I love John Denver!!!

I only discovered John Denver a few months ago... stumbled upon a Greatest Hits LP in my parents' home, thought "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was one of the greatest songs i'd ever heard, and soon snapped up the Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits 2xCD (mastered by Vic Anesini, and it sounds very nice).

So, seriously... what's so funny about John Denver, why do so many people dismiss him? Seems to me that people often speak of him as a "guilty pleasure," and i'm sure i've read stories about record store clerks snickering when people bring those John Denver CDs to the cash register. is it the "he sold millions of records, so he must suck" syndrome? do people find his music too syrupy, too direct? do genre purists dislike him because they think he watered down their favorite musical idioms? did he have a big ego or anything else that might have turned people off at some point? i know little about the man himself. please fill me in.

in any case, i'm quite taken with the aforementioned 2xCD. my only criticism of the music itself: i could do without the heavy strings on the some of the tunes... and if anyone else feels the same way, check out the beautiful acoustic mixes of "Annie's Song" and "Calypso" on the second disc as soon as possible. they're absolutely amazing.

 

People call him a "guilty pleasure" because he's kind of a dork, and his music is kinda corny. I like him.

 

I have a lot more respect for John Denver now than I did thirty years ago. At that time I didn't respect music and artists that didn't present a "tough" or "cool" image. Reading Rolling Stone magazine at the time didn't help my perspective any. Now, with age and (hopefully) maturity on my side, I can look at this artist as what he is: an immensely gifted songwriter and singer. I think my opinion started to change back when I heard his song "Shanghai Breezes" - it kind of took me by surprise. His 3rd volume of Greatest Hits is one of my favorite recordings, and I'm now seeing the quality of his earlier material.

 

Check out his "Poems, Prayers and Promises" album. Great record!

 

Madonna is the new John Denver. My parents played his music around the house a lot when I was a kid. I like him, but I have never bought any of his CDs. Kind of strange??

 

I've been a fan since day one! If you wanna have some fun, get the remixed "Songs Best Friend" Import 2 CD set...Country Roads with BASS! Neat...most of the remixes are swell, a few off the mark...I'd say it's batting high! ALL of the Japanese CD Imports of the regular albums are light years better compared to the sad US catalog! PPP, is amazingly better! AERIE is not available here, but the Japanese import is EXCELLENT! Rocky Mountain High has a great Bonus track, as does all of the Japanese Imports...The John Denver IMPORT CD world is much better than the original vinyl...

 

You won't go wrong with:

Poems, Prayers & Promises
Aerie
Rocky Mountain High

Fine originals and good covers. From 71/72, before the hype and the big hits, I used to buy these alongside Kris Kristofferson, John Hartford, John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker etc. Aerie has only been available on CD as a Japanese release for some strange reason. Later albums also featured some fine songs but the sound changed and became less warm and lived-in, annoying songs began to appear and the strings became more prominent (and bland). The Harbour Lights Concert is a fine late period live album.

 

I suppose, like many singer-songwriter's from the 70's, his music as well as his image is the very antithesis of what "hip" (i.e. serious) music is supposed to be. I've heard critics use the word "myopic" to describe his songs, and to a cynic it probably is - kind of the way certain film critics dismiss Frank Capra movies for the same reason. Country music never accepted him 'cause his songs were "too pop for country". Rock music never accepted him 'cause his songs weren't "rough and tough" enough for rock. Even pure folkies dismissed him as not being "authentic" enough for folk music.

To his credit, he stayed fairly true to his message throughout his career. At his worst, his songs were often stylistic retreads and could occasionally border on schmaltz. Critics hated him, and for a brief period in the 70's he was the most popular artist in the world...which made critics hate him even more. Fellow musicians weren't particularly kind to him either (the Charlie Rich incident comes to mind).

He's the kind of artist where one will either find him insufferable (i.e. "he sucks"), or conversely find his music a simple alternative to the often "deeper" music that's supposed to be so much better. I doubt there's much middle ground.

I like his stuff from the early-mid 70's -- at times quite a bit if I'm in the right mood -- but admittedly find that as the decade wore on he did get a bit too MOR'ish for my tastes at times while also maybe starting to run out of gas (no pun intended). I also feel that Milt Okun made some really nice records with him. Not *always* the last word in audiophile quality, but some real nice and inventive productions nonetheless.

