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 J A N U A R Y 1 9 9 5 V E E R Written by: Emily Parris Email: "emily@sky.net" R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS - Jan 1995 - New Email Address for RMH........................2 John Denver 1995 Calendar........................2 "My Songs Touch Me; I Try To Touch People" Minneapolis Star; 11/19/70...................3 Poetry Corner "The Music That Led Me To Home"...............5 "A Special Place".............................6 John's Lyrics "Dancing With The Mountains" by John Denver...6 Anthology of All RMH Articles for 1994...........7 John Denver Trial On Hold For Now................8 Singer Claims 'Double Jeopardy'..................9 Rocky Mountain News 1/2/95 Letters to the Editor............................9 Rocky Mountain High: 1994 Status Report.........10 Form to Request Back Issues.....................10 NEW EMAIL ADDRESS for Rocky Mountain High: The John Denver Internet Fan Club ========================================================== "emily@sky.net" Last month I had trouble with my offline mail reader for Delphi, the program I had used to send out the newsletters. So I was forced to use my Sky.net account and "Pine" which is a UNIX mail reading program. I expected it to be slower since everything had to be entered from scratch, but instead I found that I saved time even with the additional work of setting everything up. I couldn't believe it! It was faster and much more efficient since the newsletter is sent immediately with no waiting for the text to scroll. Changes to the mailing list are much easier now as well. So if you ever want to change your email address just let me know and I'll make the necessary changes. Just send email to "emily@sky.net" which is the new official email address for the club. Last Chance to get your........... JOHN DENVER 1995 CALENDAR ========================= There is a John Denver 1995 Calendar available from "Hearts in Harmony." It features dozens of photos of John, is printed on high quality heavy paper and is spiral bound. To order your copy write to: Dottie Honer 5214 Stump Road Pipersville, PA 18947-1014 The cost is $11.00 in the USA; $12.00 in Canada and $14.00 overseas. Send your payment made out to "Hearts in Harmony", in U.S. funds and please say you heard about it from RMH on the Internet. 'MY SONGS TOUCH ME; I TRY TO TOUCH PEOPLE' by Peter Vaughan Minneapolis Star Staff Writer 11/19/70 John Denver is a singer of songs, a minstrel, a poet, a creator of rhymes. But he wants to be remembered most as a human being who cares about other human beings. I you have heard Peter, Paul and Mary or John Denver sing "Leaving, On A Jet Plane" and it has touched you into remembering a sad parting, long forgotten, then Denver is happy. He wrote the song four and a half years ago. Peter, Paul and Mary put it on an album shortly thereafter. It remained there, relatively unnoticed, until it was released as a single a year ago. It sold two million copies. "When I wrote it I had been with the Mitchell Trio for about a year. There were a lot of one night concerts and a great deal of traveling. It was very difficult to take somebody you loved along because the whole business could be incredibly boring. "I enjoy getting to know people and I would never have time. I think that's sad. So here was something for anyone who has to say good-by, for whatever period of time, to someone you care for very deeply. "I am very gratified to think that two million people shelled out the money for that song. I hope that many of them were touched by the sentiment in the song" Denver said. At 26, Denver is reaching what he considers a critical point in his career as a folk singer and song writer. He views music, his and that of others, as a medium through which he can communicate to people in all levels of the community. "All the songs I do touch me in some way. I try to do something more than just entertain. I try to touch people." "I want them to say something more than 'What a pretty song!' I want them to say 'Why, that is something I have felt'" he said. "Music, popular music, has had an incredible influence in our world in the last few years," Denver said. He pointed out that the rock culture that sprouted following the success of the Beatles brought long hair, sideburns and drugs. "Drugs are now