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"My laptop was completely ruined when my office flooded. Even the hard disk was wrecked; but I didn't lose a single document."
 | John denver News - 30-April-2001 |  |
Mother Nature's Son
He was born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr, the oldest of two boys. His parents were Henry John, Sr and Erma. Besides, John, they had another son, Ron.
Henry John, Sr, also called "Dutch," was a military man, in the Air Force. Dutch taught flight to younger recruits and was tops in his field. It was a passion he would later share with his oldest son.
When John was 12 years old, his maternal grandmother gave him the infamous guitar that started him off into his passion with music. John was painfully shy as a lad, due to the constant reassignment of his father. He never was able to make friends, because he would lose them far too soon. Music and nature became his friends, his solace. His mother recalls that the guitar was the first thing he picked up at night and the last thing in his hands before he slept. He spent a good deal of time with his music in between, when not at school.
John dropped out of college to pursue his musical career. He was taken in by Randy and Diane Sparks in LA in the mid-sixties. It was with the Sparks family that he was persuaded to change his name to a less wieldy one. Reports differ as to why the name Denver...some say he chose it out of a hat, some say because of his adopted home in Colorado. According to Ron Deutschendorf, it's the former, as he had not been introduced to Colorado at that time.
John went to audition for the soon to be vacant spot that Chad Mitchell was leaving in the Chad Mitchell Trio, a successfull folk group. He was accepted, and the group became the Mitchell Trio, putting out several albums. It was during this time that he met and fell in love with his first wife, Ann Martell. It was during their courtship that he found, and also fell in love with, Aspen, Colorado.
John soon signed a recording contract with RCA, but it came close to becoming a liability. After three albums that went nowhere fast, John was in danger of being dropped by his label. It wasn't until 1970 and a song called Take Me Home, Country Roads, that the world learned who John Denver was. And he was the darling of the industry from then on.
John Denver's career included over 40 million albums sold, worldwide, and number one hits, such as: Rocky Mountain High, Sunshine on my Shoulder, Annie's Song, Calypso (written for Jacques Cousteau and the men of the Calypso) and others. John also enjoyed gold record success, starting with John Denver's Greatest Hits, An Evening with John Denver, and more. John also had several television variety specials, with and without Muppets. He soon went into acting, with a starring role in Oh, God, guest roles on such TV shows as Owen Marshall, and McCloud. Other movie roles included Foxfire, with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and Higher Ground, The Leftovers, and The Christmas Gift. He helped to found such organizations as The Windstar Conservancy, a group dedicated to educating about the environment and how to care for it, and The Hunger Project, a group dedicated to easing world hunger.
John also had his hard times. After 15 years of marriage to Annie and having adopted two children together, they divorced soon after the death of his father. A second marriage, to Aussie Cassandra Delaney, produced his only biological child, but also failed. Problems with alcohol and two arrests for DUI caused him to voluntarily seek rehab assistance.
John Denver had pulled himself together in the years previous to his tragic death. He had recorded The Wildlife Concert for video and CD release, a collection of his music for The Wildlife Society. The special was aired on A&E network. The double CD set garnered enough interest in the singer to have Sony ask him to record a work for children. John recorded his last CD, All Aboard, a collection of railroad songs. It won him a Grammy for Children's recordings and his youngest daughter, Jesse Belle accepted it for him posthumously.
John Denver was killed, tragically, on October 12, 1997, when his experimental airplane failed due to a fuel switch problem. His fans still mourn his loss. In 1999, Aspen dedicated a Sanctuary in the park to him, and after extensive work, the area was re-dedicated to John's memory in 2000. Every year, they gather in Aspen, to celebrate his life and carry on the work he started for the environment and for world peace.
John Denver was a highly underrated musician. He was a man dedicated to his work and his fans, to his music and making it. He was, and is, loved by all he touched...and we miss him, still.
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