John Denver's Greatest Hits
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B–[2] |
| Rolling Stone Record Guide |  [3] |
John Denver's Greatest Hits was American singer-songwriter John Denver's first compilation album, released in late 1973 for the holiday shopping season. A version known as The Best of John Denver with the same track listing[4] was released in some countries.
History
The collection included material from his earlier days as a songwriter (going back to 1965 on "For Bobbie") to his later hit "Rocky Mountain High". Indeed, many of these tracks were not hits per se, but as Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for Allmusic, "the[se] were [the] songs that defined him."
Moreover, Greatest Hits is important historically because it contained new, revisionist recordings of several songs. Notable new versions included "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Starwood in Aspen", "Follow Me", "Rhymes and Reasons", "The Eagle and the Hawk", "Sunshine On My Shoulders" and "Poems, Prayers, and Promises".
Denver explained this himself in the liner notes by saying that he had picked the numbers most requested in his concerts, but that "I felt that some of these songs had grown a bit, that I am singing better than I was four or five years ago, and that I would like to treat some of the songs a little differently than I had in the original recordings."
After its release these versions were used for airplay despite differing in subtle but important ways from the original versions; generally, they were more polished, featured a more mature-sounding Denver, included strings, and were extended somewhat.
Within a few months of its release, Greatest Hits climbed to the top of the Billboard 200 pop albums chart, went platinum, and was one of the first albums world-wide to sell over 10 million copies. Overall it is easily the best-selling album of his career in the United States, being certified 9-times platinum by the RIAA.
Track listing
Side A
- "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver) - 3:08
- "Follow Me" (John Denver) - 2:56 *
- "Starwood in Aspen" (John Denver) - 3:10 *
- "For Baby (For Bobbie)" (John Denver) - 2:58
- "Rhymes and Reasons" (John Denver) - 3:11 *
- "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (John Denver) - 4:00 *
Side B
- "The Eagle and the Hawk" (John Denver, Mike Taylor) - 2:10 *
- "Sunshine on My Shoulders" (John Denver, Dick Kniss, Mike Taylor) - 5:10 †
- "Goodbye Again" (John Denver) - 3:36
- "Poems, Prayers and Promises" (John Denver) - 4:34 *
- "Rocky Mountain High" (John Denver, Mike Taylor) - 4:43
- * New versions recorded especially for this project; generally, compilations today prefer the original versions.
- † The version of "Sunshine On My Shoulders" included here is the single version, featuring overdubbed strings.
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
Personnel
For the newly recorded tracks:
- John Denver - vocals, acoustic guitar
- Eric Weissberg - guitars, banjo
- Dick Kniss - bass
- Frank Owens - piano
- Herb Lovelle - drums
- Gary Chester - percussion
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Christgau review
- ^ [1979 Rolling Stone Record Guide review]
- ^ Original LP label as seen at http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2104022 (Note that the back cover shows songs in a different order, but the label itself has them in the same order as Greatest Hits)