very much a part of life. Either we solve the problem or we learn to live with it. It is just a fact of life now." "Music is the best means of communicating between the generations. By generations, I don't mean just parents and their children but between young people of different ages." "The areas in which we can learn to compromise and live in peace with each other are limited but music is part of them...and I am proud to be a part of that." "I don't think I am that good a song writer or that good a singer, but I can give people an idea of what is important in my life. I have a lot of ideas and I am willing to share those. If people don't feel the way I do, then i am not going to push it down their throats" Denver said. Denver has lived in Edina for the past two years although his roots are in the Southwest. He is the son of an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and spent his early years in New Mexico, Arizona, Alabama and Japan. Music came to John Denver at 10 in much the same way as it comes to many children. His grandmother gave him her own guitar made in 1910. He took lessons but rebelled at the daily practicing. "It was a drag and a waste of money, so I quit. But I guess it instilled something because I began playing on my own." "I discovered that playing made it easy to make friends and that this was very pleasing to me" Denver explained. He played in trios, as part of rock band and on his own. When he was 20 years old and attending Texas Tech he found that he was enjoying entertaining more than school. "I dropped out in my junior year. I was working my way through school with my music and found it was a lot more enjoyable than school. "So I took a semester off to find out what I could do or get it out of my system. I took $125 and went to the West Coast." There he worked as a draftsman during the day, auditioned at clubs, got enough work to quit the day job and was on his way. Denver does a few club dates now but concentrates on concerts at colleges where he feels his particular skills show to best advantage. He is giving one of his few local performances Saturday as part of a Junior League benefit at the Radisson South. He views his first venture into the monied and middle age (to him) Junior Leagers with some trepidation. "I am going to be scared stiff before that concert" he said. However, Denver views the concert as an opportunity to bring his own message to a group of people who probably haven't heard it before. He readily admits that he considers it his right and duty to bring his views of current affairs to his audiences. "Certainly, I am political. I feel you have a responsibility to say what you feel about what is going on." Denver's view of the world is essentially pacifistic. There is no reason for anyone killing in this world, he says. The songs he likes are the songs he sings and he can relate them instantly to his own life. "When I'm 64" is a great song. It's a great love song because it is about an aspect of love that most lovers don't think about. I've got a wife (Annie) and we are very much in love. Sometimes I think of her as a grandmother. She is going to be so great. It really turns me on" he said. Annie is from St. Peter, Minnesota. Denver met her at a concert. They married three and a half years ago and moved to Minnesota so that she could continue her college studies. THE MUSIC THAT LED ME TO HOME To the tune of "The Flower That Shattered The Stone" by Joe Henry and John Jarvis New Lyrics by Emily M. Parris Dedicated to John Denver I fell in love with you Just hearing your sound And I found I was happy When I kept you around You sang to me sweetly From day into night Until I found that You Were my guiding light As the river runs freely The heart knows the way I found it all in your music As I heard it play In the heart of your message A pure love was there Like a bright star in heaven That lights our way home It was your music that led me to home You taught me of freedom Beholding the sun You taught me that in beauty We're all joined in one I reach out before me With love in my eyes For I know there is life In the earth and the skies As the river runs freely The heart knows the way I found it all in your music As I heard it play In the heart of your message A pure love was there Like a bright star in heaven That lights our way home It was