ジョンのCD発売状況などについて興味深い情報が入りましたので、（私見もさしはさみつつ）ご紹介いたします。
Patさんという、アメリカのJDファンからメールでいただいた情報なのですが、彼女はRCA/BMGのMike Omansky氏に今後のJDのCDリリース予定などについて手紙で問い合わせたところ、なんと親切にも直接電話をかけてきてくれて回答してくれたのだそうです。（スバラしい！！）
Omansky氏は、ジョンがRCA在籍時の1984年にジョンと知り合い、以後生涯を通して、単なる仕事仲間という以上の友人関係が続いたのだそうです。
ジョンがRCAを離れたのとほぼ同時期に、彼も一時RCAから離れますが、94年ごろ再び戻り"Rocky Mountain Collection"など各種編集盤の企画のかたわら、ジョンとRCAの再契約のために動いていたようです。（ご存知の通り、これは実現しませんでしたが。）
彼が言うには、ジョンがRCAを離れた理由は、ひとつには当時（80年代半ば）RCAは大きな変革期を迎えており、そうした動きの中で、Omansky氏が離れていったのと同じようにジョンも訣別したのではないかということでした。
また、この時期ジョンのレコード売り上げが落ちたことについては、ジョンが大スターだからという理由で、レコード店やラジオ局などと接触を控えさせたジェリー・ワイントローブのやり方に非があったと彼は考えているようです。
もちろん、ジョンが頑なに商業的な曲を書こうとしなかったことも、両者が袂をわかつ大きな原因になったようです。
さて、ここ最近、RCAから発売されたジョンのCDですが、概ねまずまずの売り上げを挙げているようです。（2枚組の"Rocky Mountain Collection""Reflections:Songs of Love & Life""Great Country Hits"など、ジョンの死の２、３年前くらいから急にRCAの編集盤の発売が相次ぐようになったのですが、どうやらこれらはすべてOmansky氏の企画みたいですね。）
昨年秋発売の"Forever, John"は、アメリカ国内で10万枚の売り上げがあったそうで、これはパブリシティをほとんどまったくやっていなかったことや、パッケージングのまずさ、内容のショボさを考え合わせると、なかなかの快挙なのではないでしょうか。
"Live at the Sydney Opera House"(US edition)は、どうも売れ行きが悪かったらしくOmansakyさんもガッカリだそうです。ま、ファンの間にはすでにオーストラリア盤が普及してましたし、ボーナスで3曲追加されたからといって買ってしまうほどのコアなファンは少なかったみたいですね。ジャケ・デザインもちっとも購買意欲をそそらないし。それ以前の問題として、何のパブリシティもなされていないので、存在自体が認知されていないというのが一番大きいのでしょうね。置いているCD店も限られてますし。
…とはいえ、先にも書きましたように、他のたいていのCDは（制作費や流通にかかる諸経費を差し引くと、それほどの利益は上がらないものの）そこそこ売れてはいるので、今後も年2回程度のペースで何かしらの新企画盤を発売していく見通しなのだそうです。
今年は、その第1弾が"Live at the Sydney Opera House"だったわけですが、9月には第2弾として、数曲の未発表曲を含む、2枚組編集盤の発売が予定されているそうです。思わず「またベスト盤かよ〜!」と言いたくなってしまいますが、"Live at the Sydney Opera House"のようなアルバムが売れない以上、安全策をとって無難なベスト盤を出すのは無理からぬところでしょう。残念ながら。（『オートグラフ』のCD化も、今のところ計画されていないそうです。）
そんなわけで、今後、ファンとして少しでもマシな内容の新譜の発売を望むのであれば、"Forever, John"のような企画盤はもちろん、"Greatest Country Hits"のようなベスト盤なども出来れば買っていただき、RCAが前向きにCDを出し続ける意欲を引き出すよう仕向けるほかないような気がします。
現在、Omansky氏は来るべきリリースに備え（"Forever, John 2"??）、RCAの倉庫に残されたジョンの音源をリサーチしているのだそうです。今になってそうした必要が出てくることを当時、誰も想定していなかったためか、テープには何が録音されているかのラベルさえ貼られていない状態なので、このリサーチにはかなり時間がかかってしまうかもです。（先のPatさんは、Omansky氏に協力を申請したとのこと。これには私も協力したいくらいだぞ。）しかしそれとても、ジョンはあまり収録予定外の曲を吹き込むことは少なかったようなので、それほど多くの未発表曲の発見ということにはならないかもです。が、せめて別テイクやアンダブド・バージョンなんかでも出してくれれば嬉しいですけどね。
とにもかくにも、それら未発表音源が一刻も早く日の目を浴びるよう、とりあえずは今出ているCDをひとつでも多く購入するようにしようじゃありませんか。
最後になりますが、ここ数年でもっとも売れたのは94年に発売された、2枚組ベスト盤"The Very Best of John Denver"だったそうです。
このＣＤは、RCA時代の音源（主に70年代の代表的な楽曲）を収録した編集盤で、"Heartland Music"という会社を通してのアメリカ国内での通販のみの発売でした。（日本からのオーダーは受け付けず。）
未発表曲や、他のアルバムに入っていないようなレア・トラックは一切収録されていないオーソドックスなベスト盤だったにもかかわらず、テレビなどのメディアでの宣伝（JD自身がCMに出演）が功を奏して、地道に売り上げを伸ばし、今年の1月になってついに100万セット突破のプラチナ・アルバムに輝いたのでした。（ジョンのプラチナム獲得は79年の"A Christmas Together"以来の快挙。）
このことは、しかるべきパブリシティを施せば、まだまだJDのCDは売れるということを証明するもので、今後のRCAのJDに対する姿勢に大きく影響することが期待できます。
（おわり）
＊以下は、Patさんから送っていただいたメールの原文です。
From: Flyushome@aol.com
Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 01:18:11 EDT
Subject: Re: RCA/BMG
To: nisenora@ari.bekkoame.or.jp
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This is the gist of my telephone conversation with Mike Omansky on 5/6/99:
Mike called me in response to my letter to him about the release of more of John's music. He said my letter raised a good many issues and he felt it would be difficult to respond to them; he was glad I'd included my phone #. So am I! Mostly, I discussed the financial benefit to RCA to release more of John's music.
