J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~J O R O C K Y M O U N T A I N H I G H O H =============================================== H N The John Denver Internet Fan Club N D D E M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R E N N V A P R I L 1 9 9 5 V E E R Newsletter written by: Emily Parris emily@sky.net R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS April 1995 Denver's DUI Case Dropped..........................1 JOHN DENVER APOLOGY - Aspen Times..................2 "We Believe In You" - A poem by E. Parris..........3 Concert Dates......................................3 "Take Me Home" available in AUDIO version..........4 Comments on the GUITARS used in NYC Taping.........5 "Springtime In West Virginia" by H. Meadows.......6 A Short Biography of John (Years:1943-1975)........7 Recipe: Annie Denver's Mandarin Tossed Salad............9 alt.fan.john-denver................................9 "Leaving On A Jet Plane" w/Guitar chords..........10 DENVER'S DUI CASE DROPPED Associated Press 3/8/95 Aspen, Colorado (AP) - DUI charges against John Denver have been dropped on constitutional grounds. Lawyer Walter Gerash argued that since Denver had already been cleared at a license revocation hearing, pursuing the case would be double jeopardy - prosecuting Denver twice for the same crime. Prosecutors said they would appeal the decision by Pitkin County Judge Tam Scott. The license examiner reinstated Denver's license because police conducted the blood test more than two hours after he was arrested. State law requires tests to be conducted within two hours. The singer was arrested on August 21, 1994 after wrecking his Porsche. He needed numerous stitches after the accident. He had faced a mandatory jail sentence if convicted because it would have been his second dui in a year. ======================================================== And here is a letter from John!............ ======================================================== DENVER APOLOGIZES Aspen Times - Aspen, Colorado - Editorial Section March 18, 1995 Dear Editor: "On the night of August 21st this past year, I made an error of judgment. I should never have allowed myself to be in a situation where my condition in relation to driving an automobile would be in question. I was in a serious accident and suffered a severe concussion and lacerations. Because of this experience, I sought professional help to look at whatever issues might be going on in my life, consciously or unconsciously, that would lead to behavior that does not represent who I am, nor reflect the man I aspire to be. During my month of consultation and confinement, I learned a great deal about myself, about my behavior, about my past, and about my future. I feel that I have taken a significant step forward in my life and for my life. I believe that it shows in everything I am now doing and that it will continue to show in the days and years ahead. I am confident that I am in better shape than ever before to make a contribution to my family, to my community, to my nation, and to the world. To those who have cared for and supported me during these difficult years, I am deeply grateful. To those who feel I epitomize the opposite of everything I have expressed here, I offer an apology and sincere regret for all the things I have done which may tend to support those feelings. I do not expect, nor do I want any special consideration or privilege because of my celebrity or my success. On the other hand, I will use all of my strength and all of my resources to ensure that I be treated no less than any other citizen of this great country as a consequence of my success or my celebrity. Whether adjudged right or wrong, my prayer is that this legal process will strengthen the integrity of our law in its respect for fairness and due process." Peace! John Denver Aspen WE BELIEVE IN YOU by Emily M. Parris Dedicated to John Denver When the storm clouds gather And your friends all seem untrue Remember the hearts you lifted up For we believe in you You took us on a journey On a Rocky Mountain high Like little baby eagles You taught us how to fly You inspired us by writing Of a love so warm and true All of it is here to stay For we believe in you Country roads will take you home To the place that you belong For all the love you gave us Is still here in every song Every word of inspiration Is forever fresh and new You have touched our hearts forever We believe in you Copyright 4/1/95 by Emily M. Parris >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CONCERT DATES <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Jacksonville, Florida...............May 19, 1995 Vienna, VA (Wolftrap)..............June 15, 1995 tickets: 703-218-6500 info: 703-255-1860 Detroit, MI.........................Aug 6, 1995 San Diego, CA.......................Sept 15 & 16 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< AUDIO VERSION OF "TAKE ME HOME" ========================================================= John Denver - "TAKE ME HOME" (1994) Autobiography In a career that has spanned twenty-five years, John Denver has earned international acclaim as a singer, songwriter, actor, and environmental activist. Songs like "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High,"and "Annie's Song" have entered the canon of universal anthems, but less than three decades ago, John