Rhymes & Reasons (John Denver album)

Rhymes & Reasons is the first commercial studio album by the American singer-songwriter John Denver, released in October 1969 by RCA Records. It was reissued on CD by Legacy Recordings in 2005.[5]

Rhymes & Reasons
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 14, 1969
StudioRCA, New York City
GenreFolk rock
Length37:28
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerMilton Okun
John Denver chronology
John Denver Sings
(1966)
Rhymes & Reasons
(1969)
Take Me to Tomorrow
(1970)
Singles from Rhymes & Reasons
  1. "Daydream[1]"
    Released: October 1969
  2. "Leaving on a Jet Plane[2]"
    Released: October 1969
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide[4]

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" was written and recorded by Denver in 1966 and included on his debut demo recording John Denver Sings as "Babe I Hate to Go". He made several copies and gave them out as presents for Christmas of that year. Denver's then producer Milt Okun convinced him to change the title and it was renamed "Leaving on a Jet Plane" in 1967. After the success of the Peter, Paul and Mary version in 1969, Denver recorded the song again for his debut album, Rhymes & Reasons, and it was released as a single in October 1969. Although it is one of Denver's best known songs, his single failed to enter the charts. It was re-recorded for the third and final time in 1973 for John Denver's Greatest Hits and this version appears on most of his compilation albums.[6]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Love of the Common People"4:06
2."Catch Another Butterfly"Mike Williams2:31
3."Daydream"John Denver2:54
4."The Ballad of Spiro Agnew"Tom Paxton0:15
5."Circus"
2:37
6."When I'm Sixty-Four"2:02
7."The Ballad of Richard Nixon"Paxton0:05
8."Rhymes & Reasons"Denver3:15
Total length:17:45
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Yellow Cat"Steven Fromholz2:52
2."Leaving on a Jet Plane"Denver3:37
3."(You Dun Stomped) My Heart"Mason Williams2:41
4."My Old Man"Jerry Jeff Walker4:34
5."I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"
3:49
6."Today Is the First Day of the Rest of My Life (Sugacity)"
  • Pat Garvey
  • Victoria Garvey
2:10
Total length:19:43
CD edition (bonus tracks)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Rusty Green"Denver 
16."Take Me to Tomorrow" (early version)Denver 

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (1969–73) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[7] 21
US Billboard 200[8] 148

References

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  1. ^ "John Denver – Daydream".
  2. ^ "John Denver – Leaving On A Jet Plane".
  3. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r5448
  4. ^ The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 136.
  5. ^ "legacyrecordings.com". Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.
  6. ^ "John Denver – Rhymes & Reasons". www.discogs.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  7. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  8. ^ "John Denver Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
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