LARRY CAMPBELL - Rooftops

(Album Review)

Most fans will recognize Larry Campbell as the magnificent accompanist to Bob Dylan in recent years, where his electric, acoustic, pedal steel guitar and fiddle playing added such a grand texture to Dylan’s live shows and recent recorded output.

Yet, those who only know Campbell from his work with Dylan are missing a much bigger, and better, musical picture, as this wondrous instrumental guitar album points out. According to his liner notes, Campbell originally learned most of these tunes on the fiddle, and transfers that knowledge to acoustic guitar for the release.

Campbell has been a fixture on the music scene for many years, having also worked with artists as diverse as Sheryl Crow, Buddy and Julie Miller, and Cyndi Lauper, among many others. Yet, this is his very first solo album, clearly a poignant, personal amalgam of his soulful picking and playing. Listening to it, it is clear why these many musicians want to work with him.

- Mark T. Gould