From the instant I heard Green Day’s re-recorded ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ as performed by Country & Western signing legend Glen Campbell, I knew that a winning album was on the way. And what an album! Released on 25th August 2008, it signals the 72-year-old singer/songwriter’s return to Capitol Records and underscores an undying talent.

Although every one of the ten songs on his new album, ‘Meet Glen Campbell’ is a cover, working with other musicians has never been a problem to the man from Arkansas. He was a touring member of The Beach Boys, played guitar on ‘Strangers In The Night’ by Frank Sinatra and performed similarly for The Monkees and The Righteous Brothers. The ultimate compliment must lie in the fact that when you listen to each of the brilliant ten tracks, you could be accused of thinking that he wrote and produced them all. They sound like they belong in his not inconsiderable, over 70 albums’ worth of song-book.

None of the original artists need feel anything but pride that his treatments, with production handled magnificently by Julian Raymond, who has worked with many major artists including Freddie Mercury, are strongly reminiscent of GC at his finest, yet appear to open a new door to his future standing. This is not bad after spending 20 years completely out of the limelight. The full listing includes: Fran Healy (of Travis) song ‘Sing’, sung awesomely, followed by two Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ tracks, ‘Walls’ and ‘Angel Dream’. GC’s treatment of The Foo Fighter’s ‘Times Like These’ is the stuff of legends, while Jackson Browne’s ‘These Days’ is simply heavenly. The Replacements’ ‘Sadly Beautiful’ is a delight, alongside U2’s lovely ‘All I Want Is You’. Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground comes next with a near religious ‘Jesus’, followed by the aforementioned Green Day track and finally the John Lennon/Yoko Ono classic ‘Grow Old With Me’.

When it is as good as this, we should all grow old with Glen Campbell.

Iain Robertson