Best Starting Point for Denver's Work
5
By Wardhorde
Usually greatest hits albums are used to summarize an artist's career. When this album was released, Denver had had two Top Ten songs - Take Me Home, Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High - and penned a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary (Leaving, On A Jet Plane). This album included those hits and other album cuts that Denver considered his best work, some of which he re-recorded because he wanted to change arrangements or thought he was singing better than when he started. The album made him a star and sold over 10 million copies. The Eagle and the Hawk, a new arrangement with a full orchestra, is particularly a terrific track in this new album. While it only summarizes his career to the end of 1973, it is a good place to start if you are interested in exploring Denver's work. There are more comprehensive hits packages that include his later hits (Annie's Song, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, etc.) so this is not the album to get if you only want one Denver album, but these versions could be considered the definitive versions in Denver's mind of these songs.
