John Denver (December 31, 1943 - October 12, 1997), born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., was an American singer-songwriter and musician who was one of the biggest selling artists of the 1970s.
Denver's songs were suffused with a deep and abiding kinship with the natural world. Songs such as "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Leaving on a Jet Plane", and "Rocky Mountain High" are popular all over the world. His songs are characterised by sweet melodies, elegant guitar-strumming, and his soulful rendition of the lyrics.
Early years
Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico. His father, Henry Deutschendorf, Sr., was an Air Force officer and flight instructor, and they moved around the American southwest when Denver was growing up.
As a teenager, he received a 1910 Gibson acoustic guitar from his grandmother, and polished his skills enough to be able to perform at local clubs by the time he was in college. He dropped out of college in 1964, and moved to Los Angeles, California to join the Chad Mitchell Trio, a folk group. He left the group, by then known as Denver, Boise and Johnson, in 1969 to pursue a solo career.
Soon after he released his debut LP, Rhymes and Reasons. It wasn't a hit, but it contained the song, "Leaving on a Jet Plane," which became a number one hit for Peter, Paul and Mary two years later. Frank Sinatra later covered the song on his Sinatra & Company album, which included another Denver-written song ("My Sweet Lady").
He recorded two albums released in 1970: Whose Garden Was This and Take Me to Tomorrow.
Career
Denver's next album, Poems, Prayers and Promises, released the following year, finally broke him through in America, thanks in part to the the single, "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which went to number two. His career flourished from then on, and the hits came pouring in for the next four years. In 1972, Denver scored his first top ten album, with Rocky Mountain High, while its title track reached the Top Ten in 1973. In 1974, "Sunshine On My Shoulders," and "Annie's Song" both went to number one, and "Back Home Again" made it to number five. In 1975, again he had two number ones ("Thank God I'm A Country Boy" and "I'm Sorry"), a Top Twenty hit ("Sweet Surrender"), and another number two hit ("Calypso").
John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas TogetherDenver was everywhere during this period, hosting numerous TV specials, appearing on the Muppet Show, and was proclaimed Colorado's poet laureate among other things. He even tried his hands at acting starring in the 1977 film, Oh, God! opposite George Burns, which performed fairly well at the box office.
In 1975 he was recognized as the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. In subsequent years, Denver had a lower-profile career. He had a few more Top 30 hits as the 1970s ended and 1980s began, but nothing to match the success he enjoyed earlier.
As his popularity waned, Denver turned to humanitarian work. He worked extensively on conservation projects the following years and helped to create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He also founded his own environmental group called the Windstar Foundation. Denver had a keen interest in the causes of and solution to hunger, and visited Africa during the 1980s to witness first-hand the suffering caused by starvation and also to work with African leaders towards a solution.
Denver testified alongside Frank Zappa and Dee Snider on the topic of censorship during a Parents Music Resource Center hearing in 1985. His appearance and music sharply contrasted those of his musical counterparts and his testimony was arguably the strongest influence to the Courts.
Denver toured Russia in 1985 and returned two years later to perform at a benefit concert for the victims of the Chernobyl accident. In October 1992 he undertook a multiple city tour of China.
In 1994, he published his autobiography, Take Me Home. In 1996, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In early 1997, Denver filmed an episode for the Nature series, centering on the natural wonders that inspired many of his best-loved songs. The episode records his final journeys into the wilderness and contains his last song, "Yellowstone, Coming Home", composed while rafting along the Colorado River with his son and young daughter.
Lyrics to "Rocky Mountain High" in Rio Grande Park in Aspen, Colorado. Denver was a longtime resident of the resort city and a promoter of its free-spririted culture.[edit]
Death
Denver was an experienced pilot: he owned and flew his own Lear Jet and gliders, flew aerobatics, and even had some flight time in an F-15. However, his passion for the air cost him his life when he crashed his newly acquired Rutan Long-EZ aircraft into the ocean on October 12, 1997.
The accident report highlighted the following factors as contributing to the accident:
Denver began the flight knowing that the tanks were low on fuel but neglected to fill the tanks prior to takeoff as he thought there would be enough for the hour-long solo familiarisation flight.
The fuel selector was installed in a non-standard location which was difficult for the pilot to reach.
The fuel selector was installed to function in a counterintuitive fashion (up for off, down for right, and right for left) and was unmarked.
The fuel sight gauges were unmarked and non-linear, as a result they did not give an intuitive measure of fuel available.
It is likely that the fuel in the left tank of the aircraft was consumed during the first half-hour of the flight.
Denver would have had to loosen his harness and twist his body in the seat in order to reach the fuel selector.
In doing this it is likely that Denver inadvertently depressed the right rudder pedal.
With the rudder pedal depressed the aircraft would have rolled into a steep bank.
Denver was preoccupied with trying to change to the other tank and regain engine power; in doing so the bank was not detected or corrected in time.
The aircraft impacted the ocean before Denver was able to regain control.
