The Wildlife Concert

Performer: John Denver
Artist: James Burton; Jim Horn
Engineer: John Harris
Producer: Bob Irwin
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: John Denver (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano); Pete Huttlinger (guitar, banjo, mandolin, background vocals); Belinda Whitney Barrett, Karen Karlsrud (violin); Jennie Hansen (viola); Caryl Paisner (cello); Chris Nole (piano, synthesizer, background vocals); Alan Deremo (bass, background vocals); Michito Sanchez (percussion); Pat Hawk (background vocals). Recorded live at Sony Music Studios, New York on February 23 and 24, 1995. Includes liner notes by Maxim Langstaff and John Denver. All songs written or co-written by John Denver except "I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado" (Bill Danoff/Taffy Nivert), "You Say The Battle Is Over" (David Mallett), "Darcy Farrow" (Tom Campbell/Steve Gillette), "Me And My Uncle" (John Phillips) and "Bet On The Blues" (Tom Paxton). Proceeds from THE WILDLIFE CONCERT will go to The Wildlife Conservation Society. John Denver's Wildlife Concert presents the highlights of his career in 5.1 surround sound and equally crisp video. A string section accompanies Denver on favorites such as "Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High," "For You," and "Annie's Song," giving the set a lush yet unpretentious feel that is mirrored by the wildlife footage also featured in the video. An interview with Denver and a biography round out this adequate DVD, which is basically a straight transfer of the original VHS version. However, Denver's crowd-pleasing performance alone may make this disc worthwhile for devoted fans. ~ Heather Phares John Denver's first live album, An Evening with John Denver (1975), was a lavish two-LP set accompanying a network TV special, released at his commercial peak. His second live album, The Wildlife Concert, is a lavish two-CD set accompanying a cable TV special and home video, released at his commercial trough. Denver performs most of his Top Ten hits from the '70s (but not "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," the big hit off the last live album), getting the bulk of them out of the way early on the first disc. He adds some well-chosen covers by folk peers such as David Mallett (the antiwar "You Say the Battle Is Over") and Tom Paxton ("Bet on the Blues"), selects some of his better, if less familiar, songs of the last decade ("The Harder They Fall," "Falling Out of Love"), and introduces new material touching on his favorite romantic ("Is It Love?") and political/philosophical ("Amazon") themes. With such a balanced set list, he manages to revitalize the best of his catalog, reassert his folk roots, and, to an extent, redefine himself. ~ William Ruhlmann

As John Denver, the former John Henry Deutschendorf was a ubiquitous icon of the 1970s. Although he had been a musician and songwriter in the 1960s, penning "Leaving on a Jet Plane" for Peter, Paul & Mary, Denver hit his stride in the '70s with earnest folk songs celebrating the glories of the natural world and life's simple pleasures. Although he was sometimes savaged by critics for his overarching earnestness, his songs speak for themselves, and his records still sell in large numbers. In the wake of his premature death in a 1997 plane crash, a number of contemporary artists have recorded Denver's songs, without any hint of irony.

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