your music that led me to home A SPECIAL PLACE by Emily M. Parris There is a special place Where inspiration lives You tap into the wealth of it And marvel at what it gives It's like a precious miracle Just waiting there to be It isn't somewhere far away It lives in YOU and ME (Copyright 1994 by Emily Parris) JOHN DENVER LYRICS ================== DANCING WITH THE MOUNTAINS Words & Music by John Denver Everybody's got the dancin' fever Everybody'd love to rock and roll Play it loud and baby play it better Funky music's gotta stretch your soul Just relax and let the rhythm take you Don't you be afraid to lose control If your heart has found some empty spaces Dancin's just the thing to make you whole I am one who dances with the mountains I am one who dances in the wind I am one who dances on the ocean My partner's more than pieces more than friends Were you there the night they lost the lightning Were you there the day the earth stood still Did you see the famous and the fighting Did you hear the prophet tell his tale We are one when dancing with the mountains We are one when singing in the wind We are one when thinking of each other More than partners much more than pieces more than friends (Copyright 1979 Cherry Lane Music Co.) AN ANTHOLOGY OF ALL ARTICLES IN RMH NEWSLETTERS * * 1994 * * Article Issue ---------------------------------------------- ------------ "Ascap Today" July 1994 "Take Me Home" - A little more about it Oct 1994 A New Verse to Annie's Song Nov 1994 Albums: John Denver's Albums June 1994 alt.fan.john-denver Nov 1994 Are You A Closet John Denver fan? Dec 1994 Autobiography: "Take Me Home" July 1994 Awards: Albert Schweitzer Award July 1994 Back in the Limelight and Touring Again Dec 1994 Biography: John Denver June 1994 Book Signing Tour Oct 1994 Book Signing Tour Sept 1994 Calendar: 1995 J.D. Calendar available Nov 1994 Concert Schedule: 6/5/94 June 1994 Cousteau Society Oct 1994 Denver Says He Can Still Make Hits Nov 1994 Does John Denver Have A Drinking Problem? Aug 1994 I Was Raised on Country Music Dec 1994 John Denver High On Life Aug 1994 John Denver Hits A Tree Aug 1994 John Denver in the News Sept 1994 John Denver is Here in Town and So Is His Ping-Pong May 1994 John Denver's Journey: Getting There From Here Sept 1994 John on tour in Australia in November Nov 1994 John's Flesh-eating Book Tour Dec 1994 Lyrics: "Ballad of Gary Hart" by John Denver May 1994 Lyrics: "Christmas Like A Lullaby" by John Denver Dec 1994 Lyrics: "Gone to Maui" by John Denver July 1994 Lyrics: "Is It Love?" by John Denver June 1994 Lyrics: "Take Me Home, Country Roads" w/G. Chords Dec 1994 More on the Accident in Aspen of 8/21/94 Nov 1994 Movie: Walking Thunder May 1994 Note for AOL Members Nov 1994 Parody: "Thank God For the Internet" May 1994 Pen Pal list - May 1994 May 1994 Pen Pal List - Nov 1994 Nov 1994 Pen Pal List - Oct 1994 Oct 1994 Poem: "A Crisp October Night" by Emily Parris Oct 1994 Poem: "A Day Before Christmas" by Emily Parris Dec 1994 Poem: "A Dream".....author unknown Nov 1994 Poem: "Christmastime Is Here" by Emily Parris Dec 1994 Poem: "Circle of Love" by Emily Parris June 1994 Poem: "Country Love Songs" by Emily M. Parris Sept 1994 Poem: "From the Songs He Sings" by Emily Parris June 1994 Poem: "Goblins & Pumpkins" by Emily Parris Oct 1994 Poem: "Hearts in Harmony" by Emily Parris Sept 1994 Poem: "Heroes" by Emily Parris Aug 1994 Poem: "John: My Hero" by Emily Parris Aug 1994 Poem: "Like A Symphony" by Emily Parris Oct 1994 Poem: "Mountain Man" by Karoline Benford Sept 1994 Poem: "On The Internet" by Emily Parris May 1994 Poem: "Rave Review" by Emily Parris July 1994 Poem: "Rocky Mountain Melody" by Emily Parris Aug 1994 Poem: "Rocky Mountain Minstrel" by Emily Parris May 1994 Poem: "Snow: A Tiny Miracle" by Emily Parris Dec 1994 Recipe from the Tower Restaurant Dec 1994 Review: "Take Me Home" by Corinne Smith Nov 1994 Review: "Take Me Home" by Emily Parris Sept 1994 Singer John Denver Apologizes for DUI May 1994 Status: RMH - Aug 1994 Aug 1994 Status: RMH - Sept 1994 Sept 1994 Status: RMH - Nov 1994 Nov 1994 Submissions Needed Aug 1994 Survey of Favorite J.D. Songs Sept 1994 Why Not Write To John? July 1994 Windstar Foundation Oct 1994 Windstar: "Choices for the Future" 1994 July 1994 JOHN DENVER'S TRIAL ON HOLD FOR NOW =================================== 12/20/94 ASPEN, Colo. -- A squabble between lawyers has put the brakes on John Denver's drunken driving trial. The case was halted Thursday after defense lawyer Walter Gerash accused the prosecutor of leaking results of Denver's blood test. The judge suspended proceedings until he could decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor. Denver was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence after crashing the Porsche into a tree in Aspen last August, while he was on probation. Denver had pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 1993. SINGER CLAIMS 'DOUBLE JEOPARDY' IN DRUNKEN-DRIVING CASE Rocky Mountain News 1/2/95 John Denver, the singer who lives in Aspen, claims the state should be prohibited from trying him on drunken-driving charges because he's already been subjected to a hearing on loss of driving privileges. Denver contends the drunken-driving charge he faces constitutes double jeopardy - risk of two punishments for one crime. Pitkin County prosecutor Lawson Wills said the initial hearing on whether Denver should be able to continue driving was not a criminal prosecution and, as a result, was separate from the drunken-driving case. Colorado law allows police to take a driver's license when a drunken-driving arrest is made, but that suspension can be appealed, as Denver's was. Courts have ruled over the years that these license hearings do not constitute a "first jeopardy." Wills said that, if Denver's argument were to prevail, it would "affect every other DUI case in the state." The singer is represented by Walter Gerash, a Denver lawyer who is building his argument around a U.S. Supreme Court decision in an Ohio case. Gerash said that ruling, in a drug forfeiture case, has opened the way for challenges to drunken-driving prosecutions in Colorado. Denver himself said he believes he's standing up for his rights. "I think it is real interesting the way things unfold. It's come to a situation like this because of my unwillingness to make a deal or to be intimidated. If it helps others, I like that." Denver's given name was Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. He was born Dec. 31, 1943 in Roswell, N.M. But many regard John Denver as a Coloradan. During the '70's, Denver sang of "Rocky Mountain High Colorado" and made his home in Pitkin County. In the drunken-driving case, Denver's blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.128 percent. A driver is considered drunk in Colorado with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.10 percent. Denver was convicted of another alcohol-related driving offense in the past year. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: To: IN%"EMILYPARRIS@delphi.com" Subject: Happy New Year! Dear Emily, Happy New Year! I hope this 1995 will be a great year for you and JD fan club. Best Wishes, Susumu Sugita ====================================================== 1994 STATUS REPORT ====================================================== As of the end of 1994, the John Denver Internet Fan Club now has 94 members in 11 countries. Twenty-seven U.S. States are represented with more members being added daily. Please tell your friends about the club. In 1994 eight monthly newsletters were published (May through December) and distributed via email to the subscribing members. All members may also receive back issues of the newsletters. If there are months you are missing please send email to "emily@sky.net" and enclose the form below with an "x" by the months you want, or simply send a written request. ====================================================== R E Q U E S T F O R B A C K I S S U E S ====================================================== Rocky Mountain High: The John Denver Internet Fan Club ====================================================== Date: To: emily@sky.net From: Subject: Request for Back Issues #1 May 1994 #5 Sept 1994 #2 June 1994 #6 Oct 1994 #3 July 1994 #7 Nov 1994 #4 Aug 1994 #8 Dec 1994 ====================================================== CORRECTIONS: In the October 1994 issue of the newsletter the poem listed as "Like A Lullaby" in the table of contents should have been "Like A Symphony" by Emily M. Parris ********************************** ENDFILE January 1995 RMH: The John Denver Internet Fan Club Newsletter emily@sky.net Issue #9 ***********************************