"Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits" was released on the 35th anniversary of John Denver's first album and aims to be a comprehensive collection of Denver's most popular songs for a general audience, while providing big Denver fans who have everything with some previously unreleased material.
The first disc contains the hits: 20 songs representing 12 albums from 1969 to 1983 remastered from original studio recordings. Among the big hits which most everyone will recognize from radio airplay are "Sunshine On My Shoulders", the Tchaikovsky-inspired "Annie's Song", and "Fly Away", all of which reached #1 on the adult contemporary charts, "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Rocky Mountain High", "Calypso", "Shanghai Breezes", "Wild Montana Skies" (duet with Emmylou Harris), and a live version of the twangy, upbeat "Thank God I'm a Country Boy". "Leaving on a Jet Plane", which John Denver wrote, was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary, but Denver's version is also excellent. Casual John Denver fans will be pleased with this great selection of songs.
Disc 2 is "bonus" material: 4 previously unreleased recordings of "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "The Weight" (written and made famous by The Band), "Annie's Song", and "Calypso", for a total of about 14 minutes of material. This is the earliest recording of "Leaving on a Jet Plane", from 1966, recorded before John Denver got his first solo recording contract. "Annie's Song" and "Calypso" are acoustic versions with only guitar, mandolin, and voice. "The Weight" sounds good but just doesn't have the emotional impact of some other recordings of the song. The bonus tracks tend to have more prominent vocals than the same songs on disc 1, but the quality of the recordings is not as good.
Included is a small booklet that begins with an essay about John Denver by "Rolling Stone" contributing editor David Wild. That is followed by comments and stories about each song by Milt Okun, who was Denver's frequent producer and long-time friend. Dates of original recording and other vital info about each song are also provided, including the songs' highest achievement on the pop, country, and adult contemporary charts. No lyrics, unfortunately.