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Ghost on the Canvas (2011)

Where the lyrics of Ghost on the Canvas take you, and where it was really made.

Glen Campbell recorded this album as his farewell after an Alzheimer's diagnosis, and he and his wife chose to make the illness public so listeners would understand his lyric slips.

Key places

Recorded in Los Angeles, April 2010 (2010)

Recording site Los Angeles — The album was recorded in Los Angeles in April 2010 while Campbell and producer Julian Raymond worked on the final album of original material. The source does not name the studio, so the pin shows the candidate location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ghost on the Canvas: 61st album by Glen Campbell
• Intended as Campbell's farewell studio recording after his Alzheimer's diagnosis
• Production announced March 2010
• Released 29 August 2011
• Promoted with Campbell's final concert tour
• Discogs release notes call it the final album by guitar legend Glen Campbell

Background

• Campbell and his wife delayed announcing his illness until shortly before the Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour
• They wanted audiences to understand why he might mistake song lyrics or behave erratically
• They also aimed to combat the social stigma of Alzheimer's for others suffering from the disease
• Campbell first became aware of his affliction while recording the music in 2009
• His wife Kim had noted memory lapses several years earlier
• Campbell and producer Julian Raymond decided to record one final studio album of original material while he was healthy enough

Recording

• Raymond took the lead in contacting other artists for collaboration, and younger rock stars composed and recorded with Campbell
• The album is a companion piece to 2008's Meet Glen Campbell, which covered contemporary songs
• Raymond kept a notebook of Campbell's conversations between takes
• New songs were built on stories from Campbell's life, starting with the autobiographical “A Better Place”
• The title track was written by Paul Westerberg and had appeared on his 2009 EP PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys
• “Hold On Hope” is a cover of a Guided by Voices song from their 1999 album Do the Collapse
• Recorded in Los Angeles in April 2010
• Discogs credits: mixed and arranged by Julian Raymond, mastered by Brian Gardner, producer and mix credit Howard Willing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Born April 22, 1936 in Billstown, Arkansas; began as a session guitarist in Los Angeles from 1960.
• Joined the studio group later known as The Wrecking Crew and played on recordings by many major artists.

Career

• Began a solo career in 1961; breakthrough hits included "Gentle on My Mind", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", and "Wichita Lineman" in 1967–1968.
• Hosted The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS from 1969 to 1972.
• Released 64 albums across five decades and sold over 45 million records worldwide.
• Hit "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights" in the mid-1970s were both US number one songs.
• Won four Grammys in 1967 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Personal and final years

• Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011; retired in 2013 after recording his final song.
• Died August 8, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 81.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• BBC Music reviewer Martin Aston called it a fine way to bow out of the business, citing Rick Rubin's production of Johnny Cash's American Recordings
• Aston said Campbell's vocal performance remains strong and the instrumental interludes recall The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
• Consequence of Sound's Nick Freed compared the album to Cash's final output, noting both shift from straight country to other pop genres
• Freed and Andy Gill of The Independent commented on the themes of mortality and finality in the lyrics
• The Washington Post's Allison Stewart found the collaborative nature of the album a weakness, turning melancholy into overwrought sentiment
• The Boston Globe's Christopher Muther called the album gorgeous and charming, but said its sentimentality overshadows Campbell's emotional and musical growth
• Mick Brown of The Daily Telegraph noted the hopeful tone of the lyrics, influenced by Campbell's deteriorating health

Records

• Mojo placed the album at number 44 on its list of the Top 50 Albums of 2011

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Campbells went public with the diagnosis so audiences would understand lyric slips and erratic behaviour, and to reduce the stigma of Alzheimer's.
• The title track by Paul Westerberg had already appeared on his 2009 EP PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys.
• Campbell later recorded 2012's See You There, largely taped at the same time as this album, and the 2017 covers album Adiós, recorded in 2013.
• The release has a gatefold cover and a printed innersleeve, and includes a full digital download.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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