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Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

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Cowpoke
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Cowpoke »

The Long Walk Home... no I don't think Glen recorded it after the tour. Glen only went back to the studio in January 2013 for "I'm Not Gonna Miss You". My guess is that "The Long Walk Home" was recorded in 2011 or 2012, but it could also have been part of the GOTC sessions. However, why leave out such an awesome track? So my best guess is: somewhere in 2011 / 2012 when they were filming the doc and recorded some songs for the soundtrack.


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Dee
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Dee »

Hey that's right, Cowpoke. Three of the unreleased GOTC tracks were later released!

Good question about when the tracks were recorded for the I'll Be Me soundtrack.
Wasn't there an IBM video clip of Glen singing at the Campbell Family cemetery taken around the time of the Campbell Family Reunion in Delight during the summer of 2012?
Was Glen singing "The Long Walk Home" in this scene? Maybe not. He may have been singing a hymn?
If this song was in another part of the clip, then Glen may have recorded it around this time period, summer 2012, a year into the Goodbye Tour and after a year of filming for the documentary.
Mid-2012. Just a big guess on my part.
Or do you believe this song and All I Need Is You were recorded after the tour ended in 2012 but before Glen's last sessions when recording "I'm Not Gonna Miss You"?

Rob, your last story made me cry but also gave me comfort in reading about Glen's connection just a couple of months ago with Jimmy Webb. I am so glad you were able to attend two of JW's shows and really appreciate your sharing some of the highlights with us here on Glen Campbell Forums. You describe things so well I almost feel as if I were at these shows, too! :)

Very thoughtful words about Kim Campbell, too, who also played a significant role in the making of GOTC.

Randy, I have been playing "Meet Glen Campbell" most every day for the last couple of weeks. With this album, I feel Julian Raymond really paved the way for GOTC's success.


robduloc
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by robduloc »

The bartender was shifting baskets of clean glasses, my wife could hear better, so maybe it was intended for the ladies, Jimmy Webb mentioned that him and his wife saw Campbell a couple months ago, and that Kim really is one of the most beautiful women that Webb knows, Glen has a way of lighting up whenever she is in the room and sits on the side of his bed.

Webb says, "I don't think he recognizes me anymore".

Campbell blurts out, "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE"!

Dead silence in the audience.

And so that is what I love about Glen Campbell's autobiography and the album "Ghost On The Canvas".

The room gets warm and brighter when Kim enters the picture.


robduloc
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by robduloc »

I am savoring Glen Campbell's autobiography "Rhinestone Cowboy", it is the second time I've read it, the first time in the late 90's when we were busy raising little ones, inhaled it is more like it, borrowing from his very life breath.

It may be the basis of why I talk about the role a room plays in a musician's life, he spends a lot of time talking about playing live and a cold empty room waiting at the end of the day.

But I really think the opening tracks on Ghost On The Canvas is inviting the world into his space through the power of prayer, an artist instantly recognized the world over and using some of that fame in his favor, reflecting on good works and intent, getting our heart right, praying down on his knees even, a good refuge or source of consolation.

And there is also how the tracks were constructed, sitting on his sofa at home a lot of the time with a mic, talk about someone who knows how to project, perhaps music should be recorded like this more often, the intimacy of being home and not at your desk at work, a huge departure how the music business is run.

So, yes, the tracks speak on many levels, I did have a number one all time favorite album before I discovered this work and I do feel little unfaithful and a cheat to trade a spot I reserve for only two or three recordings or projects!

I think that we all connect with Glen Campbell because he is so passionate and learned how to channel all that energy and drive, to the things he valued the most, he serves as a good example where to place your trust.

His book confirmed something I had been wondering from a live broadcast, "We use to pick cotton a dollar a hunnar".

A note or detail that I must've mentally downloaded years ago, his father could pick more cotton in a day than anybody else, sometimes 400 pounds, the closest anyone could come close was around 350.

Campbell clearly explains it went for a dollar a hundred pounds, if I had to think about picking that much I would revert to the slang "a dollar a hunnar" to keep my mind off the sheer weight.

Or that much would leave you out of breath just thinking about the size.

I did hear Jimmy Webb explain Glen was an authority and knew all of Roger Miller's joke by heart.

