Glen Campbell

Given the overwhelming number of Glen Campbell collections released over the years, it comes as a shock to realize that Capitol's 2003 set The Legacy (1961-2002) is the first-ever Campbell box set to be released. There have been plenty of single- and double-disc collections, and while some of them been been excellent, even essential, they also point out one undeniable fact: it's much harder to assemble a good Campbell collection than it appears. Part of the problem is that there is a certain group of hits -- "Galveston," "Wichita Lineman," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Southern Nights" -- that have to be on any hits collection, a large group that nevertheless leaves sizable room to wiggle and add other hits, singles, or album tracks according to the needs of the compilation. Of course, matters are complicated by the fact that he recorded a lot between the mid-'60s and mid-'70s, much of it being released, some of it being shelved or leaked on B-sides and rush-released compilations, and none of it being particularly well documented (one track on The Legacy, a duet with Bobbie Gentry on "All I Have to Do Is Dream," is given the credit of "1970 single; LP unknown"). To complicate matters further, this prolific hitmaker -- who had Top Ten country hits from 1968 to 1989 --often did some of his best work on songs that weren't hits. Compilers have dealt with this situation by filling the space around the five big hits by choosing tracks seemingly at random -- and this doesn't just apply to budget-line collections, it's also true of Capitol's releases, such as the bewildering 2000 collection 20 Greatest Hits, which contained no big hits outside of the Big Five. Of all the Campbell collections, only three stood out from the pack: Razor & Tie's 1997 double-disc compilation The Glen Campbell Collection, the first CD-era attempt to take stock of his entire hitmaking career; EMI's 1999 double-disc collection The Capitol Years: 1965-1977, compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs and focusing on Campbell's lush pop work; and Capitol's 2003 compilation All the Best, the first and only set to have most of his biggest chart hits on one disc. Almost by default, The Legacy joins this list as one of the few serious, ambitious, and successful Campbell retrospectives assembled during the CD era. It contains everything on All the Best and falls somewhere between the overreach of the Razor & Tie set (33 of its 40 tracks are here) and the impeccable, if idiosyncratic song selection on the EMI collection (23 of its 46 tracks are here, if the "Houston (I'm Coming to See You)" variation "London (I'm Coming to See You)" counts). So, the basic song selection is right on the money, but, as in many Campbell collections, the devil is in the details, the biggest being disc four, containing 15 live tracks recorded between 1969 and 2002. While there are some good cuts here, including a Beach Boys medley, it's hampered by too many run-of-the-mill performances and stilted latter-day tracks. Since they're all squared away on one disc, it's easy to ignore it, but it would have been better to either release this as three discs or use all four for his studio recordings, which are superior to live cuts. The other three discs are much better, but they do suffer from the typical box-set tendency to extend the story too far after the quality of the artist's music starts to decline. With Campbell, after 1978's Basic, his music turned too calculatedly adult contemporary, and the last 14 tracks of disc three are devoted to cuts from the '80s and '90s, which, frankly, is too much space. It would have been much better to play up his glory years of 1967-1977. They are still emphasized here, but space should have been made for great album tracks, forgotten singles, and obscurities that have been on other collections. While it is asking too much to see the B-side "Record Collector's Dream" (not on CD until Raven's 2002 two-fer of Rhinestone Cowboy/Bloodlines), "See You on Sunday," "Comeback," and the Jimmy Webb masterpiece "Christian No" should have been on here. There are other good idiosyncratic choices, to be sure, but it winds up not being as sharp as The Capitol Years, which remains the best collection because it captures Campbell at his best, regardless of hits. This has its nicely idiosyncratic song selection, and like Razor & Tie's collection runs out of steam toward the end. However, it gets things mostly right, and it is a good, thorough overview, although it doesn't contain every great thing Campbell recorded -- which it could have, if it had thrown out the live disc and concentrated on his peak. Still, it's an admirable box set and a worthy addition to Campbell's prodigious catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide