Customer Reviews

Autograph

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Milton Okun was John's producer and mentor for many years. They worked together on all his albums up to and including this one, released in 1980. Although this was not the last time they worked together, things were never the same again. Following this album, John experimented with different producers. Some of these produced great albums, but in a slightly different style. So this album, Autograph, was the last of its kind.

The style of this album is typical of John - rooted in folk but with elements of pop and country, with a bluegrass influence on one or two tracks. Classifying John's music was never easy but that's how he liked it. The quality is all that matters, and you get plenty of that here, especially with addition of two bonus tracks. They were recorded for possible inclusion in the original album and were certainly good enough.

John often sang about nature and the environment, and this album is packed with such songs. Normally, these songs are set in the Rockies, but many of the songs on this album are set in Alaska (Wrangell mountain song, American child, Whalebones and crosses). The Rockies are not completely overlooked - they are the setting for The mountain song. Even the love songs generally relate in some way to the environment, as in How mountain girls can love.

John did not record a lot of covers, but he always chose wisely when he did record them. Here you can here his outstanding version of Rodney Crowell's Song for the life.

This was not one of John's most commercially successful albums, but it was only because he was out of fashion at the time. If this album had appeared a few years earlier it would have generated the sales it deserved. It is a classic.

Autograph is a wonderful cd...I deeply appreciate John's rendition of 'Song for the Life' and 'You Say that the Battle is Over' and 'The Mountain Song'...and the depth of understanding he communicates in 'Whalebones and Crosses' evokes in the perceptive listener that same understanding of the truth he is expressing. 'American Child' is a call to each of us (as are so many of John's ballads)...and the title track "Autograph' is John Denver at his best--expressing the feelings of his heart. I highly recommend this cd--if you are someone who remembers JD for the hit songs only, you are in for a real eye opener into the depth of style, emotion and messages JD expressed through his music. Autograph has been a favorite lp & tape of mine for many years...and the cd version is excellent!

It is rather interesting, although many will write it off to sheer coincidence since John has been gone for more than three years, that this album should appear on compact disc for the first time...now that the Bush Administration is in place and there are, for the first time in the last eight years, threats being made by the possible new Interior Secretary of drilling for oil in Alaska. Coincidence?

"Autograph" is the album John needed to record, more than any other, to solidify his resolve to protect the environment. Every single one of the songs that appeared on the original release is here, plus two songs that were recorded at the same time and were added to this package. Only one of them, "On The Wings Of An Eagle", has the same theme as the rest of the album, although the old Nitty Gritty Dirt Band favorite, "Dance, Little Jean", is here, too, and that is great fun.

"Autograph" exudes John's love for all things natural. Especially prevalent are songs that make people stop and take pause, which is all that John ever wanted any of us to do. Listen to "Wrangell Mountain Song" or "Whalebones and Crosses" and ask yourself how we can go into the pristeen raw nature of the northern hemisphere and start developing it for the finite amount of resources it has. Listen to David Mallett's "You Say That The Battle Is Over" and realize that it will never be.

The band used during this period, circa 1980, was among the best he ever had. Herb Pedersen, Emory Gordy, James Burton, Jim Horn, Glen D Hardin, and Hal Blaine are studio masters all who gave John his strongest musical support of his entire career.

John's entire RCA catalogue has never been released domestically. I think it's possible that RCA may release some limited-edition box arrangement of all 25 albums on the fifth anniversary of his passing (I don't know that, it just seems reasonable). Only "Rocky Mountain Holiday" with the Muppetts has never seen the light of day as a CD anywhere in the world. I wonder what recorded gems still await in the vaults somewhere. But thank goodness someone had the wisdom to release this one. Buy this album and really listen to the words, then play it for your friends, and then talk about it. It might be the last chance you have to make John's dream a reality.

I first heard this album in 1982 when I really fell in love with John's music. I was 19 then, and even though I had liked his music as a kid, it wasn't till that year when I really got into all of his music. His career was on the wane but that was a reflection of the changing tide of the music scene as a business, not on John as an artist. This is one of his best works. So it saddened me to learn that this album did not recieve the comercial success that it deserved.

