On October 14, 1969, “RCA” label released “Rhymes & Reasons”, the debut John Denver studio album. It was recorded in 1969, at “RCA Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Milton Okun.

Personnel:

• John Denver – vocals, guitar, arrangements
• Eric Weissberg – banjo, steel guitar
• Paul Prestopino – guitar, autoharp, mandolin
• Stan Free – organ
• Paul Griffin – keyboards
• Russ Savakus – bass guitar
• Teddy Sommer – drums
• Herbie Lovelle – drums
• George Marge – baritone saxophone
• Marvin Stamm – flute, trumpet
• Albert Richmond – French horn
• Tommy Goodman – additional instrumentation
• Milton Okun – arrangements
• Jim Crotty – recording
• John Woram – recording
• Jean Goldhirsch – assistant producer

Track listing:

1. The Love of the Common People – John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins
2. Catch Another Butterfly – Mike Williams
3. Daydream – John Denver
4. The Ballad of Spiro Agnew – Tom Paxton
5. Circus – Michael Johnson, John Denver, Laurie Kuehn
6. When I’m Sixty-Four – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
7. The Ballad of Richard Nixon – Tom Paxton
8. Rhymes & Reasons – John Denver
9. Yellow Cat – Steven Fromholz
10. Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver
11. (You Dun Stomped) My Heart – Mason Williams
12. My Old Man – Jerry Jeff Walker
13. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free – Billy Taylor, Dick Dallas
14. Today Is the First Day of the Rest of My Life (Sugacity) – Pat Garvey, Victoria Garvey