Press
The Who’s Moving On! Tour
Variety
“Just as importantly, maybe, the arrangements for the tour were done by a name you can trust, David Campbell… who has not been known to fail when it comes to the sensitive task of writing orchestration that makes its presence known in exciting ways but never suffocates a rock spirit.”
Indy Star
“David does very much what I would have done on the original recordings if that had been in my skill set at the time.” – Pete Townshend
Forbes
“… Daltrey sounded terrific Tuesday at Van Andel Arena and violins imitated guitar solos as “Pinball Wizard” closed to a sweeping string arrangement (courtesy of David Campbell who wrote arrangements for this tour as he did for Daltrey’s last year).”
Seattle Times
“They’re a pretty dangerous band,” Levenson said. “The charts were written by a mutual friend of David (Sabee) and mine, David Campbell. They are not easy. I mean it’s not like playing Mantovani for two hours. It’s a challenge.”
Tampa Bay Times
“The 48-piece orchestra backing the Who — led by onetime Boston Pops conductor Keith Levensen, working from ambitious arrangements by superstar composer David Campbell — blew the roof, doors and shutters off the arena…”
The Oakland Press
“(Zak) Starkey says….’everyone’s enjoying’ the show, which includes truncated performances of ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’ along with other Who favorites — orchestra arrangements by musician Beck’s father, composer David Campbell…”
ABC News Radio
Brian (Kehew) says that… David Campbell… has arranged some of the songs The Who will play on the trek. He notes that Campbell ‘has been working specifically to get the orchestra to play like powerful rock musicians.’
Kehew adds that Campbell is ‘working the sections to get the horns or the strings to function like an electric guitar would — bolder notes, longer, bigger gestures.'”
The Current Sep. 5, 2019 article by Randy Salas
“… they most certainly do want to hear the Who, complemented by David Campbell’s orchestral arrangements”
liveforlivemusic.com May 9th, 2019 article by Tom Shackleford
“David Campbell contributed the new compositions and arrangements to be played by The Budapest Scoring Orchestra on the beloved songs on the reissue. The band also shared the new version of “Pinball Wizard” to go with the album’s announcement on Thursday.”
Cage The Elephant’s Social Cues
iHeartRadio July 18, 2019 article by Rachel Kaplan
Cage The Elephant worked with Beck and his father, arranger and composer David Campbell, on their latest album, Social Cues. Beck and Cage are heading out on a co-headlining tour soon!
Pancakes and Whiskey April 18, 2019 article by Olivia Isenhart
“What I’m Becoming shows off another fine use of strings that has David Campbell’s name written all over it, building a cinematic dreamscape for his Shultz’ apologetic lyrics.”
NME Feb. 7, 2019 article by Rhian Daly
“Social Cues saw the band work with David Campbell, an acclaimed arranger and composer, and the father of Beck. That link eventually saw (David) help the group finish ‘Night Running’, a song that had been giving them some trouble.
iHeartRadio Feb. 7, 2019 article by Katrina Nattress
“As for the recording process, the band worked with acclaimed composer and Beck‘s father, David Campbell.”
Beck’s Cover of “Tarantula“
iHeartRadio Jan 23, 2019
“The singer-songwriter’s take on the ’80s hit sounds noticeably different than its predecessors, though it most closely resembles the 1986 dream pop version. He produced the arrangement with his father, David Campbell, and recorded it with a 24-piece ensemble, with Leslie Feist and Alex Lilly on backing vocals.”
Evanescence’s Synthesis
Nov 14, 2017
Rolling Stone review by Brittany Spanos
Beck’s Colors
Oct 13, 2017
Rolling Stone review by Will Hermes
The B-52s Live With Orchestra
Sep 12, 2017
WDRB News article addressing performance with Louisville Orchestra:
“When the Pops meets the ‘Bs’ there will be a musical, symphonic, ecstatic explosion of sound… but really, the arrangements by David Campbell are really mind-blowing and they add to the songs in a most spectacular way.” – Kate Pierson
Feb 2, 2016
Tennessean article addressing performance with Nashville Symphony:
“David Campbell did the Hollywood Bowl orchestra arrangements, and they were so phenomenal. We got a mock-up of them beforehand. He said, ‘Are there any comments?’ I just said, ‘Go for it. Go wild!’ …” – Kate Pierson
Ben Harper Live with LA Philharmonic
LA Times Aug 17, 2016
“For his latest collaboration, the 46-year-old Southern California native is set to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a concert Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl.
