Customer Reviews

John Denver - Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits

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John wrote Leaving on a jet plane before he was famous. It became a huge international hit for Peter Paul and Mary. As well as John's own recording of that song, this collection includes all his big American hits including Take me home country roads (a UK hit for Olivia Newton John), Sunshine on my shoulders, Annie's song (his biggest hit - number one in Britain and America), Back home again (my favorite song of his), Sweet surrender, I'm sorry, Rocky mountain high, Thank God I'm a country boy and Calypso (a tribute to Jacques Cousteau). The eighties were less successful but yielded two superb duets - Perhaps love (with Placido Domingo) and Wild Montana skies (with Emmylou Harris).

The bonus CD contains some fascinating alternative versions of Leaving on a jet plane, Annie's song and Calypso, plus a cover of The weight, a song normally associated with The Band.

The first CD is the strongest single CD collection of John's music yet released. Furthermore, the sound quality is better than on any previous collection.

Dedicated fans should be aware that this collection was released as Definitive all time greatest hits in the USA, but as A song's best friend - the very best of John Denver in Britain, where the collection has been issued in two versions - with and without the second CD. This difference is justified since only Annie's song and Perhaps love made the UK charts. Just don't waste your money buying both. Buy your local version.

As a longtime fan who actually saw John perform at the Forum in L.A. way back in 74' and again a year before he died, I agree with the other reviewer who would have preferred the "Greatest Hits" versions of these songs to have been included. There was a reason that John re-recorded those song's for that album way back in 73'. He felt his voice was better (and it was!)and the songs had grown since he first recorded them (and they do sound better). To my ear, he was right. For my money, I'll take the newly remastered "Greatest Hits", which by the way, sounds amazing and the newly remastered "Back Home Again", where I can find one of Denver's best songs "Matthew", which is amazingly NOT on this collection, and the "Rocky Mountain Collection", where I can find gems such as "I'de Rather be a Cowboy" in remastered glory. And I'll wait for John's best album's, "Rocky Mountain High","Farewell Andromeda" and "I Want to Live" to be properly remastered. For those of you who are more than casual fans, buy the remasters and listen to the songs the way you remember them from all those years ago. I have a feeling that that's the way John would have liked it!!

"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.

This disc, which features fine remastering and interesting notes and a nearly definitive selection of only 20 songs, should reignite interest in Denver's music, but it needs a companion volume to keep up the new sales and growth of new fans. For Volume 2, I strongly suggest the following songs: 1. Rhymes and Reasons 2. Follow Me 3. My Sweet Lady 4. I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado 5. Starwood in Aspen 6. For Baby (For Bobbie) 7. Goodbye Again 8. Season Suite: Summer 9. Season Suite: Fall 10. Season Suite: Winter 11. Season Suite: Late Winter, Early Spring 12. Season Suite: Spring 13. I'd Rather Be a Cowboy (Lady's Chains) 14. Berkeley Woman 15. Rocky Mountain Suite (Cold Nights in Canada) 16. Grandma's Feather Bed 17. Matthew 18. Music Is You 19. This Old Guitar 20. I Want To Live 21. To the Wild Country 22. Mountain Song. 23. Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Are Stone) 24. Boy From the Country

That Volume 2, which I would find to be at least as good as this Defintive All-Time Greatest Hits, would demonstrate even more that Denver was a major folk/country/singer-songwriter rock troubadour sadly slighted by most critics and many music industry executives. It is time for such a Volume 2 and a collection of Country Music stars doing a Pickin' On John Denver tribute album.

There are numerous John Denver collections to choose from dating all the way back to his first 1973 greatest hits package, but this one is nearly perfect. The only real flaw is the omission of his 1981 hit "Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)." That aside, this disc includes each of his other top 40 hits from "Take Me Home, Country ROads" through "Shanghai Breeze."

The brief 4-track bonus disc is highlighted by a breathtaking acoustic version of "Calypso" that is even better than the hit version. Just to get this song is worth the price of admission. Denver may not have gotten much critical praise during his heyday in the early seventies, but these tracks explain what made him one of the most popular artists of the decade. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Pleasantly pleased with this compilation. The quality is great. Bonus track "The Weight" previously unreleased is worth the cost of the CD by itself. I didn't think I would be hearing anything new (to me at least)since I pretty much have all his CDs.

If you have a John Denver fan in the family (and who doesn't?), or if you are one, I would highly recommend this CD for under the Christmas tree. It also contains a 1966 previously unreleased recording of Leaving on a Jet Plane from the album "John Denver Sings". I've been a fan for over 20 years and I had never heard of the album "John Denver Sings". Also there are tracks of Annie's Song from March 1974, and Calypso from July 1975, both previously unreleased.

