Arriving on the heels of the twin blockbusters
Gentle on My Mind and
By the Time I Get to Phoenix,
Hey, Little One retains the lush, cinematic scope of those hits while pushing the perimeters of
Glen Campbell’s material quite far.
Campbell may dabble in the mawkish melodrama of “The Impossible Dream,” but he also sings
Bob Dylan’s “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)” and tackles
Bob Lind’s progressive pop standard “Elusive Butterfly,” while shoring up his country roots with
Hank Cochran’s “That’s All That Matters.” The best fit for
Campbell here is
J.D. Loudermilk, whose “I Wanna Live” is turned into one of
Campbell's gorgeous, dramatic epics and sees his ‘60s standard “Break My Mind” given a crisp reading. There are two other sweeping singles here -- a cover of
Roy Orbison’s “It’s Over” and “Hey, Little One” -- that benefit from
Campbell’s flair for the gorgeously grandiose, but this tendency toward huge arrangements winds up weighing down some of the lesser numbers, ultimately turning this album into something of a mixed bag. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine