The Music Is You (a Tribute to John Denver) – Various Artists
A tribute to John Denver
ATO Records
Out now
7/10
A quick scan through the names suggests that some thought went into compiling the album and its contributing artists, with little room for filler here. Lead track, “Leaving on a Jet-Plane”, is given a wide-eyed lachrymose feel by My Morning Jacket, while Kathleen Edwards offers up a desolate but triumphant reading of “All Of My Memories”.
There’s Evan Dando (good), Dave Matthews (hmmm) and Train (pleasant) to keep a slightly younger rock generation happy, along with the Mascis/van Etten collaboration (“Prisoners”), the nearest thing to fully-realized rock ‘n roll here, emblazoned with the Dinosaur Jr founder’s squealing guitar throughout. Less of a given are the contributions by Lucinda Williams who
tackles “This Old Guitar” with her trademark life-affirming rasp and the more vibrato delivery of Allen Stone on Denver’s key tune “Rocky Mountain High” – both likeable for differing reasons.
The highly-revered “Annie’s Song” has sadly become synonymous with an advert on UK TV at present and Brett Dennen and Milow’s mellow foot-stomping version adds little to the original, apart from a rather less essential twee middle-section. It’s a bit Mumfords, to be honest.
Of the rest, it would be churlish to dismiss Emmylou Harris and Mary Chapin Carpenter’s sweet tones, so I won’t – they’re in the same league as John Denver for a start, timeless in delivery and pleasing to the ear. Harris and Brandi Carlile certainly do a decent job with “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, Denver’s paean to his beloved Colorado, the US state which will
benefit from sales of this album. Well worth buying.