Glen Campbell - A New Place In The Sun (1968)

A New Place in the Sun may be Glen Campbell’s rockiest record of the late ‘60s. Haphazardly skipping between show tunes, misguided covers of pop written by Paul Revere & the Raiders’ Mark Lindsay, MOR schmaltz, and faithful reproductions of Merle Haggard, this has Campbell offering a little bit of something for everyone but winding up appealing to no one in particular -- so much so that this is one of the few of his late-‘60s LPs to lack a hit single. Which isn’t to say that the album is devoid of pleasure -- a cover of Haggard’s “Legend of Bonnie & Clyde” reconnects Campbell to his bluegrass beginnings, Harlan Howard’s “She Called Me Baby” has a soulful punch reminiscent of Joe South -- but it takes some serious excavating to unearth these modest gems. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine