A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN DENVER -------------------------------- JOHN DENVER John Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico on December 31, 1943. By August of 1945 John's Father, Lt. Col. Henry John Deutschendorf was stationed in Kwajalein, Japan and in 1947 was transferred to Tokyo's Johnson Field. This was the beginning of John's life as an air force child moving from place to place never staying long in one. John's brother, Ron, was born in October of 1948. He and John entered Kindergarten in Japan on the Island of Honshu. The year following it was back to the States. The Deutschendorf's made Tucson, Arizona their home for nine years. Little by little John began singing. The family would make frequent trips to Oklahoma to visit relatives. One day a friend recorded John at the ripe age of seven singing "The Hills of Virginia." Then came the event which was to form the mold of John's future. His grandmother gave him her 1910 Gibson guitar, the non-famous instrument in John's song "This Old Guitar." He still owns and treasures it. When John was thirteen it was on to Montgomery, Alabama. He began to practice the guitar devoutly and started composing. As usual, he no sooner began making friends and it was another transfer to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. Here is where he graduated from Arlington Heights High School. It was during John's senior Year when the hootenanny craze began to peak and John was listening and taking note of what he heard. Music was fast becoming the most important thing in John's life and his parents began to frown upon it. In Autumn of 1961 John enrolled at Texas Tech in Lubbock planning to go into Architecture. His music still found its way into study and social time, eventually to the point where John knew how much it meant to him. Early one morning in January 1964, John packed his belongings into the old "Brown Goose", his 1953 Chevy and headed for California. John remembers, "By noon I was happier than I had ever been in my whole life." He first worked as a draftsman, then played coffeehouses. One in particular, "Leadbetters" owned by Randy Sparks. Here a producer talked John into changing his last name. He now became John Denver. It was during the time he played the Lumbermill in Phoenix, Arizona when he became involved with the Chad Mitchell Trio, minus Chad Mitchell. John flew to New York for an audition and was hired to replace Mitchell. Later the trio was performing at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota in 1965 when John met Ann Martell, eventually the girl to become John's wife. They were married June 9, 1967 in St. Peter. John and Annie's first home was an apartment in Chicago. It was a rough year. John was always away from home working and trying to get the Mitchell Trio out of debt. With the members of the trio coming and going John was now thinking very seriously about working solo. During this time John met Jerry Weintraub who became his manager. Jerry's genius and enthusiasm was exactly what John's talent needed. Shortly after John flew to New York to RCA Studios to record his first album "Rhymes and Reasons" released in October of 1969. This was the beginning of an impressive list of albums. While in Washington D.C. in 1971, John and friends, Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (Now Taffy Danoff) composed "Take Me Home, Country Roads." This was the song to put John on the charts! Now he was ready for television. His big start was in Great Britain with a six week shot for the BBC. Then back to the States where John hosted "The Midnight Special". This show encouraged everyone to get out and vote in the upcoming Presidential Election. Then John made two remarkably interesting documentaries involved with endangered species "The Eagle and the Hawk" and "Bighorn." Other television ventures included hosting "The Tonight Show", roles in "Owen Marshall" and "McCloud" and then a line of John Denver Specials, the first of which aired March 11, 1974. John and Annie had already made Aspen their home. John designed his house himself. There he and Annie share their home with their adopted son, Zachary. Zach is half American Indian and was born May 23, 1974. Other residents of the Denver household are Murphy the Mutt, Daisy, a golden retriever and the two cats, Little Harriet and Tiny Alice. Of vital importance in John's life is est, an abbreviation for Erhard Seminar Training. Founded by Werner Erhard, est teaches "awareness" of love, health, happiness and self-expression. In June of 1974 John was honored by Colorado's Governor, John D. Vanderhoff, declaring him the official Poet-Laureate of the State. 1975 was an exceptional year! John was nominated in five categories in the "Country Music Awards." Best single - "Thank God I'm A Country Boy," Album of the Year - "Back Home Again," Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Songwriter of the year. He won best entertainer and best song. 1975 also showed John being No. 1 on the year-end charts in Billboard Magazine in four categories, top singles artist, over-all pop artist, easy-listening artist and country album. Between all this John spent time with the renown sea-explorer Captain Jacques Cousteau. They quickly became close friends because of the interest they share in the living things of the earth. John then composed "Calypso" dedicated to Jacques Cousteau and the crew of the good ship they serve. Since then there have been more TV specials, extensive sell-out concert tours, a booking with Frank Sinatra at Lake Tahoe (where there were 670,000 requests for reservations), John's own record label "Windsong," an Emmy award for his special "An Evening with John Denver", and in 1976 the Summer Festival of Charities and winning the Award for favorite all-around singer in the "People's Choice Awards." This year will bring John's first movie titled "Oh, God". His co-star is George Burns. John still hopes to someday create an "American Symphony" collaborating with Lee Holdridge. It would combine all types of music, blue-grass, dixieland, rhythm and blues and rock. This year John's concert tour may be detained some. The environmentalist in him has lead to speaking engagements on the energy crisis in the West. It can't be denied that John Denver is a remarkable, talented and sincere man. He is a person who speaks what he believes in and is not afraid to be himself and share with people the things in life that are most meaningful to him. Not trying to be impressive in a show-business way or persuasive, only sharing and asking others to listen and enjoy life and the things around them; whether it be mountains, farms or oceans, or skyscrapers and sidewalks. Anyone who criticizes looking for the joy and happiness in our daily routines are those who have not found out who they are. John Denver knows exactly who he is. he is his music! And the effect of his music on the people who love him - He makes YOU number one!!! Acknowledgements: Dachs, David "John Denver" New York, Pyramid Books, 1976 Fleischer, Lenore "John Denver: The Man and His Music" Flash Books. Flippo, Chet, "His Rocky Mountain Highness" Rolling Stone Magazine", May 8, 1975. Martin, James M. "Rocky Mountain Wonder Boy, John Denver" Pinnacle Books, 1977.