''Windsong'' is the ninth studio album recorded by American singer-songwriter
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...
, which was released in September 1975. Denver's popularity was at its peak by this time.
The album contained the songs "
I'm Sorry" and "
Calypso," which comprised a two-sided hit for Denver in the fall of 1975. "Looking for Space" was dedicated to
Werner Erhard
Werner Hans Erhard (born John Paul Rosenberg; September 5, 1935) is an American lecturer known for founding est (offered from 1971 to 1984). In 1985, he replaced the est Training with a newly designed program, the Forum. Since 1991, the Forum ...
, "Two Shots" to Michael P. Shore, "Fly Away", featuring the backup vocals from Olivia Newton-John, and "Calypso" to
Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and all those who served on his ship, ''Calypso''.
Track listing
Side one
# "Windsong" (Denver, Joe Henry) – 3:57
# "Cowboy’s Delight" (Bob Carpenter, David James Holster) – 3:05
# "Spirit" (Denver, Henry) – 3:33
# "
Looking for Space" (Denver) – 3:56
# "Shipmates and Cheyenne" (Denver, Henry) – 3:22
# "Late Nite Radio" (
Bill Danoff
William Thomas Danoff (born May 7, 1946) is an American songwriter and singer. He is known for " Afternoon Delight", which he wrote and performed as a member of the Starland Vocal Band, and for writing multiple hits for John Denver, including " ...
,
Taffy Danoff
Mary Catherine "Taffy" Nivert (born October 25, 1944) is an American songwriter and singer. She is best known for co-writing "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which was popularized by John Denver, and for being a member of the Starland Vocal Band.
...
) – 2:44
Side two
# "Love Is Everywhere" (John Sommers, Denver, Henry,
Steve Weisberg
Steve Weisberg (born 1963 in Norfolk, Virginia, United States) is an American composer, pianist, recording artist, and producer. In the 1980s, after studying with Michael Gibbs at Berklee College in Boston, Massachusetts, he recorded the Xtr ...
) – 3:30
# "Two Shots" (Denver) – 3:29
# "
I'm Sorry" (Denver) – 3:29
# "
Fly Away" (Denver) – 4:08
# "
Calypso" (Denver) – 3:32
# "Song of Wyoming" (Kent Lewis) – 3:19
Personnel
*John Denver – vocals,
6 and 12-string acoustic guitars
*
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
– drums, percussion
*Dick Kniss – double bass
*John Sommers –
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
, acoustic guitar,
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
,
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
, backing vocals
*Steve Weisberg – electric and acoustic guitars,
pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...
, electric and acoustic
dobros
Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.
The Dobro was originally a gui ...
, backing vocals
*
Byron Berline
Byron Douglas Berline (July 6, 1944 – July 10, 2021) was an American fiddle player who played many American music styles, including old time, ragtime, bluegrass, Cajun, country, and rock.
Life and career
Berline was born in Caldwell, Kansas ...
– mandolin, fiddle on "Love is Everywhere"
*Mary Ann Duffy – vocals on "Late Nite Radio" and "Love is Everywhere"
*
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
– backing vocals on "Fly Away"
*Jesse Ehrlich – cello on "Windsong"
*John Ellis – oboe on "Windsong"
*Jimmie Fadden – harmonica on "Song of Wyoming"
*
Lee Holdridge
Lee Elwood Holdridge (born March 3, 1944) is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. An 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, and o ...
– arranger, conductor
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
John Denver albums
1975 albums
Albums arranged by Lee Holdridge
Albums produced by Milt Okun
RCA Records albums
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