Even John's attempt at a song with a disco theme "Dancing With The Mountains" comes off as authentic with out being glitzy. But the best songs on the album, in my opinion, are the songs dealing with Alaska. John was not just a troubadour for Colorado, but for anywhere man was abusing nature. Alaska was his home away from home. "Whalebones & Crosses" is simply a masterpiece. Musically it is complex, not to be tackled by an acoustic guitar alone. It has mulitple key changes and vocally it challenges a singer in a way only John could meet. John re-recorded "Wrangell Mountain Song" from the "Spirit" albulm and I don't think this version is a as good as the other. But it is still a great song. His cover of David Mallett's tune "The Ballad of St Anne's Reel" is a stand out. You will be transported to that "tiny little town on fair Prince Edward Isle" and the signature fiddle playing that graces the song between the verses will stay with you long after the song is over. One of the bonus tracks "On The Wings of An Eagle" is a personal favorite of mine. It fits with the theme of the Album. Why RCA or John left it off the LP in 1980 leaves me scratching my head wondering. One negative remark is the other bonus track, "Dance Little Jean". The Dirt Bands version is more energetic and polished. John's version seems tired and lack-lusterd and like he was only going through the motions on this one.

One last note, and it is just personal whim of mine, I think this album is mistitled. The album was intended to be John's signature to the people, he hated signing autographs - too impersonal. But the tittle track is ok, and thats it - just ok. The song "American Child" is a more powerful piece and signifies what this album is about, and therefore, I think that would be a more appropriate tittle for this CD.

John Denver experienced a string of monster hits prior to this album. Rocky Mountain High, Take Me Home Country Roads, and Annie's Song we're all sewn into the public's conscious. My personal favorite John Denver album is Windsong because I feel it is one of the best flowing album out there with many commercial hits, but this one has a different feel. Throughout the entire musical production, one can't help but think the environment played a crucial roll with John Denver at this time, as it always had. However, this album has the feel of a John Denver struggling to make the public aware of ecological and social problems affecting the earth as a whole. The result is a beautiful work of art. My personal favorites are How Mountain Girls Can Love, Wrangell Mountain Song (A Remake of a song he did on the Spirit album), You Say That the battle is Over, The Mountain Song, and of course, Autograph. Just from looking at the list of songs, one would expect it would have continued the John Denver jewell of consitency when it comes to commercial succes, but if the consumer looks at the release date, 1980, well, that date pretty much says it all. Excessiveness was the thing to do, as was being cynical. The good news is, the great artists are never truly remembered in their time, age has done nothing but make this music amazing.

I have waited a long time for this to come out on CD and now I have now finished my collection. The songs on this CD was very good and you will find them very different than what he done in the past. The older John Denver got, the better he became. I find that I never tire of his songs. I especially like the "The Ballad of St. Anne's Reel". You will NOT be disappointed if you purchase this cd.

After years of searching, we have been rewarded. This album contains some great songs, as all of John Denver's albums do. Though some are overly melodramatic in lyric, the music is beautiful. However, it is the haunting melody and words contained in "The Ballad of St. Anne's Reel" that never quite leave the heart of the listener.

I bought the cassette of this album in the very early 80's and played it A LOT until it wore out and was never able to replace it. I didn't realize it was never one of John's bestsellers --silly people, they didn't know what they were missing! Unfortunatly it was after John's untimely death that the label decided to re-release the album on CD. Yeeaa! Now I finally have it in my grubby little paws again and can happily play it all that my heart desires. The songs 'Whalebones and Crosses', 'You say that the Battle is Over' and the one about Prince Edward's Island show John's genius. See for your self, I think you'll be pleasently surprised.

John Denver titled it Autograph, and it may be more of an autograph than he intended. Released in 1980, as John's popularity was sliding, this may have been his most socially pointed ablum yet. The comming of a new president and strained world relations threatened his beloved Alaska. In these songs (particularly the original releases) John unleashes a heavy dose of heartfelt concern. American Child captures this concern. The ballad appeals to the next generation to heal the wounds created by past... the song has a presence, "Before the machine turned the blue and the green into something you can't understand...". The theme echos through all of Autograph's compositions. The style doesn't drift from the typical Denver album, there is a cover of an older song (How Mountain Girls can Love), and the folksy (yet perfectly chosen) covers (the Dylan-like You Say the Battle is Over and the awesome Whalebones and Crosses). There is a love song, In My Heart, that tells of his relationship in tough times. This is, in some sense, a true Autograph of John Denver- a man constatly in a state of unrest. The style remains the same- except the tone is more of concern. It is a great listen, I recomend it.

My wife and I picked up a cassette copy of this album on our way to California from New York. For years we played it until it broke and CDs were the new thing. But this album didn't get released right away and I thought I would never hear it again. Well it's on CD now and it is one of Denver's best ones. It is filled with the usual songs of nature that made John Denver so popular. His version of How Mountain Girls Can Love stands up to any bluegrass group out there. The two bonus tracks are not just some cheasy tracks that were laying around but are gems themselves. If you like John Denver then you need to pick up this CD and sit back and enjoy!!