Taffy Nivert

Mary Catherine "Taffy" Nivert Danoff (born October 25, 1944 in Washington, DC ) is an American songwriter and singer . She gained fame as a member of the Starland Vocal Band and through her collaboration with John Denver . Together with Denver and her husband Bill Danoff , she wrote the country song Take Me Home, Country Roads in 1971 , for which she also sang the backing vocals .

Life

Taffy Nivert began her career as a singer on her high school radio station in Washington. She was discovered while performing in a bar in Georgetown and was henceforth part of a band in which her later husband Bill Danoff also sang. In the late 1960s, the couple formed the folk band Fat City . In the following years four studio albums were created.

In 1970 Bill Danoff began working on a country song called Take Me Home, Country Roads . The couple decided to sell the incomplete song to Johnny Cash . However, after Fat City opened for John Denver in December 1970, Nivert and Danoff changed their minds. During a visit to Denver in the shared apartment of Nivert and Danoff, the song was finally completed by all three participants. Taffy Nivert can also be heard as a background singer on the recordings for Take Me Home, Country Roads . The track appeared on Denver's album Poems, Prayers & Promises in April 1971 and became his biggest hit.

In 1972 Taffy Nivert married her long-time partner, Bill Danoff. In 1976 the couple founded the Starland Vocal Band together with two other musicians . The band's greatest success was the song Afternoon Delight , published in 1976 and written by Bill Danoff . After several albums, the band broke up in 1981. Nivert and Danoff were later divorced.

Taffy Nivert lived in her native Washington until 2011. Her current residence is in Safety Harbor .

Web links

• Taffy Nivert at Discogs (English)
• Taffy Nivert in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Entry about Taffy Nivert on secondhandsongs.com (English)