Music TV Special/DVD Review: 'John Denver: The Wildlife Concert'
This concert and the companion two-CD album released by Sony Legacy on June 13, 1995 were titled John Denver: The Wildlife Concert because they were intended to raise awareness of one of Denver's many causes: wildlife and natural habitat preservation. Profits from sales of the album went to the Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York City-based organization that seeks to preserve over two million square miles of wild places around the globe. That year was the Society's centennial year, and Denver, who was one of the first (if not the first) entertainers to use his fame to use his clout as a musician to call attention to non-political global issues, wanted to help in its fundraising efforts.
Produced by Elizabeth Lee and Eric Trigg and directed by Jeb Brien (The Secret of My Success), John Denver: The Wildlife Concert was recorded before a live audience at Sony Music Studios in New York City four months before its airdate. Intended to fill a two-hour block of air time on A&E (and later, PBS stations), it is a blend of live performance, interview excerpts, and some clips of wildlife that were filmed in the U.S. and elsewhere to enhance Denver's call to action to help preserve wild habitat that is becoming endangered by human activity throughout the world.
The 1999 DVD presentation of John Denver: The Wildlife Concert consists of the following program:
John Denver: The Wildlife Concert
Contents:
1. Program Start
2. Introduction from John Denver
3. EAGLES AND HORSES
4. COUNTRY ROADS
5. BACK HOME AGAIN
6. The Wildlife Conservation Society
7. YOU SAY THE BATTLE IS OVER
8. A SONG FOR ALL LOVERS
9. Feeling Rocky Mountain High
10. ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
11. I GUESS HE'D RATHER BE IN COLORADO
12. Outdoor Life
13. I'D RATHER BE A COWBOY
14. FOR YOU
15. I'M SORRY
16. New Perspectives
17. FLY AWAY
18. TWO DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
19. SHANGHAI BREEZES
20. ANNIE'S SONG
21. Images from Nature
22. SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS
23. The Spirit of the American West
24. WILD MONTANA SKIES
25. DARCY FARROW (No Lyrics on the DVD)
26. POEMS, PRAYERS & PROMISES
27. THE HARDER THEY FALL
28. BET ON THE BLUES
29. FALLING OUT OF LOVE
30. What Can I Do?
31. CALYPSO
32. Resentment and Regret
33. AMAZON
34. To Be Remembered
35. MEDLEY: LEAVING ON A JET PLANE/GOODBYE AGAIN
36. Farewell and Credits
BOLD = songs; italics = interviews or other materials
Running Time: Approximately 113 Minutes
Although John Denver was at the zenith of his career in the 1970s (the documentary John Denver: Country Boy compares his popularity to Frank Sinatra's in the latter's heyday (1940s-1960s), I wasn't a fan of his music when I was growing up in Miami (Florida) in the Seventies and Eighties.
Sure, I heard many of his hit songs over the radio between 1972 (the year that Mom and I moved back to the States after living abroad for six years) and 1982 (when Perhaps Love was getting a lot of air time and putting Placido Domingo on the map for listeners who did not pay attention to opera). I even liked a few of his songs, especially Take Me Home, Country Roads and Leaving on a Jet Plane.
But other than owning a hand-me-down eight-track tape of his 1973 compilation album Greatest Hits: John Denver. I wasn't even a "casual fan" until recently. After "discovering" a wonderful tribute album titled Great Voices Sing John Denver in the Prime section of my Amazon Music app, however, I have purchased The Essential John Denver and the 1999 Sony Music Entertainment/Legacy DVD of John Denver: The Wildlife Concert.
Released on September 21, 1999, nearly a month before the two-year anniversary of Denver's fatal plane crash (October 12, 1997), John Denver: The Wildlife Concert is a showcase for a complex and multi-talented artist and a tribute to his legacy as both a musician and environmental activist.
Celebrate John Denver's greatest hits with The WILDLife Concert, a magical and intimate performance featuring the songs that have made him an American treasure. With flawless digital video and crystal clear Surround Sound, you'll feel like you were right there sharing this once-in-a-lifetime event with John. Also included are candid interviews, special wildlife footage and some very special surprises. - DVD back cover blurb, John Denver: The Wildlife Concert
Backed by two groups of musicians (a string quartet and a studio band that includes backup vocalists Alan Deremo (billed here as "Allen Deremo") and Pat Hawk, as well as percussionist/drummer Michito Sanchez and guitarist/banjo player/vocalist Pete Huttlinger, the 51-year-old Denver is captured at his best, even though he was no longer as "big" a star as he had been in the early Seventies and Eighties.
Looking fit and relaxed (but no longer wearing his trademark granny glasses), Denver gives the audience at the Sony Music Studio's stage a memorable set comprised mostly of his standards, including Bill Danoff/Taffy Nivert's Take Me Home, Country Roads (to which Denver contributed some material), Leaving on a Jet Plane, Sunshine on My Shoulders, Rocky Mountain High, Annie's Song, Poems, Prayers & Promises, Calypso, Fly Away, and Shanghai Breezes.
Of course, in addition to Denver's familiar hits, John Denver: The Wildlife Concert presents many songs that casual fans might not have heard before, including I'm Sorry, The Harder They Fall, A Song For All Lovers, Amazon, Falling Out of Love, and Bet on the Blues.
Maybe it's because I know that Denver was having issues with alcoholism and dealing with not one but two failed marriages, but I can't help but notice that along with his trademark optimistic songs about love and nature, the singer/actor/songwriter/philanthropist/activist tosses into the mix some bittersweet and even somber compositions.
If you watch this concert (or simply check out the DVD track list), you'll see that Denver scatters songs about regret (I'm Sorry and Two Different Directions are notable examples), plus one of the interview segments is titled Resentment and Regret. Again, maybe it's because I watched John Denver: County Boy on Amazon Prime Video before watching the concert, but I felt Denver's ongoing love for his first ex-wife, Annie Martell Denver in all of his sad songs.
I also listened carefully to how he sang even the most cheerful songs in the setlist; there's a noticeable sense of maturity and gravitas when he performs Annie's Song and For You, which is the only song in the concert that he performs at the piano.
Denver had a charming and pleasant onstage presence that (obviously) belied the complexities of Henry John Deutschendorff, Jr. I love the way that he quietly encourages the audience to join in while he sings Take Me Home, Country Roads and other crowd-pleasers, and I was moved when I listened to his interviews and introductions to the songs in the live performances.
The only regret I have (other than not having been more than a casual fan when he was still with us) is that John Denver: The Wildlife Concert doesn't include one of his last big hits, Perhaps Love. (His last Top 40 hit was Shanghai Breezes, which is one of the songs Denver sang in The Wildlife Concert,) But that's okay. The 1995 concert was one of Denver's finest late-career performances, and fans - new and old alike - should count themselves fortunate that Sony Music Entertainment preserved it on DVD.
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