In addition, I'll always feel a sort of sentimental attachment to his early to mid 70's music...because it does bring back memories of my childhood. Historically, his music and talents definitely got a rap worse than they ever deserved. Had he come around twenty years later...modern country probably would have embraced him.

 

Does your sig other know you feel this way?

I always thought John Denver's music was cool. He did what he wanted and didn't care what others thought, just like Barry Manilow.

 

IIRC, why would he care anyway? He sold over 250 Million albums...he was cool! He started out cool ended up mediocre mainstream still talented...for me, the affair ended with Farewell Andromeda...

 

My wife thinks i'm strange for liking "Thank God I'm A Country Boy"!

 

I came to appreciate John Denver fairly late in the game. When I was in high school, his stuff was all over the radio, and I, being more of a Johnny Winter & Pete Townshend & Alice Cooper kind of guy (still am, come to that), loathed the stuff. Then I started giving the filk genre more of a listen in the years to come, and my appreciation for acoustic music grew. Sadly, it was only after Joh Denver's death that I gave him a second chance. Since then, I've come to love some of his music and appreciate him for the role he played in the popular music scene. The more I hear of today's music, the more I miss John Denver.

I think part of the problem was that John Denver was miss-cast in his prime. <ost wanted him to be country -- most, that is, except Charlie Rich, who set fire to the card after he announced John Denver as the country music Entertainer of the Year. Denver was pure folk.

BTW: for those who recognise my avatar, John Denver did a couple of great duets with John Stewart.

 

Charlie Rich Jr. has a different take on his father's envelope-burning incident:

http://www.charlierichjr.com/controversy/the_envelope_burning/

 

Just saw a PBS special on John Denver tonight. (Was'nt his real last name Dierdorf?). Anyway, I've always liked Take Me Home and Sunshine On My Shoulders. In the special, they were discussing the meaning of that song and it can be taken 2 ways: it's either a very happy and optimistic song or it's a sad meloncholy song. One guy even mentioned that if he had sped up the tempo of the song, it would have been a consensus upbeat song.

It's really too bad he died. For some strange reason, I've always thought that he was "Oliver" from the Brady Bunch!

 

Deutschendorf

 

As I said before, I'm proud to be a fan of John's music.

 

sorry, wrong thread

 

I'd agree with that assessment, DRM. He got it from all sides. I've always had mixed emotions about the guy - I can tolerate hearing him on the radio but never play any recordings of him at home.

Rocky Mountain High ain't a bad piece of songwriting - but what's that "You fill up my senses" song? Annie's Song? Barf city.

 

Count me in as another fan. A wonderful singer-songwriter.

 

I almost cried when I first heard Annie's Song.

 

..........Me too. But perhaps for different reasons.

 

Also check out "Spirit" and "I Want to Live" - my personal faves. More strings, sure, but less corn on the cob than some of the "Grandma's Feather Bed" type stuff. "Windsong" is also a good one.

Stevie

 

Yeah, I think that's a perfect example of the yin-yang scenario that surrounds his recorded output. On one hand, he had the acoustic folk + nature thing down pat. Stuff like "I Guess I'd Rather Be A Cowboy", and his recordings of the Bill Danoff songs were always quite good IMO (e.g. "We Don't Live Here No More"). He also did respectable covers of Kristofferson, Prine and even McCartney (i.e. "Junk") early on in his career. From a songwriting standpoint, I'll put "Poems, Prayers & Promises" up against just about anything from that era and genre. Then, on the other hand, there was certainly the element of treacle that his music could sometimes lapse into - "Annie's Song" and "I'm Sorry" probably being the two most easily identifiable offenders to his detractors.

 

I never heard the guy but he did a tune with Olivia Newton-John so he is automatically cool in my book. I guess this Anesini comp is the one that I want to check out...

 

When I was growing up in the '70s, John Denver was my favourite. Sort of like my first musical love. Then I grew up and gave up on him for a while, only to rediscover him a few years ago. I am grateful to have seen him in concert a couple of times. I'm proud to still be a fan!

Dave