''John Denver's Greatest Hits'' is American singer-songwriter John Denver's first compilation album, released in late 1973 for the holiday shopping season. A version known as ''The Best of John Denver'' with the same track listingOriginal LP label as seen at http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2104022 (note that the back cover shows the songs in a different order, but the label itself has them in the same order as ''Greatest Hits'') was released in some countries.

History

The collection included material from his earlier days as a songwriter (going back to 1965 on "For Bobbie") to his later hit "

Rocky Mountain High "Rocky Mountain High" is a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972 it is the title track of the 1972 album '' Rocky Mountain High'' and rose to No. ...

". Indeed, many of these tracks were not hits per se, but as Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, "the ewere hesongs that defined him." Moreover, ''Greatest Hits'' is important historically because it contained new and reimagined recordings of several songs. Notable new versions included "

Leaving on a Jet Plane "Leaving on a Jet Plane" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter John Denver in 1966, originally included on his debut demo recording ''John Denver Sings'' as "Babe I Hate To Go". He made several copies and gave them out as presents f ...

", "Starwood in Aspen", "Follow Me", " Rhymes and Reasons", "The Eagle and the Hawk", "

Sunshine On My Shoulders "Sunshine on My Shoulders" (sometimes titled simply "Sunshine") is a song recorded and co-written by American singer-songwriter John Denver. It was originally released as an album track on 1971's '' Poems, Prayers & Promises'' and later, as a sing ...

" and "Poems, Prayers, and Promises". Denver explained this himself in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

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, featured a more mature-sounding Denver, included strings, and were extended somewhat. Within a few months of its release, ''Greatest Hits'' climbed to the top of the ''Billboard'' 200 pop albums chart, went

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

, and was one of the first albums worldwide 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 Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the RIAA. The album was on the Canadian RPM Top 100 charts for 110 weeks between December 15, 1973, and May 8, 1976.

Track listing

All tracks produced by Milton Okun; all tracks written by John Denver except where noted.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

For the newly recorded tracks: * John Denver – vocals, acoustic guitar *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in " Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliv ...

– guitars, banjo * Dick Kniss – bass * Frank Owens – piano * Herb Lovelle – drums *

Gary Chester Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo; October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was an American studio drummer, author, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he played on hundreds of records for bands such as The Coasters, The Monkees, and The Lovin ...

– percussion

References

{{Authority control 1973 greatest hits albums John Denver compilation albums Albums produced by Milt Okun RCA Records compilation albums