Chronological Review of John Denver's Albums, Part II: 1971-1972

[@jansmith6229]

I still have the poster that came inside this album!!! as well as the Cherry Lane songbook! I did have to buy a second Rocky Mountain High album. PP&P was my first JD album after meeting Dannoff and Nivert in Montreal. I was hooked ever since.

[@CorinneHSmith]

VERY COOL! Hang on to that songbook. They're hard to come by.

[@jansmith6229]

FYI - You can visit the Rochester Dam on the Green River in Mulenberg County, Kentucky. I went there in 2022 after visiting Mammoth Cave NP. The Green River flows through Mammoth Cave down Hwy 70 to Mulenberg County. There is a wonderful little park at the dam which just became a John Prine memorial park after my visit there. The town of Paradise is not called Drakesboro. The remnants of the Peabody coal company is still there behind chain link fence off the highway that is now John Prine Ave. We had a small picnic there at the dam, where of course I played the song Paradise. Go if you can!

[@CorinneHSmith]

I once drove through Kentucky and CROSSED the Green River at one point. I was so excited that I took a photo of the highway sign that marked it. Thanks for the good info, I'll have to go back!

[@paulineh4019]

Loving these reviews of Johns albums. My favourite version of Prisoners is Johns live tv version, so much passion. Yes, hearing Johns songs made this Aussie girl want to experience those majestical mountains and prairies, so I did in 1979. I hope to revisit in the next 2 years. My first John album was PP&Ps, followed by RMH. I was fortunate to see him in concert in Australia in 1975 and 1977. Sorry to say I did kinda lose him in the early 80s but found him again a few years back and now have all his albums, either records or CDs or a mix of both. I kept my original albums of his from the 70s and still play them ocassionally. And yes I started to learn guitar because of John 🙂 He had a huge influence on a lot of people worldwide.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Thanks for sharing! We have similar stories and connections with John, I think. I just bought a copy of his Greatest Hits Volume Two from someone in Australia, because one song on it is different from the album that was released in the U.S. ! I'll feature it in the next video.

[@paulineh4019]

@@CorinneHSmith Oh that's funny, you buying from Oz. He did release another album here, different to US....Stonehaven Sunrise, replaced (?) The Flower That Shattered album.. Quite hard to find.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Oh, well, now you've got me on the hunt for it ... 🙂

[@paulineh4019]

@@CorinneHSmith 😄

[@jansmith6229]

I still refer to The Ambulance Down in the Valley when debating prevention efforts with people.

[@CorinneHSmith]

I've read it aloud at a few poetry readings, and it always gets a response from the audience. As it should. Doesn't even matter which issues they think the message applies to.

[@lornacurtis8897]

This was great! Looking forward to Part lll. Ah the memories...

[@jeremyferrantelli6232]

Hi Corinne. I have been an avid John Denver fan since 1994. My parents had JD Greatest Hits album on Vinyl in 1973. From the album i got hooked. I bought An Evening with John Denver on CD in 1995 and The Wildlife Concert on CD. John's concert The Wildlife Concert was featured on A&E Television Network... Starting in October 1997. My Grandma bought me - every album on CD from Rhymes and Reasons 1969 To John's final album All Aboard. I also owned the LP Aerie listened to the album until i wore out the record... lol The Mitchell Trio That's The Way Its Gonna Be - my parents bought this album for me for Christmas this year... I love the album.... Violets Of Dawn is great.... I cant wait for part 3 :-) After John's passing RCA released a bunch of Previously Unreleased Albums Happy New Year

[@CorinneHSmith]

Good to hear from you, Jeremy. Thanks for sharing your story! The "Greatest Hits" album will feature prominently in Part III of this series.

[@JillDinardo-mb6ii]

You are speaking my own memories,Thanx!!!

[@CorinneHSmith]

It's a GREAT time to remember.

