John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits.(Sound Recording Review)

John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits. RCA/BMG 82876-60764-2 (2-disc set).

It's true that a little of John Denver goes a long way, which may explain the decline in his popularity during the eighties after a decade of superstardom in seventies. But some of the late singer's tunes remain personal favorites, and it's good to own this newly remastered, two-disc set from RCA that includes twenty of his biggest hits, plus four more bonus, unreleased songs.

Understandably, it was hard to pin down just what kind of songs Denver sang. Were they folk, pop, rock, or country? A little of all four, perhaps, although I always thought of him of a country-folk singer. Makes sense, too, because he rose to national attention as the replacement for Chad Mitchell in the celebrated folksinging trio of the sixties, and when the folk boom of that era closed, Denver moved effortlessly into the then-expanding country-western scene. His songs, like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High," "Sunshine on My Shoulders," "Back Home Again," "Annie's Song," and "Calypso" bridged the gap between folk and country with a combination of both genres.

All of the songs on the album but one, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," were written or co-written by ...