773 ( John Denver - Blues My Naughty )

773 ( John Denver - Blues My Naughty )












Quite a while ago I learned of the existence of the rare album "John Denver Sings," but I was unable to find a copy; however recently I finally was able to find the songs.
This album actually has quite a bit of musical history to it even though it is unknown to most who are not avid John Denver fans. "John Denver Sings" is actually his first solo album, which was recorded in 1966; three years prior to the official debut solo album: "Rhymes and Reasons" in 1969.
Apparently this album came into existence because of his live shows when people started to ask for some recorded material. He self-produced this album and gave the copies to friends and some fans out of his own pocket; you have to remember back in '66 there was really no other way to record unless you used a commercial studio.
Mostly, the album consists of covers from different artists, except for one glaring song in particular; that song was titled "Babe I Hate To Go." From what I understand, some of his friends that he gave the album to were the folk singers Peter, Paul, and Mary. They really liked the song and recorded a cover of it. They also changed the song's title to: "Leaving On A Jet Plane;" the song went on to become their biggest hit and helped to launch John Denver's career as well. As with most of his earlier material, his style has more of an edgier feel to it than his better known recordings. It is so amazing to hear him recorded when he was so young.
Anyway, this song is a cover of the Charles McCarron song: "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" from the year 1919. The first time I heard this song I was laughing so hard I had to listen to it a couple more times; the rapid-fire lyrics are the best part. It has a bit of the Dixieland Jazz feel to it and retains the "old timey" sound quite well.

Here is a recording of the song; it is in an mp3 format.
Here is a performance of the song.



My song pick a year ago today: #401 Rush - Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres
My song pick two years ago today: #33 Rush - YYZ


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