Denver's life was honored at funeral services at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colorado on October 17, 1997. He received a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children for the album All Aboard!.
Related artists
Denver started his recording career with the Chad Mitchell Trio; his distinctive voice can be heard where he sings solo on Violets of Dawn. He recorded three albums with the Mitchell Trio, replacing Chad Mitchell himself as lead singer. His group Denver, Boise and Johnson released a single before he moved on to a solo career.
Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert appeared as singers and songwriters on many of Denver's albums up until forming the Starland Vocal Band in 1976. The band's albums were released on Denver's Windstar label.
Denver's early solo success was largely due to a recording of his Leaving, on a Jet Plane which was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. It became a number 1 hit for the group.
Denver recorded songs by Tom Paxton, Eric Andersen, David Mallet, and many others in the folk scene.
Discography
In chronological order, 1969-1991 (U.S. Releases)
RCA Records
Rhymes & Reasons - 1969
Take Me To Tomorrow - 1970
Whose Garden Was This? - 1970
Poems, Prayers, and Promises - 1971
Aerie - 1972
Rocky Mountain High - 1972
Farewell Andromeda - 1973
Greatest Hits - 1973
Back Home Again - 1974
An Evening with John Denver (live) - 1975
Windsong - 1975
Rocky Mountain Christmas - 1975
Spirit - 1976
Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - 1977
I Want To Live - 1977
John Denver (JD) - 1978
A Christmas Together (with The Muppets) - 1979
Autograph - 1980
Some Days Are Diamonds - 1981
Seasons of the Heart - 1982
It's About Time - 1983
Rocky Mountain Holiday (with The Muppets) - 1983
Greatest Hits Vol. 3 - 1984
Dreamland Express - 1985
One World - 1986
[edit]
Windstar Records
Higher Ground - 1989
Earth Songs - 1990
The Flower That Shattered the Stone - 1990
Christmas, Like a Lullaby - 1990
Different Directions - 1991
Albums widely considered to be among Denver's most important works.
The first "Greatest Hits" album is important historically because it contains new, revisionist recordings of several hit songs. After its release these versions were used for airplay despite differing in subtle but important ways from the original versions; generally, they are more polished.
Singles
"Leaving, On a Jet Plane" (1969)
"Friends With You" (1971) #47 US
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (1971) #2 US
"Everyday" (1972) #81 US
"Goodbye Again" (1972) #88 US
"Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning)" (1973) #89 US
"I'd Rather Be A Cowboy" (1973) #62 US
"Please, Daddy" (1973)
"Rocky Mountain High" (1973) #9 US
"Annie's Song" (1974) #1 US, #1 UK
"Back Home Again" (1974) #5 US
"Please, Daddy" (re-release) (1974) #69 US
"Sunshine On My Shoulders" (1974) #1 US
"Calypso" (1975) #2 US
"Christmas For Cowboys" (1975) #58 US
"I'm Sorry" (1975) #1 US
"Sweet Surrender" (1975) #13 US
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (1975) #1 US
"Fly Away" (1976) #13 US
"It Makes Me Giggle" (1976) #60 US
"Like a Sad Song" (1976) #36 US
"Looking For Space" (1976) #29 US
"Baby, You Look Good To Me Tonight" (1977) #65 US
"How Can I Leave You Again" (1977)
"My Sweet Lady" (1977) #32 US
"How Can I Leave You Again" (re-release) (1978) #44 US
"I Want To Live" (1978) #55 US
"Downhill Stuff" (1979)
"Sweet Melinda" (1979)
"What's On Your Mind" (1979)
"Autograph" (1980) #52 US
"Dancing With The Mountains" (1980) #97 US
"Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)" (1981) #38 US
"The Cowboy And The Lady" (1981) #66 US
"Perhaps Love" (with Plácido Domingo) (1982) #59 US, #42 UK
"Seasons Of The Heart" (1982) #78 US
"Shanghai Breeze" (1982) #31 US
"Wild Montana Skies" (1983)
"Love Again" (1984) #85 US
"Dreamland Express" (1985)
"Along for the Ride ('56 T-Bird)" (1986)
"And So It Goes" (1989)
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (re-release) (1993)
I might add this as a poorly written wiki article....
here is some biographical material that is not even mentioned...
John Denver has sold over 60 million albums worldwide making him one of the best selling artists of all time. This year marks the 35th anniversary of Denver's first RCA album Rhymes And Reasons and is the 30th anniversary of his recording "Annie's Song." In his amazing career, Denver has sold over 60 million records worldwide and is one of the best selling artists in history with 21 Gold, 14 Platinum and seven Multi- Platinum certified albums. His numerous awards and honors include: the Grammy Hall of Fame Award (1997), induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (1996), the People's Choice Award (1977), the Albert Schweitzer Music Award (1993), multiple American Music and Country Music Association Awards (including Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year), and the Academy of Country Music Award. Universally loved and successful, he wrote and recorded some of the most recognizable and covered songs of our time.
Why would wiki leave this out?
thanks
