Poems, Prayers & Promises

Poems, Prayers & Promises
Studio album by
John Denver
ReleasedApril 6, 1971
Recorded1970–1971
StudioRCA, New York City
GenreCountry folk[1]
Length37:57
LabelRCA Victor
Producer
  • Milton Okun
  • Susan Ruskin
John Denver chronology
Whose Garden Was This
(1970) 		Poems, Prayers & Promises
(1971) 		Aerie
(1971)
Singles from Poems, Prayers & Promises
  1. "Take Me Home, Country Roads"
    Released: April 12, 1971
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideC[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[5]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide[6]

Poems, Prayers & Promises is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Denver, released on April 6, 1971 by RCA Records. The album was recorded in New York City, and produced by Milton Okun and Susan Ruskin. Poems, Prayers & Promises was Denver's commercial breakthrough, and contains several of his most popular songs, such as "Poems, Prayers, and Promises", "My Sweet Lady", "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado", "Sunshine on My Shoulders", and "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which would become one of Denver's signature songs. "The Box", which concludes the album, is a poem by Kendrew Lascelles illustrating the futility of war.

The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.[7]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Poems, Prayers and Promises"Denver4:04
2."Let It Be"Lennon-McCartney3:38
3."My Sweet Lady"Denver4:23
4."Wooden Indian"Denver1:38
5."Junk"Paul McCartney1:40
6."Gospel Changes"John W. Williams3:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Take Me Home, Country Roads"
  • Bill Danoff
  • Taffy Nivert
  • Denver
3:08
2."I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado"
  • Bill Danoff
  • Taffy Nivert
2:07
3."Sunshine on My Shoulders"
  • Denver
  • Richard Kniss
  • Mike Taylor
5:12
4."Around and Around"Denver2:16
5."Fire and Rain"James Taylor3:44
6."The Box"Kendrew Lascelles2:44

Personnel

  • John Denver – guitars, vocals

Musicians

  • Gary Chester – drums
  • Bill Danoff – vocals, guitar
  • Dick Kniss – double bass
  • Taffy Nivert – vocals
  • Frank Owens – piano
  • Mike Taylor – acoustic guitar
  • Eric Weissberg – banjo, steel guitar

Production

  • Ray Hall – recording engineer
  • Jean Kaplow – production assistant
  • Milton Okun – producer
  • Don Wardell – executive producer

Charts

Chart (1974/75) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 41

References

  1. ^ Okamoto, David (January 1, 1998). "John Denver". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 132–133.
  2. ^ "AllMusic Review by Sharon Mawer". AllMusic. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "Robert Christgau: Album: John Denver: Poems, Prayers and Promises". www.robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. p. 855.
  5. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 329.
  6. ^ The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 136.
  7. ^ "John Denver". Billboard.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 87. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.


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