Glen Campbell
Adiós
(Universal Music Enterprises)

Suffering the terrible mental decline of Alzheimer’s Glen Campbell has delivered new material, re-recordings of older material, tours and this album, Adiós. This final studio album (his 64^th) presents a selection of handpicked songs mostly comprised of Campbell’s favorites.

From the opening upbeat banjo roll of Campbell’s daughter, Ashley on “Everybody’s Talkin’” to Jimmy Webb’s first tune here (Webb, Campbell’s most often songwriting collaborator, has a third of the songs here), and the wry swing of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” (with Nelson on guitar and vocals) the songs are played, produced, and expertly delivered. Even when his voice gets rougher (this album was recorded across a multi-year period so there is some variation) on a tune like “Am I All Alone (Or Is It Only Me),” Campbell still sounds strong.

Campbell’s still fine guitar picking is evident on his tight and fast cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” and his version of Webb’s “Postcard from Paris” (a tune Campbell has tackled before) is an absolutely perfect read of one of the greatest songs ever written; again Campbell’s voice may never have sounded this good. These Webb songs in particular sow a deep poignancy, as much from what they are about as knowing what we do of Glen Campbell’s current condition. The title track, another Webb tune, ends the album.

One comes away from Adiós celebrating Glen Campbell rather than feeling sad for him.