Published on Nov 16, 1997
When John Denver died in a plane crash last month, we lost one
of America’s last remaining folksingers and premier storytellers…
and we were too fucking stupid to appreciate him his whole
career.
The country music world treated him like a bastard son because
they didn’t consider him a true country artist. The rest of us
wrote him off as a relic of the ’70s — while we were rediscovering
stupid shit like bell-bottoms and disco, Denver’s work remained
locked up in the mothballs, known only to a select few who were
smart enough to appreciate his work.
But if it took Denver’s death for us to rediscover his work, so
be it — after listening to his 1971 work
Poems, Prayers & Promises it makes me sad that I was
also one of the people who didn’t appreciate Denver until it was
too late.
Maybe the country music industry was correct – Denver really
isn’t a country artist. From his days in The Mitchell Trio (trivia
question: who did he replace in the group?
E-mail me with the
answer. C’mon, gang, this one’s easier than it sounds.), his forte
was in folk. The title track is a prime example of this, combining
his rich voice with some fancier-than-you’d-think guitar work,
Denver sings the wonders of life and how fragile it is.
His fascination with the love song is quite evident by the
beautiful “My Sweet Lady,” a song which had me close to tears the
first time I ever heard it. People often say that his later work
“Annie’s Song” was his masterpiece of this genre. I respectfully
disagree — spend the 4:23 on this track and be convinced.
When I first bought this record, I thought it was kind of funny
that Denver would resort to covering well-known tracks by The
Beatles and James Taylor. But here’s another sign of the mastery of
one’s work — Denver takes “Let It Be” and “Fire And Rain” and
turns them into his own works. I was amazed at how well “Let It Be”
translated to acoustic guitar. (And yes, I know that there’s a
cover of Paul McCartney’s “Junk” as well.)
Of course, folk music has always somewhat bordered on the
preachy side, and Denver indulges twice on
Poems, Prayers & Promises. “Gospel Changes” is a bit too
religious for my folk tastes, but I do like the spoken-word
diatribe against war, “The Box”.
Poems, Prayers & Promises, in the end, is remembered for
the hits. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is one song that earned
Denver the label of country music artist, a label I think was
incorrectly given to him. “Sunshine On My Shoulders” reveals itself
again to be a very pretty song. And I should have an appreciation
for “I Guess He’d Rather Be In Colorado,” especially after watching
The Wildlife Concert, but this song just fails to move my
spirit.
John Denver is gone — and we’re now left to pick up the pieces
and rediscover a musical legend that we ourselves shattered.
Poems, Prayers & Promises is a great place to start —
even though you’ll have to search a while to find this one.