There are some very early photos of John with long hair that were a treat to see, and a centrefold picture of him on a motorcycle driving through the countryside with the wind in his hair(from the BMG archives).

Also included "a fan's notes by david wild"; and a song-by-song commentary with Milt Okun in the jacket notes - did you know that "Leaving on a Jet Plane" was almost called "Oh Babe I Hate to Go?"(Insert is 10 pages colour double sided = 20 pgs). Also includes mini photos of 20 of JD's album jacket covers and their release dates. Milt's insight regarding each of the tracks is a real value add to the CD. Great job!

This is a great intro to some of John's best work, but when you call a collection "definitive" you are opening up yourself to a lot of second-guessing. In my opinion, the best thing about this CD are the acoustic versions of "Calypso" and "Annie's Song." To really get the best out of John, you have to be willing to go to some of the original albums. "On the Wings of a Dream" is an example of a beautiful late-era John Denver song not included here. And the live version of "Sweet Surrender" from Evening with John Denver. But those are debatable points. One non-debatable exclusion from this disc is "Matthew" - my personal favorite John Denver song, one of his greatest masterpieces, and in my opinion, the greatest country song of all time. Calling a John Denver collection "definitive" and not including "Matthew" is absurd. There is another greatest hits collection available, a two cd set, that has all three of the songs I mentioned above. I don't see it listed here, but it's out there. This collection is a good start, but I wouldn't want anyone to assume that by buying it, they are getting John's "definitive" best songs.

John Denver passed away in October, 1997 while piloting a small airplane. Before that, he left an indelible mark on the pop music industry. By combining harmonic vocals with a recognizable acoustic sound, John's music still remains popular with fans of all ages.

From the autobiographical "Rocky Mountain High" to the melodic and uplifting "Calypso", this collection contains many of John's most famous songs. Other selections include "Annie"; a song John wrote for his wife, "Take me Home, Country Roads", and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy".

I wasn't a big fan of John Denver before I bought this CD, but I really enjoy listening to his music now. This is the perfect disc for the casual fan, because all of his most popular hits are on it; there's no need to buy several other discs to get them.

I give this great collection my highest recommendation. If you're a major fan or just a casual fan, then this is the CD you'll want to own.

John Denver's Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits is actually a very good compilation of the singers best work. I personally think that this easily could have been a 2 disk compilation because there are some classic songs that were overlooked. As a lover of John Denver's music the second CD could have included other great songs and hits such as, Follow Me, Goodby Again, Starwood In Aspen, Rhymes and Reasons, For Bobbie, Matthew, This Old Guitar, How Can I Leave You Again, I Want To Live, To The Wild Country. And from his later years songs like, For You, Eagles and Horses, The Flower That Shattered The Stone, Whispering Jesse. With the songs I just mentioned, including the 4 unreleased songs, that would have made a second CD with 18 songs. Oh well, that's my wishful thinking.

But dealing with the CD as it was released, my only complaints have to deal with the version of some of the songs that were selected. Songs like, Leaving on a Jet Plane, My Sweet Lady, Poems, Prayers and Promises, Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning) are all the original studio version. As John Denver himself said in the liner notes of the original Greatest Hits LP, he was singing better so he re-recorded the above songs. In my opinion the versions of those songs that were released on his first 2 Greatest Hits albums are far superior to the studio versions, and I think those versions should have been included on this compilation.

As for the music itself, what can I add or detract? It speaks for itself. John Denver was a great singer and songwriter. Today's musicians and singers and songwriters could greatly benefit from listening to the his gift in writing beautiful melodies and sincere poetic lyrics. It seems melody has all but disappeared from music. This compilation, John Denver's Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits, clearly demonstrates why he became one of the best selling artists in the world during the 1970s.

Like many, for years I had his vinyl era "Greatest Hits" album and loved it, but always missed a number of excellent songs. This includes all the songs I was missing, and everything else too. True there is even more to be heard, but this is as good as a single disc could be, and should be owned by any level of fan. Including the four track bonus disc, this is more than twice as long as his "Greatest Hits" was, and the sound is wonderful as well. To have "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Rocky Mountain High", "Annie's Song", and "Back Home Again" on the same album is so pleasing, and improves many of my mornings. Regardless of whether you're a fan of soft rock, folk, or country, any fan of music should be moved by the songs of John Denver.