Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell was in New York recently to promote what will be his last album, “Ghost on the Canvas.” Still young-looking at age 75, and still the same genius on the guitar that he was decades ago when he played with the famous Los Angeles group “Wrecking Crew,” so why is this his last album?

Campbell, sadly, is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and although he still gives a wonderful performance, and this last album may even be his best, his memory is showing signs of deterioration. He already cannot remember who in his family rescued him from drowning, the name of the last city he performed in, or which guitar he played on “Good Vibrations.”

The songs on “Ghost” were written by such talented songwriters as Paul Westerberg, Jakob Dylan and Teddy Thompson and others were co-authored with Campbell, and are every bit as good as some of Campbell’s greatest hits like “Galveston” and “Wichita Lineman” from the late ‘60s.”

When asked if his memory loss has impeded his ability to play and sing at all, Campbell had this to say:

“Not really,” he answered in the faintest Arkansas accents which still sharpen his vowels. “My producer, Julian Raymond, and I went through about 50 submissions and picked a bunch. Co-wrote some others. Recording is still easy for me. Like when I played with the Beach Boys. I just put the capo up to the proper key and go! We had a saying in the ’60s: ‘Make the feel, feel good.’ It was no different this time.”