John Denver

John Denver 1975

John Denver (* 31 December 1943 as . Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. in Roswell , New Mexico ; † 12. October 1997 in Monterey Bay , California ) was an American country - and folk singer and - songwriter . He was successful with his music on the pop , country and easy listening hit lists.

He had his breakthrough in 1971 with Take Me Home, Country Roads . With Sunshine on My Shoulders , Annie's Song , Thank God I'm a Country Boy and I'm Sorry , he reached number one on the US singles charts between 1973 and 1975 . Leaving on a Jet Plane , Rocky Mountain High and Back Home Again are other of his well-known and successful compositions.

Life

Childhood and youth

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born in 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico, where his German-American father was stationed as an Air Force pilot in the Airforce base. His childhood was marked by numerous changes of location that his father's job brought with it. After moving to Tucson , he learned to play the guitar at the age of eleven on an old Gibson that his grandmother had given him . He sang in the church choir and played in local rock bands.

He made his first appearances while studying architecture in Lubbock , Texas . His enthusiasm for music was so great that he dropped out of college in 1964 and moved to Los Angeles to join the local folk scene. Here he worked as a technical draftsman during the day and played in folk clubs in the evening. He changed his name “Deutschendorf” to “Denver” after the capital of the US state Colorado .

Career

At first he rode through cafes and clubs until folk impresario Randy Sparks hired him for Ledbetter's. In 1965 he tried to find a vacant place in the Chad Mitchell Trio, prevailed against 250 competitors and was hired. Chad Mitchell left the trio soon after, and the group was called Denver, Boise and Johnson from then on. In 1967 Denver married Ann Marie Martell, known as "Annie". The band broke up two years later and Denver and his wife moved to Aspen in the Rocky Mountains .

His manager Jerry Weintraub brokered a record deal with RCA in Denver in 1969 . In the same year his first album Rhymes and Reasons was released . The album did not sell well, but it contained Leaving on a Jet Plane , which was made famous in late 1969 by Peter, Paul and Mary and reached number one on the US hit parade . The follow-up productions Take Me to Tomorrow and Whose Garden Was This? from 1970 received good reviews, but were not as successful as the next album Poems, Prayers, Promises from 1971 with its first hit single Take Me Home, Country Roads . The song conquered the charts in numerous countries, became one of the best-known hits of the 1970s and an evergreen of country music. Denver received gold for the single and platinum for the album.

The fifth album Aerie from 1972 finally established Denver among the distinguished singer-songwriters . John Denver's Greatest Hits was released in November 1973 and was so successful that the sampler stayed in the hit lists for two years. Also in 1973, the BBC recorded six episodes of the John Denver Show, hosted by Denver with his two friends Bill and Taffy Danoff and changing star guests such as David Essex , Donovan and Paul Williams . In the following years, Denver repeatedly conquered top positions in the charts with songs such as Rocky Mountain High , Sunshine on my Shoulders , Thank God I'm a Country Boy and Calypso .

In addition to the catchy melodies, it was above all the natural-friendly charisma of Denver that reached the listener on record. All of the following albums and singles were successful. The Annie's song dedicated to his wife made it to number one on the pop hit parade. With Back Home Again he was able to conquer the top of the country charts for the first time in 1974. That year Denver sold more records than any other artist. In 1975 he was awarded the "Entertainer of the Year" and "Song of the Year" awards from the Country Music Association . The album of the same name was named Country Album of the Year and he was voted Best Singer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music . In addition to his musical activities, Denver has made a number of actor appearances (including leading roles in Oh God 1977 and Foxfire 1987) and numerous television appearances such as the Muppets Show , and he hosted the Grammy Awards five times .

In February 1995 Denver recorded a two-hour live album in front of an international audience in the Sony Music studios in New York City . The Wildlife Concert was recorded with the help of guitarist James Burton and saxophonist Jim Horn and was a huge success with a journey through 30 years of music. In 1996 Denver was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame .

Act as an environmental and peace activist

Denver had already taken up environmental issues on his albums in the 1970s. In the eighties he intensified his efforts against environmental degradation. He worked actively on several ecological and humanitarian projects. In 1985, still at the time of the Cold War , he was invited to the Soviet Union as one of the first western music stars . This visit inspired him to write the disarmament song Let Us Begin . A year later he went on a major tour of the USSR. In 1992 a tour of China followed .

family

Denver's father, Henry John Deutschendorf sr., Died in 1982 at the age of 62. His mother, Erma Louise Deutschendorf Davis, died in 2010 at the age of 87. Denver has a brother five years her junior who lives in California.

Denver was married twice: from 1967 to 1982 to Annie Martell and from 1988 to 1992 to the Australian actress Cassandra Delaney. From his first marriage he has two adopted children: a son (* 1974) and a daughter (* 1976). A biological daughter (* 1989) comes from the second marriage.

death

Rutan 61 Long EZ

On October 12, 1997 , the enthusiastic aviator crashed a light aircraft he had flown himself, a Rutan 61 Long EZ , over Monterey Bay in California and was killed in the process. Denver had forgotten to switch to the fuller tank during a go-around exercise, which caused the engine to stop. When trying to flip the switch behind the pilot, he had to turn his upper body and tore the steering wheel. The accident scenario is known for this type of aircraft. Denver had only recently acquired the aircraft and made a workshop appointment a few days later to convert the counter.