[@ConglomerationCat]

I think it was fate that stumbled upon your video. Ive been thinking of my father a lot lately. He's been gone for two years now and in the 70's like most everyone else at that time was heavily into John's music. I've only grown up with the Greatest Hits 1 and 2 and An Evening With John Denver was I was young. So Rocky Mountain High was the first album away from his "hits" that I purchased on my own. I got married almost two years ago and we nearly used "Late Winter-Early Spring" to walk diwn the Isle to but used Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" instead. No regrets. The passing of John Denver shook me because I think Jim Henson passed away earlier or almost the same time and both played a significant role on my childhood. Thanks for making this video. Not a lot of "John Denver" thoughts much less reviews on KZbin. Take care and have a good rest of the weekend. Im subscribing now. If you'd like check out channel, i hsve an instrumental on there called Chic's Song that a homage to John.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Wow, thanks for sharing your story. I'm always amazed by the ways John Denver has impacted people.

[@ConglomerationCat]

@@CorinneHSmithIt's certainly a rarity these days but really cool to know folks like you keep that boat afloat.

[@jessalexander71]

Thank you. This is terrific.

[@UrsulaPCase]

John Denver performed Prisoners on a Johnny Carson show in 1971. It was very impactful.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Wow, cool. I probably wasn't allowed to stay up that late, back then.

[@ErnestIII83]

I have the CD of Rocky Mountain High and while it does have every track in the right order, the back cover and gatefold aren't included. It was only until recently that I found out it even had a gatefold. Ticks me off. Ha. I have Poems Prayers and Promises on CD as well and it also doesn't have the back cover. The back of both CDs is just black with the tracklisting on them. Yeah, Rocky Mountain High is one of my top favorite albums of all time. Perfect album indeed.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Agreed! Yes, the CD formats can skip some of the original features. Bummer.

[@elvisleeboy]

Do you by any chance know anything about the version of For Baby that features in the film 'Take Me Home: The John Denver Story'?

[@CorinneHSmith]

I haven't watched the movie in a while. I know that you can get a CD of the movie soundtrack. And I know that it contains remastered versions of some of his classic songs. I will investigate and get back to you. Thanks for the prompting!

[@elvisleeboy]

@@CorinneHSmith You're welcome! I like the version in the film, as it's subtle and simple, with just voice and guitar.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Tod Nelson's review of this CD, posted on the Big A (As an independent bookseller, I am unable to repeat the name of our biggest competitor out loud) reads thusly, in part: " The auspices for the Take Me Home soundtrack are dubious (a CBS movie starring Chad Lowe as the late troubadour), but, incredibly, it stands as one of the more definitive retrospectives of the artist's career. Late in his life, no longer enjoying the heights of the charts, Denver revisited many of his early works, reinterpreting them with his matured vision and voice. These recastings are sprinkled liberally throughout the album, side by side with his original recordings, and the result is both the John Denver you loved and a John Denver you've never heard before. His rerecordings of early hits ("Leaving, on a Jet Plane," "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Sunshine on My Shoulders") discover new emotive depths to the tunes, his voice richer in timbre and expression. Untouched originals ("Annie's Song," "This Old Guitar," "Poems, Prayers, and Promises," "Thank God I'm a Country Boy") remind us of a more optimistic day, when his songs ruled the airwaves and became ingrained in our consciousness."

[@elvisleeboy]

@@CorinneHSmith Thank you! I've now ordered the CD, as from what I can tell, it does contain the versions featured in the film, although I have found no information about precisely when those versions were recorded.

[@CorinneHSmith]

Right! I ordered a copy, too. Should be here by the end of the week. I ASSUME that proper credits will be included in the packaging. But you never know. The next thing to do would be to play all of the different arrangements of "For Baby (For Bobbi)" that you can find, and compare the musicianship. And to take into consideration how John's singing and playing evolved over the course of his performing life.

[@erikspurrell8021]

i have it on Cd and iTunes

[@erikspurrell8021]

i have it on Cd and iTunes