''Poems, Prayers & Promises'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
, released on April 6, 1971 through
RCA Records. The album was recorded in
New York City, and produced by
Milton Okun and Susan Ruskin.
''Poems, Prayers & Promises'' was Denver's commercial breakthrough, and contained several of his most popular songs, such as "Poems, Prayers, and Promises", "
My Sweet Lady", "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado", "
Sunshine on My Shoulders", and "
Take Me Home, Country Roads", which would become one of Denver's
signature song
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...
s. "The Box", which concludes the album, is a poem by
Kendrew Lascelles
Kendrew Lascelles (pronounced ''Lassels''; 20 September 1935 – 1 March 2022) was an English-born actor, performer and writer from South Africa. His works are known for raising the profile of issues of major social conscience, particularly Apa ...
illustrating the futility of war.
The album peaked at number 15 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
Track listing
Personnel
* John Denver – guitars, vocals
Musicians
*
Gary Chester – drums
*
Bill Danoff – vocals, guitar
* Dick Kniss – double bass
*
Taffy Nivert – vocals
* Frank Owens – piano
*
Mike Taylor – acoustic guitar
*
Eric Weissberg – banjo, steel guitars
Production
* Ray Hall – recording engineer
* Jean Kaplow – production assistant
* Milton Okun – producer
* Don Wardell – executive producer
Charts
References
John Denver albums
1971 albums
Albums produced by Milt Okun
RCA Records albums
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