On October 12, 1997, Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. aka John Denver died aged 53. Being musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, activist, actor and humanitarian, he was one the most popular and best selling American artists of the 1970s. In his career, Denver recorded more than 300 songs, with total sales of over 33 million copies, with twelve Gold and four Platinum albums. His best known and most popular songs are “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Annie’s Song”, “Rocky Mountain High” and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”.
Tag Archives: John Denver
Jacques Brel
On October 9, 1978, Jacques Romain Georges Brel died aged 49. He was a Belgian singer, songwriter and actor, widely considered a master of the modern chanson. He recorded most of his songs in French and in Dutch, but he became a major influence on English speaking songwriters and performers such as David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Leonard Cohen, Marc Almond and Rod McKuen. The English translations of his songs were recorded by many famous performers including Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Judy Collins, John Denver, the Kingston Trio, Scott Walker and Andy Williams. Having sold over 25 million records worldwide, Brel is the fourth best-selling Belgian recording artist of all time.
John Denver: Poems, Prayers & Promises
On April 5, 1971, “RCA” label released “Poems, Prayers & Promises”, the fourth John Denver album. It was recorded in 1970 – 1971, and was produced by Milton Okun and Susan Ruskin. The album contains contains “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, which would become Denver’s signature song.
Personnel:
- John Denver – vocals, 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars
- Taffy Nivert– vocals
- Bill Danoff– vocals, guitar
- Eric Weissberg– banjo, steel guitars
- Mike Taylor– acoustic guitar
- Frank Owens – piano
- Richard Kniss – double bass
- Gary Chester– drums, percussion
- Don Wardell – executive producer
Track listing:
- Poems, Prayers and Promises – John Denver
- Let It be – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- My Sweet Lady – John Denver
- Wooden Indian – John Denver
- Junk – Paul McCartney
- Gospel Changes – Jack Williams
- Take Me Home Country Roads – Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver
- I Guess He’d Rather Be in Colorado Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert
- Sunshine on My Shoulders – John Denver, Richard Kriss, Mike Taylor
- Around & Around – John Denver
- Fire and Rain – James Taylor
- The Box – Kendrew Lascelles
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