John Denver Album: “Rhymes & Reasons”

this album was johns first solo album after leaving the Chad mitchel Trio. Many people would know john as a country singer well, this couldnt be further away from it. my personal favorite on this album is "I wish i knew how it would feel to be free", a song i have heard Jools holland and Nina simone sing but with not near as much heart as this JD version. Also the dreamy "circus" and "catch another butterfly" and the beetles tune "when i'm 64". all superb. Another gem is "love of the common people". For any JD fan this is a must at any cost.

Its great to hear Johns debut for the first time. Can someone tell me why the hell we had to wait until almost a decade after his death for this to be put onto cd? Shame on RCA...but a nice job on the re release to be honest.

Its a wonderful collection of folk, country and some protest material. The Ballad of Richard Nixon being one example. Just listen to the lyrics ...haha..

Denver fans wont be disappointed as its classic stuff!

I acquired this album 8 years after its release, having become familiar with his radio hits and several of his most popular albums. While not in the same league as "Back Home Again", still there's a lot of good material here, all delivered with the starry-eyed passion for which John was famous. Two of my favorite tracks are "Daydream" and "Yellow Cat", both of which have a refreshingly urban, breezy sophistication about them. "Catch Another Butterfly" is a delightful portrait of the world through the eyes of a child, sure to bring a knowing smile to the face of anyone whose inner child is alive and well. I usually skip the title track, because I find the melody rather redundant (and repititious and repetitive), and because the vocal is marred by pitch problem. Fortunately, he recorded it again for his first Greatest Hits album, and did a splendid job.

Overall, a solid first album, with promises of good things to come.

Johns first solo effort - the sunshine and yin to the darkness and yang of "Take Me to Tomorrow" which was his next album but is not on CD. Amazon does offer "Take Me to Tomorrow" on LP thru Albumhunter.

In 1969 John recorded "The Ballad of Richard Nixon", which is on this 1st album. A similar recording by Milhous himself, with Rosemary Woods as his engineer, would be one of the reasons for his resignation from the presidency five years later.

This was a gift for someone who was absolutely thrilled. For Denver fans, it is sometimes hard to locate the older music not so pop and not usually aired on the radio. PBS had just shown a special which I hope rekindles an interest.