Review of Glen Campbell: In Concert

Introduction

The following is taken from Glen` biography which serves as an ideal introduction.

After more than thirty years as one of the most successful stars in the music business, Glen Campbell says it`s not the stardom that drives him. "I`m a musician - a guitar player, and a singer," he explains. "And I love playing. That`s the fun of it."

In 1961 at just 24, Campbell moved to Los Angeles, where he quickly found studio work as a guitarist. He also toured with the Champs, who had the 1958 #1 single "Tequila." His first success came with a pop ballad, "Turn Around, Look at Me," on the Crest label. He then signed with Capitol, where his singing and instumental prowess were showcased on a bluegrass album, Big Bluegrass Special. In the meantime, Campbell had all the session work he could want. He played on records by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and the Mamas and the Papas. In 1965, he even toured as a member of the Beach Boys during the absence of Brian Wilson.

Finally, in 1967, Campbell made a breakthrough under his own name. He took a song that appeared to be all wrong for a pop hit, with a rambling lyric, no chorus and a folk-country feel. For the first of many times to come, he recorded a song simply because he thought it was a great song, and "Gentle on My Mind" went on to become not only his signature song, but one of the most played singles in history. He immediately showed another side of his talent with a ballad, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."

He had a pair of gold singles in 1969 with "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston." He had pop hits that ranged in style from the theme of the movie "True Grit" to the black gospel standard "Oh Happy Day." He hit #1 on the country, pop and easy-listening charts in 1975 with "Rhinestone Cowboy," and he topped the pop charts again in 1977 with "Southern Nights."

Glen Campbell here performs with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, his own band and sings one song with his daughter Debby.

Video

Presented with a 4:3 fullframe, the quality of the video transfer is very good. Sharp colours, good blacks and no sign of compression. Mind you, there`s just the one location in a concert hall so it shouldn`t be hard to reproduce well. As with a lot of other fullframe concert performances I`ve seen, a wider frame would have looked that bit better, if anything just to convey a sense of space with the wide sense of sound. But I guess since there`s little extra to see here on stage then it`s not really that important.

Audio

This is complete with Dolby Digital 5.1 and DD2.0 soundtracks. Both sound very good, but as ever, the 5.1 track is the one to listen to. The soundfield broadly covers the front and sounds well mixed. All the instruments, the bass, the audience cheering and Glen`s singing sound good.

Features

There are a few extra features here with static menus. One of the extras is a little odd because it`s billed as Bonus Tracks which are an extra 20 minutes of concert footage. Why this was removed from the main attraction is a mystery since it`s just 20 minutes of more songs of the same concert. The Behind the Scenes is quite interesting and has interviews with Glen, some of the musicians, his manager and his daughter and is good primer for anyone who doesn`t know much (if anything) about Glen and where he came from.

Then to follow this up, there are pages of text to read in Glen`s bio and more in his complete discography going all the way back to 1962. Lastly there`s a photo gallery of 14 pictures but these are nothing special, just stills of Glen on stage. Sadly there aren`t any subtitles, so I`m going to continue to sing, `Wichita Lineman`, in my own way.

Conclusion

I had never seen Glen Campbell before, though I had heard of some of his music. It`s pretty much country and easy listening which isn`t something that I normally listen to. Watching Glen on stage he seems to be quite the charismatic performer and his personality shines through as he performs and quips for the audience. Mind you, he`s been doing this for about 40 years.

The orchestral arrangements sound laid back and relaxing and I found most of this music to be quite easy to listen to. I guess that`s why it`s called `easy listening`.

My favourite song of Glen`s is `Wichita Lineman` and has been a favourite for a long time. When I heard all the other songs he performed here it did start ringing distant bells and brought a smile to my face. Glen Campbell has made some very memorable songs, songs that I remember hearing on the radio throughout the 70`s.

This is one of those DVDs that you can just let play in the background. There`s nothing offensively loud at all, and it`s pretty easy going. Country music/easy listening and Glen Campbell fans will no doubt enjoy this, so if you like the music, this well produced DVD comes recommended.