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Song of the Day #3,632: ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ – John Denver

John Denver made the interesting decision to release a greatest hits album just four years into his solo career. To be fair, he had released seven studio albums by that time, including one just a few months earlier, but he wasn’t exactly a hit machine. Only three of his songs had reached Billboard’s top ten.

Denver re-recorded more than half of the songs, believing he had grown as an artist and a singer over the years and owed these tracks a revisit. One of those new recordings was ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane.’

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Song of the Day #3,631: ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ – John Denver

Peter, Paul and Mary scored their only #1 hit with ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ in 1969, but John Denver released his own version that year as well. Nestled on Side B of his sophomore album Rhymes & Reasons, it was one of only three original compositions on the record.

This version of the song was recently used for the opening of an episode of Barry, a dark HBO comedy starring Bill Hader as a hitman trying to succeed in Hollywood. That scene reminded me of how much I love this song and led to this theme week, so you can either thank or blame Bill Hader.

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Song of the Day #3,630: ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ – Peter, Paul and Mary

John Denver recorded his demo of ‘Babe, I Hate to Go’ in 1966, but the song got its first proper release a year later as ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ by Peter, Paul and Mary, appearing on their eighth album, titled Album 1700.

The trio released the song as a single two years later and wound up with their first (and only) #1 Billboard hit. For many people, this is the version of the song they know best.

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Song of the Day #3,629: ‘Babe, I Hate To Go’ – John Denver

Initially, I planned to follow up last week’s Neil Diamond appreciation with a similar dive into the work of John Denver. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

I realized quickly that I’ve already featured most of my favorite John Denver songs, including ‘Annie’s Song,’ ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads‘ and ‘Rocky Mountain High.’

And after some digging, I realized I dislike pretty much everything else the man has recorded. So there’s that.

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Song of the Day #3,628: ‘It’s Quiet Uptown’ – Hamilton cast

The biggest entertainment-related splurge of my life came in the spring of 2016, when I coughed up $500 per ticket for my family of four to see Hamilton on Broadway. Add in airfare, hotel and meals and you’re talking one extravagant weekend.

It was worthy every goddamn penny. My family, during our peak Hamilton obsession, got to witness the original cast a couple of months before they all left the show. Literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.

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