Ernie Sings & Glen Picks

You know how some people have a skewed perception of history that conflates things that couldn't possibly have happened at the same time? You know, like humans and dinosaurs or Karl Marx and the Soviet Union. Well, i often have sort of the opposite problem. Case in point, Glen Campbell and Tennessee Ernie Ford couldn't possibly exist at the same time in my brain. Yet here they are, making a surprisingly awesome album together. 

The joke of course should be Ernie Sings (some real cringe songs) & Glen Picks (his nose), but my ear holes are receiving the exact opposite. You should already know i love Ernie, but you should also know that Glen Campbell is a totally underrated guitar player. Total dork, absolutely, but listening to him overdub wonky-bendy solos over chords and upright bass is an absolute joy. 

You might not believe me, but Ernie Sings & Glen Picks is an honest to amazingnessly good concept album. The concept is "Simplicity in music is a rarity to be cherished...," so let's make an album where the concept is Glen Campbell, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Chuck Domonico sitting in the live room playing random songs and jibing each other like they had nothing better to do this afternoon. It freakin' works. 

If you know me, you know that i like the sound of playing guitar, and this album is chock full of fret buzz, poorly intonated bends, a couple complete fuddle-fingered flubs, string squeak, and all the corny scripted talk tag transitions you can think of. Take us home, Bottle.

I heard an interview with Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) where he was saying the world honestly doesn't need any more music so let that be liberating and make exactly the kind of music you make purely because you feel compelled to do it, especially if someone tells you you shouldn't. I agree, the world needs exactly no less than a whole lot more of that. That's all this is, and it's pretty awesome. I've been saying and doing it for at least a decade, just make whatever you make and put it up for people to check out. Realizing and accepting that nobody cares is totally freeing. It's nice when they do, though.

As for this album, at the end of the day they're really just using their celebrity to try to funnel some money back to the songwriters, 3/10ths of the album is Kris "Vampire Hunter" Kristofferson representing 3 different publishing companies. I tend to like more complicated things on a more regular basis, but it would definitely be untrue to say i enjoy this less than any other thing i enjoy, even Porcupine Tree. I still say Glen Campbell is a total dork, but i've got a Roy Clark album in here (he's not a dork), so i guess we're going to find out if flashy excitement is more enjoyable than simple fun in the near future. I suspect i won't enjoy it nearly as much, but i could also be wrong. I liked Les Paul and Chet Atkins, after all, so maybe i just don't hate any kind of music anymore. Self-improvement accomplished.