Mark Kozelek, leader of the arty, slow-core, San Francisco-based rock band Red House Painters, may seem the most unlikely guy to be assembling an album-length tribute to the late, middle-of-the-road pop-folk singer John Denver.

That would be the same Denver who created sweet, easy-on-the-ears hits such as "Annie's Song" and upbeat paeans to natural wonder such as "Rocky Mountain High" during his heyday in the mid-to-late '70s.

By contrast, Kozelek's music is not exactly upbeat, nor easy listening. He writes and performs brooding and introspective music, songs that have won the singer/songwriter/guitarist cult-hero status and critical acclaim in the underground music scene, and in England, where he was featured on the cover of the U. K. weekly, Melody Maker.

Still, he loves Denver.

"It's simple. I'm a really big fan. I listened to him all my life," Kozelek said. "His Greatest Hits album blows away all these other artists that I'm supposed to like.

"I think a lot of people in my scene don't have an appreciation of him. They just know the goofy hits. He's just not a password-name guy. It's not a name you'd drop and win any points by knowing and liking."

And while it may come as a surprise to some that this highly respected underground rocker would be behind a Denver tribute, he's not the only artist looking to be involved. Kozelek has already lined up recording commitments from colleagues -- including alternative-country and folk-rock musicians Tarnation, Richard Buckner, Sparklehorse, the Palace Brothers, the Innocence Mission, His Name Is Alive and Clodhopper -- to interpret an album's worth of Denver songs.

In fact, Kozelek is such a fan of His "Rocky Mountain High"-ness, who died last year in a small private plane that crashed off the coast of Monterey, Calif., that he still speaks of Denver in the present tense.

"The guy has a completely amazing voice," the 31-year-old Kozelek said last week. "It blows me away. I'd die to have a voice like that. He writes beautiful words, plays guitar and sings really well. To be able to finger-pick really well and deliver a melody like he does? I've always been blown away by that."

The soft-spoken Kozelek, who has made his home in San Francisco throughout his career, is currently in the city recording the sixth full-length Red House Painters album, the follow-up to 1996's Songs for a Blue Guitar. It will be released on the Supreme label. Meanwhile, the England-based 4AD, the band's previous label, is planning a compilation of tracks from earlier CDs. Kozelek has agreed to choose the compositions for the latter project when he gets time this summer.

As for the Denver tribute, Kozelek said he expects to finish it sometime early next year. He said that he has already piqued the interest of three labels. "Nobody's even heard a song, and they're already interested," he said.

Presently, Kozelek is sorting through the list of artists that he covets for the Denver project, and he's already pairing musicians with material. Buckner is still considering what song to perform, but the Red House Painters plan on recording a version of the melancholy hit "I'm Sorry." Other planned contributions include: "Sunshine (On My Shoulders)" from His Name is Alive; "Follow Me" from the Innocence Mission; "Leavin' On A Jet Plane" from Paula Fraser of Tarnation; and "I'd Rather Be A Cowboy" from Clodhopper.

Fraser, the Bay Area singer with the tender, mournful voice, said that while she was interested in contributing a track, she's not exactly a Denver aficionado. "I wasn't an across-the-board fan. My parents listened to John Denver when I was growing up, and I always liked 'Leavin' On a Jet Plane' a lot.

"I'm gonna do this thing with some of the members [of Tarnation] and Joe Gore [guitarist with Action Plus, P.J. Harvey and Tom Waits]. We're gonna try to make it spooky and edgy."

While Kozelek's managed to attract these artists to the project, he's still waiting on a few, he added, including Bob Mould, who he has pegged as the perfect person to cover the Denver staple "Rocky Mountain High." He also has calls in to alt-rockers Kim Deal, Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star and Primus. "I want Primus to do 'Thank God I'm A Country Boy' or 'Grandma's Feather Bed,' " Kozelek said, noting that each has a country-punk feel similar to the theme from the popular "South Park" cartoon, which Primus perform. "I think they'd be perfect."

As Kozelek sees it, the circumstances of Denver's life and career have contributed to a certain lack of respect within the industry: "The guy was obsessed with going into space. He lives in Colorado and sings about the mountains. He didn't die in the '70s like Nick Drake or Tim Buckley. He doesn't have that mysterious legend status. But the guy has some great, beautiful sad songs that are, in my opinion, better than a lot of writers you can think of."

Unfortunately, Kozelek said, Denver let the record companies dictate his actions and, as a result, he ended up recording some of his sillier and less noted work. Much of that material was not even written by Denver, Kozelek added.

"I just think it would be great to pay tribute to him," Kozelek said. "And with these artists getting involved, it's a nice way to get people to listen to John Denver songs when, normally, they wouldn't."