Music Review: An Evening with John Denver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp4uTN7Th_8

This musical TV special was filmed in 1975.  It presents some traditional John Denver music with a twist.  Denver sings some funny songs, and some serious songs.  The high light for me of this presentation was a series of duets with Danny Kaye, singing John Denver songs--but not in the traditional way.  "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane" gets a Caribbean twist.  "Sunshine on My Shoulder" gets both a British and a Scottish twist.  Finally "Take Me Home Country Roads" gets a Russian operatic feel.  These songs are intermingled with dance and it is very enjoyable.  John Denver also shows a tour of the Calypso with Jacques Cousteau.  Denver went diving a saw some incredible fish, including a barracuda and large angel fish.  On the serieous side he sings a song "Matthew" about a farmer who lost his farm.  On the funny side Denver sings "Ballad of Gerald R. Ford" a very short song.  "Saturday Night in Toledo" makes fun of the lack of activity in Toledo.  He says its mostly true.  Denver and Kaye also sing a fun duet, "Grandma's Feather Bed".  John Denver concludes this special with "Rhymes and Reasons":
For the children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers,
their laughter and their loveliness would clear a cloudy day.
Like the music of the mountains and the colors of the rainbow,
they're a promise of the future and a blessing for today.