''Poems, Prayers & Promises'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Denver, released on April 6, 1971 through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The album was recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and produced by

Milton Okun Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Fre ...

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 My Sweet Lady is a song written and first recorded by John Denver, and was included on his, Poems, Prayers & Promises LP in 1971. Cliff DeYoung recording It was later covered by American actor and musician Cliff DeYoung, whose 1973 MCA Records ...

", "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado", "

Sunshine on My Shoulders "Sunshine on My Shoulders" (sometimes titled simply "Sunshine") is a song recorded and co-written by American singer-songwriter John Denver. It was originally released as an album track on 1971's '' Poems, Prayers & Promises'' and later, as a sing ...

", and "

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver about West Virginia. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two ...

", which would become one of Denver's signature songs. "The Box", which concludes the album, is a poem by Kendrew Lascelles 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 Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo; October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was an American studio drummer, author, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he played on hundreds of records for bands such as The Coasters, The Monkees, and The Lovin ...

– drums *

Bill Danoff William Thomas Danoff (born May 7, 1946) is an American songwriter and singer. He is known for “Afternoon Delight", which he wrote and performed as a member of the Starland Vocal Band, and for writing multiple hits for John Denver, including " ...

– vocals, guitar * Dick Kniss – double bass *

Taffy Nivert Mary Catherine "Taffy" Nivert-Danoff (born October 25, 1944) is an American songwriter and singer. She is best known for being a member of the Starland Vocal Band. Biography Mary Catherine Nivert was born 25 October 1944 in Washington, D.C. She ...

– vocals * Frank Owens – piano * Mike Taylor – acoustic guitar *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in " Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliv ...

– 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 {{1970s-folk-album-stub