Legendary musician Glen Campbell has announced a number of appearances surrounding the arrival of his remarkable new Surfdog Records release, Ghost On The Canvas. The album - which marks the iconic singer/guitarist/songwriter's final studio recording - arrives everywhere on August 30th.
Campbell will discuss the album, as well as his recent diagnoses of early stages of Alzheimer's Disease, in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Terry Moran, slated to air tomorrow, August 23 (6:30pm EST) on World News with Diane Sawyer. The interview will be followed by Nightline the same night (11:35pm) and the next day on Good Morning America. In addition, the multiple Grammy Award-winner will herald Ghost On The Canvas with an array of live TV performances, including NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 12th and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 27th.
Ghost On The Canvas sees Campbell capping his brilliant career with one of his most moving and energized works to date, a powerfully emotional song cycle that sees him accompanied by a truly dazzling line-up of songwriters and musicians. Among the tunesmiths contributing original songs to the collection are such modern luminaries as Paul Westerberg, Jakob Dylan, Robert Pollard, and Teddy Thompson, backed by a roster of players that includes Chris Isaak, Dick Dale, Billy Corgan, Brian Setzer, Rick Nielsen, Roger Manning, and The Dandy Warhols. The album is produced by Julian Raymond, who also co-wrote a number of new songs with Campbell.
Ghost On The Canvas has already earned early praise from Rolling Stone which calls the disc "powerful" and England's Uncut, which awarded the album four-out-of-five stars while applauding Campbell's "majestic storytelling" and "soaring vocal(s)." In addition, Associated Press hailed a recent Campbell concert in Biloxi, Mississippi - his first live date since announcing his illness - as no less than "a triumph," noting that "the 75-year-old Campbell brought the crowd to its feet after acing the delicate runs in the middle of his classic 'Wichita Lineman.'"
Campbell will celebrate the new album - as well as his extraordinary five-decade-plus career - with a valedictory concert tour, dubbed "The Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour." Among the highlights is a hugely anticipated show at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, set for October 6th. Campbell will then travel to England, Ireland and Scotland for a major series of dates, including an October 22nd concert at London's Royal Festival Hall. A slate of additional shows will be announced shortly.
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For more than fifty years, Glen Campbell has been among popular music's most successful and significant artists, a multi-talented superstar who can rightfully be declared a living legend and a true American treasure. The Arkansas-born Campbell took up guitar at an early age and in 1958, relocated to Los Angeles where he immediately became an in-demand session musician. He joined forces with the legendary Wrecking Crew, a group of session players whose work can be heard on a stunning range of recordings spanning TV themes, film scores, and commercial jingles, to artists including Frank Sinatra, The Monkees, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, and most famously the producer, Phil Spector, with whom they helped create the famed "Wall of Sound." In 1964, Campbell was invited to become a touring member of The Beach Boys, playing bass and singing falsetto harmonies, then later contributing guitar to 1966's seminal Pet Sounds.
Campbell achieved his first major success as a solo artist with "Gentle On My Mind," which proved a crossover smash upon its 1967 release. He followed it that same year with "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," marking the first in a string of collaborative hits penned by renowned songwriter Jimmy Webb that also includes such classics as "Wichita Lineman," "Where's The Playground, Susie," and "Galveston."
In addition to hit singles, Campbell also released a remarkable run of gold and platinum certified albums, including 1967's Gentle On My Mind, the first of seven consecutive collections to hit #1 onBillboard's "Country Albums" chart. Among them are full-length favorites like 1967's By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell and the 2x-platinum certified Wichita Lineman (both released in 1968), and 1969's Galveston.
As if his musical career weren't enough, Campbell also drew acclaim as an actor and TV personality, with credits that include 1969's True Grit (earning him a Golden Globe nomination as "Most Promising Newcomer") and four seasons as host of CBS' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. The highly rated variety series saw Campbell joined by a spectacular assortment of stars - including John Wayne, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Cream, Judy Collins - while also introducing some of country music's greatest artists to a wide national audience.
1975 saw the release of Campbell's biggest crossover triumph, "Rhinestone Cowboy," which earned RIAA gold certification while topping both Billboard's "Hot 100" and "Hot Country Singles" charts. Two years later saw Campbell repeating the feat with the gold certified, #1 smash, "Southern Nights," marking his fifth-ever country chart-topper as well as his seventh on Billboard's "Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks" tally.
Though Campbell's life has taken many difficult turns, his faith and family have long enabled him to keep pushing forward, both as a touring superstar and acclaimed recording artist. In 2008, he united with Ghost On The Canvas producer Julian Raymond for one of the most unique albums in his canon, Meet Glen Campbell. The album found Campbell putting his inimitable stamp on songs by such artists as U2, Green Day, Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, and Jackson Browne, supported by members of Jane's Addiction, Jellyfish, and Cheap Trick.
Over the course of his astonishing career, Campbell can lay claim to six Top 20 albums and 21 Top 40 hit singles. His track record as one of country music's greatest stars includes 27 Top 10 country classics spanning 22 years, as well as nine #1 country albums.
Campbell has also received a stunning array of honors, beginning in 1967 when he made history by winning multiple Grammy Awards in both the Country & Western and Pop categories: "Gentle On My Mind" was honored as "Best Country & Western Vocal Performance, Male" and "Best Country & Western Recording," while "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" was named "Best Vocal Performance, Male" and "Best Contemporary Male Solo Vocal Performance." The following year saw Campbell earning yet another Grammy when By The Time I Get To Phoenix was named "Album of the Year" - the first country album to win the top award. What's more, "Gentle On My Mind," "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," and "Wichita Lineman" have all since received the "Grammy Hall of Fame Award."
Among Campbell's many other honors are seven Academy of Country Music Awards (including "Top Male Vocalist" and "Album of the Year" in both 1967 and 1968), three American Music Awards (celebrating "Rhinestone Cowboy" and the album that bears its name), three Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, two Country Music Association Awards, and the UK's Q Award for "Q Legend." In addition, Campbell has received the Academy of Country Music's prestigious "Pioneer Award" and has been inducted to both the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as the Musicians Hall of Fame (honoring his membership in The Wrecking Crew).
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