On the lighter side, I hope this appeals to all of you who are familiar or fans of Glen Campbell's down to earth humor...

I was at the Public School Bus Transportation the other month, anyone have repressed memories of what school bus drivers are like, well, there I was they had built a new depot and saved the old gumball machines, sitting at the end of the empty hall I heard a driver exclaim, "AHH... I PUT IN A QUARTER AND ONLY GOT ONE JELLY BEAN"!

I laughed so hard I started to cry, I guess I needed the release, the wording and emotion triggered something deep in me, I hope they didn't think i was crazy.

Some things never change- Yes?

Trying my hand with a plug nickel at a dime store~


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Cowpoke
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Cowpoke »

Good point Dee. A Thousand Lifetimes is a song that certainly merits some in-depth discussion! :) But first about those 13 unreleased songs. I have wondered about those too. I take it they are not referring to the same collection of recordings that ended up as See You There. Of course 3 of those 13 recordings are already released:

"What I Wouldn't Give"
"Wish You Were Here"
"Waitin' On the Comin' of My Lord" (bonus track on "See You There")

I wonder if those other songs are as finished as the three mentioned above, or more in a demo state. I would love to hear them.

Also, I was never clear when exactly "All I Need Is You" and "The Long Walk Home" were recorded (released on the "I'll Be Me" soundtrack). Were they perhaps also part of those 13 recordings? My guess would be that they were recorded later, but I cannot be sure.


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Randy
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Randy »

Great article Dee. I'm not sure I "got it" or certainly not all of it. The two things I did get regardless was the genius of Julian and the big bigheartedness he has.


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Dee
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Dee »

I just came across this "Ghost On The Canvas" article again written by Mark Wyckoff for Ventura County Star, October 6, 2011.
Written after the release of "Ghost," it describes the making of the album and includes an interview with Julian Raymond.
This line jumped out at me:
Of the 23 songs they recorded for the new record, 10 made the final cut.
I wonder if the 13 unreleased songs will be released in the future?

Regarding the meaning and significance of Glen's last studio album, which we have been discussing in this forum topic, Julian said:
"Ghost" isn't just a collection of songs. It's a carefully orchestrated song cycle that explores Campbell's life, career and uncertain future.

The album's 10 tracks are connected by six evocative instrumentals penned by ex-Jellyfish member Roger Manning.

"I thought we made something so different that I feared people wouldn't get it conceptually," Raymond said. "Some people look at it as a dark record, but we look at it as something positive and spiritual. It's about what he's going through and where he's been."
Source: http://archive.vcstar.com/entertainment ... 80961.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Mike Joyce
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Mike Joyce »

Are you trying to "brush off" ghost on the canvas Dee. :lol:
If you are talking about "a thousand life times" Dee, this really is Glen's autobiography in a song. It covers his life from the start of his career and all the things that happened to him through out his life. It is almost the alternative Rhinestone cowboy song for Glen. there are some touching lines in this song "I've had dreams I feared and followed, I found my way home". This really rings true for me. We all started out with doubts about what we wanted in life, but to leave home to pursue a big dream is a massive undertaking for sure. considering how young he was when he hopped on a bus to join his uncle Boo was very brave, but his desire to reach his goal was all consuming for Glen. Later on after all glen went through he came to terms with it all and found himself again. His way home.
There is so much within this song that doesn't make it self clear on first listen. It's only when you listen properly that you begin to grasp the point being made. For example verse three opens with "I've held coal in my hands hoping for diamonds. I take this to mean when he had written a song like "turn around look at me" and hoped it would be the start of his chart career and the big time, the diamond he was seeking.
After a life of poverty, Glen was desperate for financial security and these early recordings were the key to his future.
however the next line states " I trusted the words that to my face were lying" we all know that story.
Overall a great song, however I would probably like it better as a gentle ballad. This could have been Glen's "My way"


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Dee
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Dee »

Perhaps it is time to wrap up Track 1 and move on to Track 2?
Thoughts?


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Dee
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Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

Post by Dee »

I recently read a comment about the song, "Ghost On The Canvas", posted by a Tim Allen on Youtube:
The ringing at the beginning is meant to simulate the confusion in Glen's mind.
From Comments: Review of Glen Campbell's Ghost on the Canvas at https://youtu.be/TezlnQC_vTE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thoughts?


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