Denver was a young man with little more than a fine voice, a guitar, and a dream. Growing up in a conservative military family, he was not expected to drop out of college and head to Los Angeles, where the music scene was flourishing. Nor was he expected to succeed. In "Take Me Home", John Denver chronicles the experiences that shaped his life, while unraveling the rich, inner journey of a shy Midwestern boy whose uneasy partnership with fame has been one of the defining forces of his first fifty years. With candor and wit, John writes about his childhood, the experience of hitting L.A. as the Sixties roared into full swing, his first breaks, his years with the Mitchell Trio, his first songwriting success with "Leaving on a Jet Plane," and finally a career that made his a global household name. He also explores his relationships with the women in his life-- particularly his first wife, Annie Martell, and his second wife, Cassandra Delaney-- as well as his parents, his children, his partners throughout his life, and his friends. Honest, insightful and rich in anecdotes that only a natural-born storyteller could tell so well, "Take Me Home" is a highly charged and fascinating book from beginning to end. It's like spending a couple of days with a good friend. You can purchase John's autobiography on audio cassette from Parrot Audio Books for $24.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. California residents should add $1.98 for sales tax (8.25%). If using a credit card, you can call 1-800-577-6665 to order, or send a check or money order to: Parrot Audio Books 46750 Fremont Blvd. #207 Fremont CA 94538 ------------------------------------------------------------- This information was provided by our member Anthony Vervoort who did the digital audio editing for the book. ------------------------------------------------------------- JOHN DENVER: TAKE ME HOME An Autobiography with Arthur Tobier / Autobiography / 50 black-and-white photographs 6 x 9 / 320 pages / A Harmony Book / 0-517-595370 $20.00 hardcover (Canada $26.95) / Crown Publishing Group 201 East 50th Street / New York, NY 10022 (212) 572-2537 Comments on the GUITARS John used at the NYC Taping by Gary Wolf ======================================================== John Denver has recently switched to Taylor guitars. He and his rhythm guitar player were using a variety of Taylor guitars during the recent taping in New York. Since John is featuring more acoustic guitar accompaniment this change was interesting to fans who play the guitar. Taylor guitars are handmade in El Cajon Ca. and are currently very popular instruments for stage artists. John's main instrument on stage was a Taylor 915 M six string guitar made with Koa wood back and sides and a Mahogany top. The guitar has noticeably stronger bass and treble response that accentuates John's Travis pick style of play. The action on the guitar. (The height of the strings above the fret board) was fairly high indicating that JD plays the instrument pretty hard. John had two Taylor 12 string guitars in use. His main instrument was a Taylor 855 jumbo made from Indian Rosewood and a Spruce top. The action was setup in the standard factory setting. He used this guitar in both hard strumming songs like Wild Montana Skies and some fingerstyle ones. He had a lot of problems with intonation (going out of tune when using a capo). JD also used a Leo Kottke model Mahogany 12 string with a spruce top. This guitar is made for heavier strings that can be tuned to lower than standard tunings. He used this guitar for Sunshine and I thought that it was much brighter and clearer than the rosewood 12 string. JD also used a black electric acoustic Nylon string guitar for several of the love songs. The guitar is a custom made model and I've never been able to find out who made it. He's been using the guitar since the mid 80's. John's backup guitarist was using a Taylor 710 six string as well as a 612 cutaway maple guitar. All of John's guitars had saddle type piezo pickups so that they could be amplified. The 915 six string guitar also had a magnetic sound hole pickup. John was using a microphone positioned at the sound hole of the guitar to capture the projected sound of each of the instruments. He was playing about 4 to 6 inches away from the microphone and had several occasions where he bumped the microphone. This is a tough way to make a live recording trying to play that close to a microphone. John's stable of guitars has changed over time. Guild guitars were used for the first five albums he made and later a luthier named Somogyi, who was victimized by a fire in the Oakland California area a few years ago, supplied a custom six string. John also has/plays a Martin 12 strings on the original Annie's song recordings. He also has what appears to be a Yamaha Custom made guitar that he has used throughout the years. JD started using a Taylor guitar (a 12 string cutaway) in the late 80's. The switch to Taylor guitars is an interesting aside since he has used so many different guitars in the past. Since John had lot's of tuning problems, broke strings, and at one point was asked by the booth to try another guitar on a particular song I don't know why he's switched. The guitars are very unique in appearance and the 915 did sound very nice for his style. His old 12 strings were certainly better