The show, which will feature orchestral renditions of some of his best-known tunes (with new arrangements by David Campbell), follows the recent release of “Call It What It Is,” Harper’s first studio album with his longtime backing band, the Innocent Criminals, in nearly a decade.”
Dream Theater’s The Astonishing
Metal Injection Jan 29, 2016
“… this time the band also brought in composer David Campbell to spearhead an orchestral accompaniment. Between the demands of the fairly involved storyline and the omnipresent orchestra, musical space for soloing purposes is limited but thankfully not non-existent. It’s mostly to be found in the bridge sections and interludes that help to transition one sound or mood into another.”
Rolling Stone Dec 3, 2015
“Dream Theater bolstered its sound on The Astonishing with a full orchestra, multiple choirs and a clutch of unorthodox instruments. Enlisted to muster those forces was David Campbell…”
“‘…there were no vocals, there were no drums, the lyrics weren’t written yet. He had the story, the demos, and the orchestration that we did. In some cases, he wrote out basically what we did and adjusted it according to what he thought would be right for orchestra, for choir. A lot of times he changed things. He used his expertise to really make the songs grow, and in a lot of occasions wrote his own orchestrations for songs where we maybe had a minimal part — “The Answer” is a good example of that.'” – John Pettruci
St. Vincent Live At The Bowl
D Magazine May 18, 2015
“Of course, it’s nothing new for a pop star to collaborate with an orchestra, but this performance was more fully integrated than any I’ve seen before. […]visually and musically there was always equilibrium. Bows bounced to the beat against strings, trumpets and trombones blurted out catchy riffs, and the harp and marimba provided interesting textural range.”
Articles About David
Huffington Post March 5, 2015 article by Stephanie Marcus
“Campbell is an ‘arranger, orchestrator, conductor and sometimes session player,’ and he’s worked on some of the biggest albums of the last 50 years: Adele’s 21, Taylor Swift’s Red, Carole King’s Tapestry and Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds (as well as many of his son’s albums including Morning Phase). Campbell also played viola during recording sessions for Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ and Bill Withers’ ‘Lean on Me’, among others. Sounds like a man who is an artist and respects the artistry.”
-Stephanie Marcus
Toronto Star June 14, 2014 article by Nick Krewen
You may think an artist, such as Beck, who has sold more than 10 million records, is a big deal, but meet the man who has helped sell nearly 1 billion.
His dad. Toronto-born David Campbell may not be as publicly renowned as his son, but as an arranger, orchestrator, conductor and sometimes session player, he’s appeared on some of the biggest albums of the past five decades…
-Nick Krewen
Wall Street Journal May 20, 2014 article by Jim Fusilli
“I’ve never had an elitist point of view,” the lanky, thoughtful Mr. Campbell said here at the Norton Simon Museum, a short drive from his Glendale home. “I really believe the best music provokes an instant, visceral response.” He mentioned as an example his orchestration for the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris,” one of the biggest hits of the 1990s…
-Jim Fusilli
LA TIMES July 11, 2009 article by Randy Lewis
LA TIMES July 10, 2009 article by Randy Lewis
(Of Beck) “He was hanging around the studio a little bit at the time, and one day I thought I’d take some time and show him some stuff about what I was doing. Somewhere about five minutes into it, he stopped and says, ‘That’s really cool — but what if you did it this way?’ I forget what it was, but he said something really cool and it took me by surprise, and I had the thought, ‘Wow, I should shut up and just ask him what he thinks.’
That’s kind of set the pattern for our collaborations ever since, because he has such a unique perspective on creating anything, really: music, drawings, conceptual stuff,” said Campbell, who has contributed musically to nearly all of Beck’s albums.