Denver, John

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John Denver

Singer, songwriter, guitarist

John Denver is a pop star whose name is synonymous with music that celebrates life’s simple pleasures. Wearing granny glasses and relatively long hair, the singer/songwriter first charmped audiences in the 1970s with his country-boy appeal and lyrics that extolled goodness, love, and natural beauty. Indeed, hit songs like “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Rocky Mountain High” brought him national recognition and eventual acclaim as the “nature-loving singer who shaped a whole musical ethos during the seventies,” reported Alice Steinbach in the Saturday Review.

Even as he reached stardom, however, the entertainer had begun to slight his musical career, choosing instead to concentrate on efforts to preserve the environment and find solutions to the problem of world hunger. Only in the mid-1980s, after a long hiatus from the spotlight, has Denver begun to express an interest in renewing his musical career. In fact, the musician-turned-political activist told Steinbach in a 1985 interview that in the future he hopes to return to music and “become a role model for young people.”

Denver received his first guitar as a gift from his grandmother when he was in the seventh grade. He failed to take much of an interest in the instrument, though, until Elvis Presley revolutionized the music world. Excited by the King’s example, the teenager started playing the guitar in earnest, becoming good enough to perform with local groups and to entertain at parties. After entering Texas Tech University as an architecture student, he continued to indulge his interest in music, earning an income by doing solo gigs, singing with a trio, and playing guitar in a band. Finally, midway through his junior year, the college student left school to pursue his musical calling.

The aspiring musician initially headed for Los Angeles, California, where his skills sparked some interest at Capitol Records. He cut a demonstration record for the label and even, after some prompting by Capitol, changed his surname to Denver (from the original Deutschendorf), but the recording company failed to release the singles. From Los Angeles the young artist traveled to New York City, where he successfully auditioned for a place with the [Chad] Mitchell Trio. He spent three years with the group, singing, playing guitar and banjo, and witnessing the release of the first album featuring his talents, The Mitchell Trio: That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be.

When the group folded in 1968, Denver struck out on his own. While with the trio he had composed his first hit, “Leaving on a Jet Plane” (recorded by folk singers Peter, Paul, and Mary), and the publicity from that success helped him line up engagements playing for coffee house and college audiences. Before long, he

For the Record…

Real name, Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. ; born December 31, 1943, in Roswell, N.M.; son of Henry John (a U.S. Air Force career man) and Erma Deutschendorf; married AnnMartell, June, 1967 (divorced, c. 1983); children: (adopted) Zachary, Anna Kate. Education: Attended Texas Tech University, two-and-a-half years.

Singer and songwriter, 1960s—; began career while a college student, early 1960s; vocalist and instrumentalist (guitar and banjo) with the New York City-based Mitchell Trio, 1965-68; played in coffee houses and on college campuses, 1968-69; signed recording contract with RCA Victor, 1969; formed John Denver Enterprises; provided soundtrack for the CBS television film “Sunshine”; actor in the film “Oh God”; associated with CBS movie “A Christmas Present,” 1986. Political activist, 1970s—.

Awards: Named poet laureate of Colorado; named male vocalist of the year by the Academy of Country Music, 1975; named country music entertainer of the year by the Country Music Association, 1975; “Back Home Again” named song of the year by the Country Music Association, 1975.

Addresses: Home —Aspen CO;Office –John Denver Concerts Inc., P.O. Box 1587, Aspen CO 81612.

had signed a recording contract with RCA and his career was launched.

During the early 1970s Denver enjoyed celebrity as one of pop music’s superstars. He released the million-selling single “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in 1971 and followed it in 1972 with the platinum album Rocky Mountain High and in 1974 with the successful Back Home Again. Although the musician and his compositions impressed some critics as corny, the star more often captivated listeners with his honesty and unabashed enthusiasm and was frequently invited to appear on television variety specials as well as to guest star in dramatic series.

Concurrent with his music career, Denver was pursuing his interest in a number of causes important to him, and by the mid- to late 1970s issues like the environment and hunger had superceded the place of music in his life. In 1977 he helped found the World Hunger Project and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the Commission on World Hunger; he also began playing benefit concerts, including one for NASA, and he has made unofficial goodwill musical tours of the Soviet Union and China. Although involved in a host of projects, Denver has remained most dedicated to eradicating what he calls “the obscenity of world hunger” and has spent recent years, according to Steinbach, “donating money, raising money and working on hunger and agrarian reform commissions.”

Once regarded as the “Tom Sawyer of Rock,” Denver is now, in Steinbach’s estimation, “a thoughtful, serious and socially-committed man.” But he is also a man who Although involved in a host of projects, Denver has remained most dedicated to eradicating what he calls the obscenity of world hunger.” believes that youngsters need additional role models to choose from in today’s world. The artist’s album Dreamland Express marks one step toward returning to a musical career that he hopes will enable him to inspire young people. He told Steinbach, “I want people to look outside of the narrow focus we all get caught up in and see that whether you live in Aspen or in Africa, underneath we are all the same.” The multitalented Denver, concluded Linda Feldman for McCalls, “is every bit the Renaissance man.”