Published on Oct 13, 2004
John Denver was too folk to be country, too country to be rock,
and seemingly too innocent to play the music industry’s games. He
plowed his own path with his songs, to hell with the rules laid out
by others. As a result, he was ridiculed by rock fans and shunned
by the country music establishment — all the while winning over a
solid base of fans. And when he died after his experimental plane
crashed in 1997, thousands of people — myself included —
rediscovered just what made Denver’s music so special.
The latest posthumous collection,
Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits, is a bit of a misnomer.
Never mind the title reads like one of those growing credits from a
Monty Python movie, this disc casually ignores the fact that Denver
did indeed record a few albums for labels other than RCA. Still,
his greatest success came with RCA, so that’s a minor quibble.
While everyone’s own personal “greatest hits” list is sure to
include songs that didn’t make the cut (I would have included
“Matthew”), the 20 selections on the main disc are well-chosen and
are powerful reminders that Denver was indeed a talented
songwriter, singer and musician. Admittedly, some of these songs
haven’t aged as well as one would have hoped — the production
level of “Leaving, On A Jet Plane” is a prime example — but it’s
still nice to hear these tracks in one form they were meant to
be.
The familiar songs are all here — “Annie’s Song,” “Sunshine On
My Shoulders,” “Back Home Again,” “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,”
“Rocky Mountain High,” et cetera. But the inclusion of some other
tracks which may not be as familiar to some is a welcome
addition.
Take “My Sweet Lady,” arguably the prettiest song Denver ever
recorded. Listen to this and try to not be moved by the sheer love
poetry contained therein. Likewise, listen to “Poems, Prayers And
Promises” and, if you listen closely, you can almost hear Denver
summing up his life and celebrating it. Never mind the fact this
song was recorded in 1971 — a quarter-century before Denver’s
untimely death. This, gentle reader, is insight at its finest.
Also a welcome inclusion is “Perhaps Love,” a duet Denver
recorded with opera star Placido Domingo for Domingo’s
adult-contemporary debut release. Denver’s star was not at its
brightest at this time, but one listen to this song, and you can
tell his power as a songwriter and a performer was just as strong
as it had ever been. If only the fickle finger of popular opinion
hadn’t pointed people away from Denver’s career.
So what sets this collection apart from the other “greatest
hits” collections or the definitive box set? Added on to this is a
bonus disc, containing four songs from the archives, three of which
had never seen the light of day until now. The older, original
version of “Leaving, On A Jet Plane” (from the independent release
John Denver Sings) is, surprisingly, more powerful than the
version commercially released. It is a shame, then, that whoever
put this set together didn’t put the whole
John Denver Sings record on here; hearing this song makes me
crave the rest of the album. The acoustic versions of “Annie’s
Song” and “Calypso” show Denver’s guitar skills, even if they
probably will never take the place of the old standards. Of these
tracks, only a cover of “The Weight” disappoints — and maybe
that’s nitpicking on my part, as I heard Denver repeat the first
verse at the end of the song.
One other minor quibble: I know it wasn’t the same label, but as
a special bonus, couldn’t the producers have gotten the rights to
put one or two songs from Denver’s stint with The Mitchell Trio?
That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be has been criminally out of
print for decades now; wouldn’t it have been interesting to hear
how Denver got his start?
There are still those of us out there who grew up with Denver’s
music and have a healthy appreciation for his talents. There is
also a new generation discovering the power of singer-songwriters
— of which far too many leave this world under tragic
circumstances.
Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits is a nice collection which
serves both as a reminder to the older generation and an
introduction to the younger one about what a powerful artist Denver
was.