be.�
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