Denver, John (1943-1997)

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Denver, John (1943-1997)

John Denver, so much a part of 1970s music, always marched to the beat of his own drummer. At a time when the simplicity of rock 'n' roll was fading to be replaced with the cynicism of punk rock, Denver carved out his own niche and became the voice of the recently disenfranchised folk-singer/idealist who believed in love and hope and fresh air. With his fly-away blond hair and his signature granny glasses, Denver had a cross-generational appeal, presenting a nonthreatening, earnest message of gentle social protest.

John Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf on December 31, 1943, in Roswell, New Mexico. His entire life was shaped by trying to measure up to his father, who was a flight instructor for the Air Force. In his autobiography Take Me Home, Country Roads, Denver described his life as the eldest son of a family shaped by a stern father who could never show his love for his children. Denver's mother's family was Scotch-Irish and German Catholic, and it was they who imbued Denver with a love of music. His maternal grandmother gave him his first guitar at the age of seven.

Since Denver's father was in the military, the family moved often, making it hard for young John to make friends and fit in with people his own age. Constantly being the new kid was agony for the introverted youngster, and he grew up always feeling as if he should be somewhere else but never knowing where that "right" place was. Denver was happier in Tucson, Arizona, than anywhere else; but his father was transferred to Montgomery, Alabama, in the midst of the Montgomery boycotts. John Denver saw Alabama as a place of hatred and mistrust, and he wanted no part of it. It was in Montgomery, however, that he discovered that music was a way to make friends. When he sang and played his guitar, others paid attention to him. Nonetheless, he continued to feel alienated and once refused to speak for several months when he was severely bruised by a broken romance.

Attending high school in Fort Worth, Texas, was a distressing experience for the alienated Denver. Once he gave a party to which no one came. In his third year of high school, he took his father's car and ran away to California to visit family friends and pursue a musical career. However, he returned obediently enough when his father flew to California to retrieve him, and he finished high school.

While studying architecture at Texas Tech, Denver became disillusioned and dropped out in his third year to follow his dreams. He managed to get a job at Ledbetter's, a night club that was a mecca for folk singers, as an opening act for the Backporch Majority. Destiny had placed John Denver in the ideal spot for an aspiring young singer because he found himself living and working with more established artists who taught the idealistic young entertainer how to survive in his new world. It was then that he was encouraged to change his name. He chose Denver to pay homage to the mountains that he loved so dearly.

John Denver's big break came when he met Milt Okum, who represented the folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary. Okum was looking for a replacement singer for another group, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Denver perfectly fit the requirements. Although the group disbanded not long after Denver joined, his experience with them taught him much about the world of professional musicians. When the group disbanded because of huge debts, Denver felt a personal obligation to pay them off.

In 1967, while laying over in a Washington airport, John Denver wrote "Oh, Babe, I Hate to Go," or as it became known, "Leaving on a Jet Plane" out of his sense of loneliness and the desire for someone to ease that desolation. Both the Mitchell Trio and Spanky and Our Gang recorded the song, but it was Peter, Paul, and Mary who turned it into a number one hit in 1969. After being turned down by 16 record companies, Okum negotiated a recording contract for Denver with RCA Records.

Denver met his first wife Annie in 1966 while touring, and they were married in June 1967. In 1970 the couple moved to Aspen, Colorado. They could not afford to build a house on the land they bought, so they rented and saved. No matter, John Denver had come home. He had discovered the place he had been seeking his entire life. Unable to have children, John and Annie adopted Zachery and Anna Kate. Unfortunately, nothing could hold the marriage together, and it ended it bitter divorce. A subsequent marriage also ended unhappily, leaving him with daughter Jessie Bell.

Denver admitted in his autobiography that he had less trouble talking to large groups of people than to those whom he loved. This ability that caused him so much damage in his personal life gave him the uncanny ability to connect with the audience that set his music apart. His purpose was always greater than simple entertainment. He clothed his messages in everyday scenes to which everyone could relate, whether it be the airport of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" or the forests of "Annie's Song" or the mountains of "Rocky Mountain High" or the homecoming of "Back Home Again" or the country roads of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" or the feather bed of "Thank, God, I'm a Country Boy" or the bad days of "Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)." People related to John Denver as if he were a friend who shared their personal history. His message behind the simple pleasures of life was always to protect the world that provides so much beauty and to enjoy life to the fullest every day because life is a gift.

John Denver's success would have been impressive at any time, but it was particularly impressive in the changing environment that made up the 1970s music scene. He had 13 top ASCAP hits, 9 platinum albums, one platinum single ("Take Me Home, Country Roads"), 13 gold albums, and six gold singles. He also had gold records in Canada, Australia, and Germany. In 1975 he was named CMA's Entertainer of the Year and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" won the best song of the year. He won a People's Choice Award, a Carl Sandburg People's Poet Award, and was named the Poet Laureate of Colorado. He made 21 television specials, 8 of which won awards. He was also a successful actor, starring in Oh, God and Walking Thunder. Denver had come a long way from the young boy whose friends had ignored his party.

Once his consciousness was raised in the early 1970s, Denver became an activist for the causes he loved, including campaigning against nuclear arms and nuclear energy. In 1976, when he was the country's biggest recording star, Denver established the Windstar Foundation on 1000 acres in Snowmass, Colorado, to fight world hunger. He was deeply hurt when he was not invited to join in the noted album, "We Are the World," dedicated to that same cause. Denver was also the moving force behind Plant-It 2000, a group that promoted the planting of as many trees as possible by the year 2000. Denver made his first trip to Africa when he was appointed to President Jimmy Carter's Commission on World Hunger. Always fascinated by space exploration he unsuccessfully sought to be included in a space mission. Upon his first visit to Alaska, Denver was captivated by its beauty and worked hard for its preservation. He became the first American musician to perform in the Soviet Union and mainland China and even collaborated with Russian musicians on a project. He often said that he considered himself a "global citizen" because he believed so strongly in an interconnected world.

After the 1970s, Denver's career declined in the United States and he was arrested for drugs and driving while intoxicated. He was involved in a plane crash from which he walked away. Devastated by his two unsuccessful marriages, Denver remained close to his children. He also continued to be a strong presence on the international music scene. Before his death he had begun to reclaim his domestic audience. With his "Wildlife Concert" in 1995, it was plain to see that he had matured. The glasses were gone, as was the innocence. His hair was shorter and neater. His face was lined and often sad. Yet, his voice was stronger, more sure and arresting. He was still John Denver, and he still knew how to connect with the audience. Denver followed the success of the "Wildlife Concert" with a hit album, Best of John Denver in 1997. Tragically, his comeback was cut short on October 12, 1997, when his experimental aircraft crashed into Monterey Bay.

—Elizabeth Purdy