John Denver Windstar symposium 1995

This concert, conference would have been a joy to attend.  This is an environmentalist conference, with talk of caring for planet earth.  However it also includes John Denver as well as Dan Fogelberg performing.  The Colorado Mountains would have been buzzing this night.

Music Review: John Denver at Wembley Arena (1979)

John Denver at Wembley Arena 
This is another John Denver concert, with music almost all different from the Wildlife Concert.  In this set, John Denver is much more a country singer.  This concert is still presented on BBC on occasion.  You have to love John Denver's mellow tones, and his ability to write poetry and put it to music.  his concert again features the flute player who is very nice.  Songs included are: "Welcome to my Morning, Druthers, Rippling Waters, Matthew, Johnnie B. Goode, Goodbye Again, Take Me Home Country Roads, Grandma's Feather Bed, Fill Up My Senses, Calypso and Sunshine on the Water."  You have to love John Denver, and some of these songs just grab me every time I listen to them. 

Music Review: John Denver, The Wildlife Concert

The Wildlife Concert
This is a very good concert.  This was a 1995 special just a couple years for Denver's death.  It has many of his traditional favorites, and many songs dealing with the environment and wildlife.  It was a very fun concert.  It has "Country Roads," "Back Home Again," "Rocky Mountain High,"  "Shanghai Breezes," "Annie's Song," "Calypso," "Leaving on a Jet Plan" and "Goodbye Again."  John Denver surprises with a Blues song and a rock and roll song.  There are a couple of songs with focus on Denver's mortality.  "Poems Prayers and Promises" explores mortality, and having friends.  "Falling out of Love" focuses on relationships, particularly when they end.
This is a great musical collection.  There is different percussion, flute, saxophone, sting quartet, keyboard and guitar.  Denver plays some songs almost solo and others have the full complement.
Denver also talks a lot about his causes and beliefs, particularly with regards to  caring for the planet and animals.

Music Review: John Denver: Timeless Songs 1

I have been listening to some pleasant tones from John Denver while I go about doing some other chores, like organizing all these pictures from my mom and dad.  This is available on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veYcSUE-CUk
All of John Denver's song carry his dulcid voice.  However, some songs the lyrics hit home better than others.  A recurring theme is the simpleness of life in the country compared to the bustle of city life:
"Fly Away"

All of her days have gone soft and cloudy, all of her dreams have gone dry.
All of her nights have gone sad and shady, She's getting ready to fly.
Fly away, fly away, fly away.

Life in the city can make you crazy for sounds of the sand and the sea.
Life in a high-rise can make you hungry for things that you can't even see.
Fly away, fly away, fly away.

Rocky Mountain High
He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Coming home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hanging by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changing fast and it don't last for long

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high (Colorado)

Denver also sings about love in a very simple and direct way:
Sunshine on My Shoulders
Make me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water, looks so lovely.
Sunshine almost always makes me high
If I had a day, that I could give you
Id give to you, a day just like today
If I had a song, that I could sing for you.
I sing a song, to make you feel this way

Lady
Close your eyes, rest your weary mind
I promise, I will stay right here beside You
Today our Lives were joined, became entwined
I wish you could know how much I love You.

John Denver is a classic, who fortunately is preserved for us in his work.  However he left us much too early.

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.