Pay attention, because this can get confusing.
Glen Campbell intended his 2011 album
Ghost on the Canvas as a farewell album of sorts. Aware of his declining faculties due to the onset of Alzheimer's, he, his family, and producer
Julian Raymond decided that he could summon the energy for a final record, one that was cut between 2009 and 2010. As it turns out,
Campbell was well enough to continue recording for a few more years, sessions that resulted in 2013's
See You There and 2017's
Adiós, albums that found him revisiting his hits and favorite songs, respectively.
Campbell died after the release of
Adiós, and apart from the release of
Sings for the King -- a collection of demo recordings intended as guides for
Elvis Presley -- there wasn't much activity on the posthumous release front until
Ghost on the Canvas approached its tenth anniversary.
Dave Kaplan -- the head of
Surfdog Records, the label that put the album out back in 2011 -- decided to revisit the original record by recasting it as a series of newly recorded duets, à la what
Natalie Cole did with her father,
Nat "King" Cole, and "Unforgettable" in 1991. Enlisting a varied cast of duet partners -- superstars like
Carole King,
Sting,
Elton John,
Dolly Parton, and
Brian Wilson sit alongside
X,
Hope Sandoval,
Brian Setzer, and
Eric Church --
Kaplan retains some of the sumptuous nature of the original
Ghost on the Canvas, but opening the album up to other singers removes some of the haunting quality of the 2011 set. Another big difference is the absence of
Roger Manning, Jr. songs: every one of his five songs is missing, replaced by "I'm Not Gonna Miss You," the theme song from the 2014 documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me. While some of the pairings seem unnatural on paper, the results are generally seamless: although
X may seem painted onto "Any Trouble," they play with great affection, as does
Setzer on "In My Arms," while
Sandoval suits the delicate "The Long Walk Home,"
Sting doesn't seem out of place singing
Paul Westerberg, nor does
Church seem ill at ease with the words of
Robert Pollard. Ultimately,
Duets: Ghost on the Canvas Sessions is an effective revision of a good album, one that complements the original without replacing it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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