sounding and easier to use than the pair he had that Fri night. The star of his stable though is the nylon string guitar which has the richest sound and complements JD's voice the most. G.Wolf ==================================================== West Virginia is...."almost heaven" and I found this beautiful poem in the "alt.appalachian" newsgroup. ==================================================== S P R I N G T I M E IN W E S T V I R G I N I A by Hettie E. Meadows It's springtime in West Virginia now, Where every lilac and redwood bough Seems to be singing a glad refrain That Spring has come to the hills again; While bluebirds and cardinals, on the wing, Repeat the song, "It is spring -- it is spring!" In the blossoming trees, on the fragrant air, There's music and melody everywhere; Whispering breezes, a brooklet's song, Bird notes caroling all the day long; While at evening time from a neighboring hill Comes the clear sweet call of a whip-poor-will. Happy the heart that can hear and heed The call to go where the hill-trails lead, To find where the trailing arbutus, sweet, Spreads like a carpet for fairy feet; And on cliffs, high up where the breezes play The beautiful harebells swing and sway. I know that if ever I'd chance to roam Far off from these beautiful hills of home, In springtime their echoes would come to me In tune with the harpstrings of memory; "Come back to the hills," I would hear them call, For homeland beauties are best of all. (Copyright) 1952 - Hettie E. Meadows A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN DENVER ------------------------------------ Covers the years 1943 to 1975 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 shared their home with their adopted son, Zachary. Zach is half American Indian and was born May 23, 1974. 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. After that there were 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." 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 has 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! <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> ANNIE DENVER'S MANDARIN TOSSED SALAD 1/2 head shredded lettuce 1 cup chopped celery 1 tbsp. minced parsley 2 green onions and tops (chopped) 1 can mandarin oranges (drained) 1/4 cup carmalized almonds To make carmalized almonds: (put 2 tbsp. sugar and almonds in small heavy pan and stir all the time until sugar is dissolved on low heat. Allow mixture to cool) Toss all ingredients in salad Dressing 1/2 tsp. salt Dash of black pepper 2 tbsp. sugar 2 tbsp. vinegar 1/4 cup salad oil Put ingredients in jar and shake vigorously. Then pour over the salad. ==================================================== alt.fan.john-denver ==================================================== Some of the subjects discussed on alt.fan.john-denver have been (1) our favorite songs, (2) trivia questions and (3) about the irc night. There have only been a few flames and the traffic has been fairly steady never leaving it with less than about 15 messages. Many more messages are available on AOL but for some reason some of the other servers drop old messages much more quickly. If you can't get the newsgroup on your server, let me know and I can email you some messages. Many people have also joined the club because of finding us on alt.fan.john-denver. LEAVING ON A JET PLANE Words and Music by John Denver G C 1) All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go 2) There's so many times I've let you down 3) Now the time has come to leave you G C 1) I'm standing here outside your door 2) So many times I've played around 3) One more time, let me kiss you G C D 1) I hate to wake you up to say goodbye 2) I tell you now, they don't mean a thing 3) Then close your eyes, I'll be on my way G C 1) But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn 2) Every place I go, I'll think of you 3) Dream about the days to come G C 1) The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn 2) Every song I sing, I'll sing for you 3) When I won't have to leave alone G C D 1) Already I'm so lonesome I could die 2) When I come back I'll bring your wedding ring 3) About the times I won't have to say: Chorus: (1, 2 & 3) G C G C So kiss me and smile for me; tell me that you'll wait for me G C D Hold me like you'll never let me go G C 'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane G C G Don't know when I'll be back again C D Oh, babe, I hate to go.... (3rd Verse only repeat last three lines) Copyright 1967 Cherry Lane Music Co. =========================================================== T h a n k Y o u =========================================================== I'd like to thank Jack Meadows for allowing us to print his mother's poem about West Virginia; Charlie White for sending in John's apology that appeared in the Aspen Times; Anthony Vervoort for the text file about the audio version of "Take Me Home", Gary Wolf for his report on John's guitars used in the NYC taping and John Altinbay who has consistently been keeping me informed by sending articles from the Denver newspapers. ============================================================ ****************************************************** Endfile - April 1995 * Issue #12 emily@sky.net Rocky Mountain High: The John Denver Internet Fan Club ******************************************************