The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 11, 1980, Page Page 9, Image 9
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John Dg
far frc
By Mark Platte
uacK in me laie law s and early
1970's, there were scores of softpop,
country and western and folk
singers all trying to make it big in
the music industry.
THERE WAS one, however, who
tried to be part of each category
and iudeint? bv album r?1ps and
popularity, he appealed to all kinds
of fans. But (his is 1980 and the
transition of John Denver into a
new decade which demands new
sounds seems to be dying.
At first it was fun to hear iibout
ecology, love ballads and crusades
like saving the whales, but now his
material is wearing thin, and with
his latest release, Autograph,
Denver appears to lack the
creativity and desire to keep him
mounted atop the charts as he once
flourished.
Autograph, recorded in .July
1979, took eight months to reach
the record racks and one just
assumes that this is one album that
should have been handed back to
him to re-do. It's bad enough that
Denver onlv wrote five of the 11
songs on his latest release, but to
put the exact same song '' Wrangell
Mountain Song" on the album
which appeared 4 albums ago (if
one counts the hideous John
Denver and the Muppetts
Christmas album.) is unexplicable.
DENVER IS KEYING on what
he calls "The Alaska Trilogy" in
which he connects three old songs
together, two of which were
written in 1977 and one in 1976.
"Whalebones and Crosses" and
"American Child" are no surprises
to those who watched the Denver
television sneoial a fr?w vpars acn
Although the songs of the trilogy
are good, they lack the substance
of Denver's inclination to write
three new songs and the failure to
connect the concept of a complete
album.
New songs and old songs don't
work weir in this case because of
an obvious change of styles. "In
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it urn
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:nver's 'Au
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My Heart," "Autograph" and
i * ? A L A. I * m . . 1 It
ijaucmg wun ine mountains are
good songs, far outshining
anything done in the 1979 album
offering "John Denver", but they
are scattered with slipshod
material often permeated with
monotoneous flute music.
OVERALL, the album is a good
one. It's basically the same concept
as always: a few upbeat
tunes, a couple which will make
one think of destruction of earth,
about three love ballads and a few
country songs that can be put on
the C and W stations around the
nation.
The aura of John Denver is
something unique on the outside,
he is a friendly sort, apparently
concerned with the needs of the
TU?.. ?U ' I
v?ui in. i null lllCIC 15> IIIC (IUIIII
Denver who installs gas tanks
under his house for his own personal
use, whoshootspellets at the
neighbor's dogs, who is referred to
by people of Aspen as "your rocky
mountain highness" and "sheik of
starwood", and who recently had a
sign in the front of his house which
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itograph'
icfi rinn
jS j
"read, "Go away. You are not
welcome here."
THE DENVER MYSTIQUE is
complicated by the fact that he is
the member of countless,
organizations ranging from
nroblems snrh wnrlrl hnnoor tn
r ? saving
the whales.
His concerts are somewhat
special, with a family atmosphere
coupled with a sense of warmth
and concern. One would guess that
his band is a close one, laughing at
the wholesome jokes and smiling
at the faces in the crowd both
young and old.
When "Rocky Mountain High"
hit the airwaves in 1972, Denver
was acclaimed as a messiah, the
next Arlo Guthrie. It wasn't long
before the diversity of his music
spread itself too thin and the young
man from Aspen was leaving his
original standards behind and
teaming up with people like Frank
Sinatra.
As the years flew by, Denver's
voice mellowed and his writing
improved but he found himself
caught when people started
See Denver, page 10
By
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