He said John's Greatest Hits Vol. I album actually did not sell 10,000,000 copies in the U. S. Those are world-wide figures, he thinks, though he wasn't at RCA at that time. Apparently, the RIAA uses only figures based on royalties paid and careful records weren't kept at that time, or if they were, they're long gone. If you noticed, the albums on the list were relatively new in comparison to that one. He did say it's possible. He
joined RCA in 1984, which is when he became friends with John. They remained friends ever since; Mike came back to RCA three years before John died, and he was working to get him a record deal (I heard elsewhere it was with Capital, but Mike didn't say).
Reasons for RCA and John parting ways were many, he says: First, the many changes going on at the record company, which is why Mike left around the same time John did. Also, he put much of the blame on Jerry Weintraub; said he kept telling John he was too big a star to go around to record stores and radio stations, so they turned against John, would not play his music or promote his recordings. Also, John was VERY stubborn but then we knew that! Said he was very good at dragging his heels. Wanted to write "What Are We Making Weapons For?" instead of stuff that could be commercial. Well,
I'm glad he did!
For that reason, it is unlikely we'll ever get Autograph on CD. It's not commercial. Funny, it's one of my favorite albums. John's most commercial album was probably Dreamland Express, and it's also one of my least favorites musically, though John sounds wonderful on it.
I asked him how sales of Forever, John are doing. He said, quite well, over 100,000 copies in U. S. I don't think that's so great but there was almost no publicity and I haven't seen it in many record stores. He said there aren't that many financial benefits to releasing John's music, what with the costs of digital remastering, distribution, etc. However, most of his albums have done well enough to merit continuing their release.
As far as the focus of Dave Cox' letter to get RCA to release John's early albums, well, maybe, but it didn't sound too promising. I'm glad I got them from the Japanese import. They're terrific, especially Whose Garden Was This? He's disappointed in the sales of Live at the Sydney Opera House. I pointed out that it'd probably have done much better if there hadn't been that earlier release, but he didn't say much about that. He said he had trouble getting JD into stores; that's why they added the bonus tracks.
Supposedly, stores can sell albums with lots of music on them more readily than they can shorter ones. However, part of the problem was that JD wasn't commercial enough. Now, that puzzles me. It's certainly not one of my favorite albums, but I'd say the
songs on it are pretty commercial, certainly more so than those of WGWT! However, 60,000 albums are produced each week and stores can select only about a tenth of them, so I guess we should consider ourselves fortunate that they do carry some John!
As far as tons of John's music being available in RCA's vaults is concerned, that's a mistake.Mike said more extra music is recorded nowadays than was in John's day, that
he might have only one or two sometimes NO leftover songs. However, he's got people scouring their vaults to try to find more of John's stuff. Nothing is labeled, so it's very time-consuming. Guess they never thought they'd need it. I offered to go up and help! What fun!
Now for the good news. A double CD of John's music will be released in September, with some previously unreleased material on it. He expects to release something twice a year for the foreseeable future as long as there's a market for it. John did know about the compilations and agreed to them. The Rocky Mountain Collection has done quite well, he said. Of course, we all know The Very Best of John Denver from Heartland Music went platinum in January. That was an RCA product, it turns out. They're overall very pleased with the sales of John's music. He's very disappointed that John never got the chance to record more music, though he didn't seem to think his Windstar material was as good as other stuff. Funny, Ken Davies said just the opposite and that's how I feel. Sure, John did write and sing some wonderful songs early on ("Wings That Fly Us Home", for example) but I truly appreciate his later stuff.
Mike does agree that John was doing his best singing just before he died, that his voice had gotten so much richer and better. He last saw him on July 31 at a concert in New Jersey, after which they talked for three hours. He was on the phone with John frequently in the weeks before he died, working on the latest deal. Said John was being typically stubborn but in the end bowed to Mike's suggestions to no avail, of course. He was greatly saddened by his death, says John was a truly wonderful man, deeply committed and sincere, no artifice. And, John was very happy and optimistic in the period just before his death.
Hope this provides some information. I cannot vouch for its accuracy; wish I could have taped the conversation. However, it's correct in general and pretty much so in specifics.
Peace for John,
Pat
"Back Home Again"