Glen Campbell – Greatest Hits

What could I say about Glen Campbell, the man who turned so many songs into classics with his legendarily smooth delivery, that hasn’t already been said before many times. Truth be told, I am not sure if my parents had even met when Campbell’s signature tunes hit the tops of the charts in the late 60’s. Regardless of the timing, songs such as “Wichita Lineman”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Galveston”, and “Gentle on My Mind” influenced many songwriters, performers and players, and have stood the test of time successfully.

I suppose Campbell is a bit of a target for the folks who aren’t big fans of the more lush, string-heavy, pop production that became more and more common in country music during the Campbell/Jimmy Webb heyday of cross-over success. I can see that, as I definitely prefer the grittier, raw sounds of the so-called “Outlaw Movement” that seemed to occupy the opposite end of the spectrum, even though that “movement” afforded Waylon, Willie and the boys a decent amount of cross-over success as well.

Even though the collection contains two cuts of the recent Meet Glen Campbell LP that aren’t necessarily hits of his own doing, I personally enjoy this disc as it reminds me that a Greatest Hits album should be reserved only for an artist who can actually fill up an entire disc with actual hits that were actually great, what a concept!