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A somber tribute to John Denver by alternative artists, 11 mai 2005
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Ce commentaire fait référence à cette édition : Take Me Home : A tribute to John Denver (CD)
The first concert I ever went to was to see John Denver and to this day when I drive through the Rocky Mountains I have to listen to his original "Greatest Hits" album. We first heard about John Denver for writing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and singing "Take Me Home (Country Roads)," but he became identified in my mind with Colorado and "Rocky Mountain High." But there was more than the glorification of nature in his music, and my favorite John Denver songs are "Poems, Prayers and Promises" and "Rhymes and Reasons," which can certainly be accused of being more spiritual than commercial in essence.
I stumbled on "Take Me Home: A Tribute to John Denver" because I was going on one of my periodic searches to find interesting covers versions of songs I like and I stumbled across the Rachel Hayden cover of "Poems, Prayers and Promises" on this album. In contrast with the moody and somber approaches taken by most of the artists on this album, Hayden provides a rather perky pop take on the song, with some interesting harmonies in the chorus. It is very different, but that is what is interesting.
That approach is clear from the opening track of the album, "The Eagle and the Hawk" by Bonnie Prince Billy. The shortest of all John Denver songs, this is another personal favorite because of the guitar introduction. But Billy just sings the song a cappella in a simple haunting manner that gives you no other options but to listen to the lyrics this time around. As soon as he starts singing you know that this is a tribute album to someone who has died too song. The other defining element is that these are not artists that you would think of as being anything remotely close to John Denver. But they must have listened to him in their youth and compelled them to pay their respects to his music in their own manner.
For example, it seems the Red House Painters only sings songs of haunting sadness as a means of purging emotions, and their two tracks her are decidedly in that spirit. The sparse instrumentation and Mark Kozelek's introspective vocals emphasize the confessional aspects of "I'm Sorry." But the group relies entirely on almost wall of sound instrumentation to turn "Fly Away" into a dirge (A commentary on the circumstances of Denver's death? Perhaps). At the other end of the spectrum there is "Follow Me" by the Innocence Mission, where Karen Peris' vocals remind me of Melanie (the folk singer, not either of the Spice Girls).
Despite the often quite moody approaches often taken to Denver's songs (e.g., Low's "Back Home Again"), I think many of his fans will be open to what these artists are doing with his songs. Granted, chances are they will not find everything here to their liking. But there will be a couple of songs here that will catch their fancy. Most of these songs might be somber and moody, but they are certainly respectful and I cannot help but thinking with many of these tracks that these artists are literally performing them as if they were at the funeral (cf. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by Jason & The Scorchers or "Rocky Mountain High" by the Yonder Mountain String Band ).
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