John Denver's Greatest Hits

Infobox Album |
Name = John Denver's Greatest Hits
Type = compilation
Artist = John Denver


Released = November 1973
Recorded = 1969-1973
Genre = Folk, Country, Pop
Length =
Label = RCA Records
Producer = Milton Okun
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wzfexqr5ldhe link]
*"Rolling Stone Record Guide" Rating|2|5 [1979]
Last album = "Farewell Andromeda"
(1973)
This album = "Greatest Hits"
(1973)
Next album = "Back Home Again"
(1974)

"John Denver's Greatest Hits" was John Denver's first compilation album, released in late 1973 for the holiday shopping season.

History

The collection included material from his earlier days as a songwriter (going back to 1965 on "For Bobbie") to his recent hit "Rocky Mountain High". Indeed many of these tracks were not hits per se, but as Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for Allmusic, "the [se] were [the] songs that defined him."

Moreover, "Greatest Hits" is important historically because it contains new, revisionist recordings of several of these songs. Denver explained this himself in the liner notes by saying that he had picked the numbers most requested in his concerts, but that "I felt that some of these songs had grown a bit, that I am singing better than I was four or five years ago, and that I would like to treat some of the songs a little differently than I had in the original recordings." After its release these versions were used for airplay despite differing in subtle but important ways from the original versions; generally, they were more polished.

"Greatest Hits" climbed by the spring following to the top of the Billboard 200 pop albums chart, went platinum, and was one of the first albums world-wide to sell over 10 million copies. Overall it is easily the best-selling album of his career in the United States, being certified 9-times platinum by the RIAA.

Track listing

ide A

# "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver) - 3:08
# "Follow Me" (John Denver) - 2:56
# "Starwood in Aspen" (John Denver) - 3:10
# "For Baby (For Bobbie)" (John Denver) - 2:58
# "Rhymes and Reasons" (John Denver) - 3:11
# "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (John Denver) - 4:00

ide B

# "The Eagle and the Hawk" (John Denver, Mike Taylor) - 2:10
# "Sunshine on My Shoulders" (John Denver, Dick Kniss, Mike Taylor) - 5:10
# "Goodbye Again" (John Denver) - 3:36
# "Poems, Prayers and Promises" (John Denver) - 4:34
# "Rocky Mountain High" (John Denver, Mike Taylor) - 4:43

Chart positions

Personnel

For the newly recorded tracks:
* John Denver - vocals, acoustic guitar
* Steve Weisberg - guitars
* Dick Kniss - bass
* Frank Owens - piano
* Herb Lovelle - drums
* Gary Chester - percussion

ee also

* List of best-selling albums in the United States