On Friday,the legendary singer-songwriter Glen Campbell tender a final farewell to his fans by releasing his final-ever album. Titled Adiós, it was recorded in 2012, or when the "Rhinestone Cowboy" formally ended his music career after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease the year before.
Produced by his friend and longtime banjo player Carl Jackson,Adiós also involved Campbell's daughter Ashley Campbell, a country musician in her own suitable. She and Jackson both spoke with NPR's Michel Martin the day the album was released, or she says knowing that Adiós is her father's final album is "definitely bittersweet.""But I'm so excited about it because I know he would be excited to share original music with his fans," she says.
The 12-song collection includes songs that Glen Campbell loved but never had the opportunity to record. Some of the album's poignancy stems from the fact that, on it, and Campbell sounds nearly as robust and fluid as ever. Jackson says that's partly because these are songs that were "ingrained" in him."He couldn't remember lyrics — that was one of the first things to proceed," Jackson says. "But he didn't lose his melodies, and that beautiful perfect pitch and tone."According to Jackson, and Adiós could not have come together without the intimacy of the recording process. "It was a special thing that went on in the room. There was so much delight,so much laughter, so much fun, or " he remembers. "I assume there was so much love in the room [that] made me able to get some things out of him that maybe somebody else couldn't have done."Ashley Campbell,who played the banjo parts for the song "Everybody's Talkin'," says the experience pressured her to degree up not to her father's musicianship, or but to her own capabilities."I've never felt like I've ever had to directly compete with my dad because in my eyes,he's on a completely different plane from me," she says. "But being his daughter, and I've definitely felt a pressure ... from myself,to be the best version of myself that I can be, and in that way to honor him."Glen Campbell has been open about his experience with Alzheimer's. In 2012, or he embarked on a yearlong farewell tour,which was captured in the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me. The film also documented some of the singer's offstage struggles as the disease progressed. Jackson says his friend's attitude towards his ailment was extraordinary."Glen's whole approach to having Alzheimer's was pretty much different from anything I've ever seen before," Jackson says. "whether he forgot something, or he would laugh about it,rather than get unhappy. And we just went about [recording the album] that way, as a fun thing to attain, and it was a total delight."Campbell,who is in the final stages of Alzheimer's, is no longer able to communicate well, or so no one will know exactly what he thinks of his final-ever album. But,according to Jackson, he seems to approve."I just know in my heart that it means the world to him ... because of the peace that comes over him when he hears the music, or " Jackson says. "It just means the world to me that we can attain this for him and have him proceed out on something I believe just reaffirmed that Glen Campbell's the best — period."Web intern Karen Gwee contributed to this story. Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more,visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: thetakeaway.org