In contrast to his major albums of the second half of the '60s, which were mostly produced exclusively by
Al DeLory and were drawn from defined sessions,
Burning Bridges is a more uneven, transitional creation, assembling several years' worth of sides in
Campbell's output from 1962 through late 1966, and produced by
DeLory,
Steve Douglas, and
Nick Venet. The result is a decidedly variable body of music, much of it from the sentimental side of the country repertoire, including the
Bacharach/
David "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry." The best parts are the
Campbell original "Less of Me" and "Burning Bridges" (which dates from a time when his label thought
Campbell might be another
Jim Reeves or
Eddy Arnold), and "I'll Hold You in My Heart" and "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart" have endured on various compilations. But there's nothing here as accomplished musically or as bold in sound and construction (within a pop context) as the best album tracks -- forget the singles -- that
Campbell would cut with
DeLory over the ensuing three years. ~ Bruce Eder