Released in 1973,
Greatest Hits
only sums up a handful of years of hitmaking for
John Denver
, but what years those were. Between 1971 and 1973,
Denver
actually didn't have that many hits, but they were songs that defined him --
"Take Me Home, Country Roads,"
"Rocky Mountain High,"
and
"Sunshine on My Shoulders."
Those three songs, along with
"Leaving on a Jet Plane"
-- which he wrote but
Peter, Paul & Mary
made into a
standard
-- are all here, along with seven other early songs recorded between 1969 and 1973 that may not be familiar to the average casual fan, but all capture
's warm
folk-pop
at its best. There may be more hits on
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
, but this collection is every bit as engaging as that record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine