Post by erik on Jan 21, 2023 23:09:01 GMT -5
John Denver's ode to one of the great mariners of all time is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
CALYPSO (John Denver; RCA; 1975)—It is only in retrospect that the artistry and the passion of John Denver has been appreciated. Since his untimely passing in a plane crash in Monterey, California in October 1997, he has become more respected among critics. It was rarely the case durig the early and mid-1970’s when he was at his most popular among audiences, but at the same time the critics though he was much too middle-of-the-road. In truth, he had come from the same 1960’s folk music scene in New York City that gave the world Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul, and Mary (who had their #1 hit with Denver’s “Leaving On A Jet Plane” at the end of 1969). And while he also frequently utilized country and bluegrass instrumentation, he was largely shunned and scorned by the Nashville community, at least until the 1990’s. But his albums sold quite well, and his songwriting, while nowhere near as confrontational as, say, Dylan, had its moments of gravitas. One such example could be heard on his massive-selling 1975 album Windsong in the form of “Calypso”. Denver’s advocacy for not only manned spacelfight but also for the environment, long before it ever became hip to do so, was well known by 1975; and here, he paid tribute to the sailing vessel and its designer and operator, the legendary French oceaonographer and diver Jacques Yves Cousteau. With string arrangements by Lee Holdridge, who had worked on many of Denver’s albums, and able production by Milton Okun, “Calypso” was not only included on Windsong, but was in fact placed as the B-side of “I’m Sorry”. That pairing resulted in Denver achieving his fourth and final #1 pop hit in October 1975; and “Calypso” became one of the touchstone songs of the environmental movement, even after Denver’s popularity fell of during the mid-1980’s.
CALYPSO (John Denver; RCA; 1975)—It is only in retrospect that the artistry and the passion of John Denver has been appreciated. Since his untimely passing in a plane crash in Monterey, California in October 1997, he has become more respected among critics. It was rarely the case durig the early and mid-1970’s when he was at his most popular among audiences, but at the same time the critics though he was much too middle-of-the-road. In truth, he had come from the same 1960’s folk music scene in New York City that gave the world Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul, and Mary (who had their #1 hit with Denver’s “Leaving On A Jet Plane” at the end of 1969). And while he also frequently utilized country and bluegrass instrumentation, he was largely shunned and scorned by the Nashville community, at least until the 1990’s. But his albums sold quite well, and his songwriting, while nowhere near as confrontational as, say, Dylan, had its moments of gravitas. One such example could be heard on his massive-selling 1975 album Windsong in the form of “Calypso”. Denver’s advocacy for not only manned spacelfight but also for the environment, long before it ever became hip to do so, was well known by 1975; and here, he paid tribute to the sailing vessel and its designer and operator, the legendary French oceaonographer and diver Jacques Yves Cousteau. With string arrangements by Lee Holdridge, who had worked on many of Denver’s albums, and able production by Milton Okun, “Calypso” was not only included on Windsong, but was in fact placed as the B-side of “I’m Sorry”. That pairing resulted in Denver achieving his fourth and final #1 pop hit in October 1975; and “Calypso” became one of the touchstone songs of the environmental movement, even after Denver’s popularity fell of during the mid-1980’s.