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As one of the ultimate folk singers ever, John Denver put out the fantastic Rocky Mountain High album. It is his best, in my opinion. I have it on vinyl and now in CD form. I enjoy listening to it almost every day and would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a great album.
He wasn't a cardboard entertainer singing cookie cutter songs. John's music was absolutly timeless. I can put on my headphones and go to the catherdral mountains of Colorado or to the strip-mines of Kentucky. John sang about what he knew and loved. John had no filler music on his projects. I see the winter set in out west as life begins to retreat within it's self.
You miss the little gems. I have been listening to this music for over thirty years and still have not found anything that comes close to this style of folk music. I don't like all these new compilation cd's that are being released. The hot summer sun begins to rise on a new day, a day filled with wonder and excitment as the day unfolds. As I was in the military for many years, I know the joy and pain that totally consumes you when your child is born and you are nowhere to be found as in "Prisoners."John was an origial unlike today's "Country" that is all glitter pop. Make it a point to get his original albums in their original form.
It was all good.Peace
While listening to Pandora it came up with a link to Amazon to buy. I had been looking for this particular CD for years. I did not know it by name though. Done deal. VERY happy.
I probably respond even stronger to them today than I did when I first heard them at 12. This album remains Denver's defining work. The best songs on it are the title track, "For Baby", and the Seasons Suite, but really the whole collection is a gem. It retains the freshness and purity of sound and heart today that it had in 1972. His voice was so young and hopeful, and so were his songs. This is the best place to start if you don't own any John Denver; it sure won't be the last one you buy. Highly recommended, even after 36 years.
Most people know the marketing phenomenon. I wonder what happened to that guy. He's in the middle of a transformation here--Denver had about 5 stages: the first as sort of a nerdy folk singer, the second as a hippie, the third as a marketing phenomenon, the fourth as a has-been, and the fifth as a come-back. I rated RMH 4 stars because this is an important album that shows a really accurate picture of who Denver really was; it's an important musical artifact in a way. It was shortly after this that RCA released his Greatest Hits album, which featured a bunch of new versions of his old songs re-recorded with lots of violins and pretty much defined the sound and the homogenized Denver that became the icon. Taylor was a genuine find--he co-wrote Rocky Mountain High.
Plus he had a guy named Mike Taylor in his band, who was an incredible lead guitarist, and as a result, the guitar work on this record is truly enlightened.
RMH falls right in the middle of his hippie period, and for me, that's when he's at his most likable and artistic.
"Early Winter/Late Spring" is still one of his best songs.
I don't think it's Denver's best, necessarily, but it's close.
With that said, the album as a whole doesn't wear so well sound-quality-wise--it would probably pay to find a release that's been remastered.
On the original album inside cover, he's wearing a t-shirt that says "Be kind to animals--kiss a BEAVER"--something so utterly masculine you'd never see it again after he became a phenomenon.
That's iconic of what I love about this album, and the follow up "Farewell Andromeda," which is probably his best work--he doesn't give a hell about pleasing anyone, and he's finally found his art.
And this has to be one of the best album covers of all time.
I think he was more interesting when he was a hippie.
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