Because of driving under the influence of alcohol in traffic, Denver had both his driver's license and his flight license withdrawn for a certain period of time, ie he took his last flights without a valid license. An autopsy showed that at the time of the accident there was no impairment from alcohol, drugs or medication, or from health problems. Denver was 53 years old.

Honors

The lyrics of the 2nd official state anthem of the US state Colorado Rocky Mountain High , written by Denver, on a commemorative stone

In 2007, the Colorado Parliament named his song Rocky Mountain High the state's second official anthem. In March 2014, the song Take Me Home, Country Roads was declared an official anthem by Parliament in West Virginia . On October 17, 2014, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . An exhibition is dedicated to Denver's career in the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. The fan-funded bronze statue "Spirit" depicting Denver with an eagle can also be found there.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	UK	US	Country	Remarks
1966	John Denver Sings	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 1966
1969	Rhymes & Reasons	-	-	UK21st silver (5 weeks)UK	US148 (3 weeks) US	-	First published: October 14, 1969 Chart entry in UK only 1973
1970	Take Me to Tomorrow	-	-	-	US197 (2 weeks) US	-	First published: May 1970
1970	Whose Garden Was This?	-	-	-	-	-	First published: October 1970
1971	Poems, Prayers & Promises	-	-	UK19 (5 weeks) UK	US15th platinum (80 weeks)US	Country6 (26 weeks) Country	First published: April 6, 1971 Chart entry in UK only 1973
1971	Aerie	-	-	-	US75 gold (16 weeks)US	Country37 (11 weeks) Country	First published: November 1971
1972	Rocky Mountain High	-	-	UK11 (15 weeks) UK	US4th × 2 Double platinum (53 weeks)US	Country40 (2 weeks) Country	First published: September 15, 1972 Chart entry in UK only 1973
1973	Farewell Andromeda	-	-	-	US16 gold (35 weeks)US	-	First published: June 1973
1974	Back Home Again	-	-	UK3 gold (29 weeks)UK	US1 × 3 Triple platinum (96 weeks)US	Country1 (64 weeks) Country	First published: June 15, 1974
1975	Windsong	-	-	UK14 (21 weeks) UK	US1 × 2 Double platinum (45 weeks)US	Country1 (25 weeks) Country	First published: September 1975
1976	Spirit	-	-	UK9 (11 weeks) UK	US7th platinum (30 weeks)US	Country3 (25 weeks) Country	First published: August 1976
1977	I want to live	-	-	UK25 (5 weeks) UK	US45 platinum (25 weeks)US	Country10 (25 weeks) Country	First published: November 1977
1979	John Denver	-	-	UK68 (1 week) UK	US25th gold (15 weeks)US	Country10 (16 weeks) Country	First published: January 1979
1980	Autograph	-	-	-	US39 (17 weeks) US	Country28 (18 weeks) Country	First published: February 1980
1981	Some Days Are Diamonds	-	-	-	US32 gold (30 weeks)US	Country7 (35 weeks) Country	First published: June 1981
1982	Seasons of the Heart	-	-	-	US39 gold (33 weeks)US	Country18 (30 weeks) Country	First published: February 1982
1983	It's about time	-	-	UK90 (2 weeks) UK	US61 (15 weeks) US	Country55 (10 weeks) Country	First published: November 15, 1983
1985	Dreamland Express	-	-	-	US90 (19 weeks) US	Country64 (8 weeks) Country	First published: June 1985
1986	One World	-	-	UK91 (3 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: June 1986
1988	Higher ground	-	-	-	-	Country49 (7 weeks) Country	First published: June 26, 1988
1990	Earth songs	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 1990
1990	The Flower That Shattered the Stone	-	-	-	US185 (6 weeks) US	-	First published: September 1990
1991	Different directions	-	-	-	-	-	First published: September 24, 1991
1997	All Aboard!	-	-	-	US165 (1 week) US	-	First published: August 26, 1997
1997	Love Again A Celebration of Life (1943-1997)	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 1997
1998	Forever, John	-	-	-	-	-	First release: September 29, 1998 posthumous studio album with unreleased titles and alternative versions

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Individual evidence

↑ http://home.wanadoo.nl/mtenbrug/denver/bbcshows/denver_2.htm ( Memento from October 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Country Roads is the new anthem from West Virginia. In: orf.at , March 7, 2014, accessed on November 21, 2017.
↑ John Denver to be Postumously Honored with Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. johndenver.com, October 16, 2014
^ John Denver Museum in Denver, Colorado. In: Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 6, 2019 (American English).
↑ Chart sources: DE1 DE2 AT UK US
^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

Commons : John Denver - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Official website (English)
John Denver Fanclub Germany - with biography, photos, FAQ etc.
John Denver in the Internet Movie Database (English)

personal data
SURNAME	Denver, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Deutschendorf, Henry John Jr. (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American country and folk singer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 31, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH	Roswell , New Mexico, USA
DATE OF DEATH	October 12, 1997
Place of death	Monterey , California, USA

[1] ttp://home.wanadoo.nl/mtenbrug/denver/bbcshows/denver_2.htm ( Memento from October 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[2] Country Roads is the new anthem from West Virginia. In: orf.at , March 7, 2014, accessed on November 21, 2017.

[3] John Denver to be Postumously Honored with Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. johndenver.com, October 16, 2014

[4] John Denver Museum in Denver, Colorado. In: Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 6, 2019 (American English).

[charts-5] Chart sources: DE1 DE2 AT UK US

[Billboard-6] The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .