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 7 V E E R Emily Parris emily@sky.net http://www.sky.net/~emily R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents Washington Post Review..........................1 Concert Reviews: Corinne Smith - Minneapolis, MN............. J.D. Bugsy@aol.com - Minneapolis, MN........ Harold Simpson - South Bend, IN............. P. Hendling - Columbus, OH.................. John Denver Notes: John Sings in Aspen - Trevor Washko......... hayesmjc.txt loveagai.txt letters.txt John Denver Essays: Ted Vives................................... Eve Saizan.................................. Mrs. M. Hoppe............................... Poetry Corner "New Year's Thoughts" by Emily M. Parris.... John Denver Want Ads............................ ------------------ December 23 1996 The Washington Post John Denver: He has 14 gold and eight platinum albums to his credit and has spread his folk music gospel over a span of four decades. Even so, John Denver told Bryant Gumbel last week on NBC's "Today" show, "I keep a low profile. It gives me more opportunities for relaxing and keeping a balance in my life." True to his word, Denver and his guitar showed his cool and collected persona in a pops Christmas show Thursday night at Constitution Hall. With bell-like clarity and impeccable diction, the World Children's Choir joined him in traditional carols, while the National Symphony Orchestra provided modest backup. The sober hit of the evening was Denver's old signature tune "Please, Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas" -- no longer comic, he carefully remarked. Denver's burnished baritone ranged easily from country-western ballads to folk songs intoned a la Burl Ives. Conductor Elizabeth Schulze led the NSO alone earlier in the evening in five wintry movements. The players, however, sounded alternately embarrassed by the kitsch of two sleigh bell-ridden Christmas arrangements of Leroy Anderson and minimally challenged by the somnolent "Winter Dreams" from Tchaikovsky's First Symphony. -- Cecelia H. Porter -------------------------------- C O N C E R T R E V I E W S -------------------------------- ____________________________________ From: Corinne Smith Concert Review John Denver at the Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis MN, December 7, 1996 By now you've read other posted reviews of Johnıs holiday concert tour. Unlike most of the other writers, I attended a similar Christmas concert eight years, so I can contrast that previous one with the event I just saw in Minneapolis. It was December 16, 1988, and the venue was the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. (Thatıs where the Penguins play hockey and where most large indoor concerts are held.) I canıt remember how many people it holds -- 10,000? 12,000, when there are folding chairs on the floor? Well, the place was full on the night we saw Johnıs Christmas concert. Most of the attendees were people around my age. (30ish) I didnıt make any written notes, but I remember quite clearly that half of the playlist was Johnıs typical fare, and half was made up of holiday music. A local elementary school choir backed him up on several Christmas songs, beginning with ³Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.² When they were finished and filed off the stage, the last little girl turned around and waved goodbye to John, and he laughed and waved back. (Thatıs an image that has stayed with me.) To close the evening, John taught us a song we had never heard before -- ³Falling Leaves² -- and asked us to stand and hold hands while we sang with him and his piano accompaniment. Most people seemed hesitant to do so. After all, the audience was so large -- how would he ever be able to tell if those of us in the nosebleed seats were even standing? Now, fast-forward to December 7, 1996. Whatıs different? Well, the theater atmosphere, for one. The Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis holds maybe one or two thousand people, and the carpeting, cushy seats and chandeliers certainly make it a cozier and warmer place than an athletic arena. The average age of the audience was well over my own (I was born in 1957); perhaps thatıs due to the fact that this concert was part of the restoration project for the building. Though Johnıs playlist was nearly the same as before and included the support of a local childrenıs chorus, there were some subtle changes. His new personal thoughts on the appropriateness of ³Please Daddy, Donıt Get Drunk this Christmas² made points well-taken. And when he invited people to sing along, everyone seemed more than willing to do so. Even on ³Falling Leaves.² And Iım willing to bet that only a few of us in that theatre had ever been to a John Denver Christmas show. In fact, I believe that at least 75% of the audience had never seen John in concert, period. That impressed me. Each person seemed to have had an enjoyable evening and benefited from the experience. Johnıs music continues to reach out and touch people. He should be proud of this current, successful tour. ----------------------------------- From PHendlin@aol.comSun Dec 22 06:44:59 1996 Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 20:35:06 -0500 From: PHendlin@aol.com To: emily@sky.net Subject: Hi. I found your page. Been a John Denver fan for 25 years. Saw him about 35 times. Last night in Columbus was GREAT! The Christmas show was fun! He just made the show, having faced a snow storm in Denver. The show opened with a large video screen of the JD & the muppets 12 Days of XMAS. They he came out with his band. Great group. They opened with Xmas for Cowboys. As I write this the 2nd Columbus Ohio show is underway. Wish I could go. He was joined by a local grade school chorus for about 6 songs. They barely rehearsed with one another. Very cute, pretty good. John was in great humor. The crowd loved Rudolph and Silent Night. Then the kids left (about 1hour into the show) he said "now we'll do Foxfire suite and then take a break. Then we'll do some of my own stuff. 15 minutes later he came out for 1 1/2 hours of awesome song selections. He opened the second half with Country Roads. Then, Eagles and Horses, I'm Sorry, the very funny, "Take your Tongue out of my mouth I'm Kissin' You Goodbye, Back Home Again, For You, and countless others -- classics and fan-classics. He ended with Falling Leaves to a standing audience that held hands and sang with him. What a way to spend the holidays. I wish I could see another show in the coming weeks. --------------- From: Harold Simpson Subject: Special Moments Concert I was one of 2,468 lucky people who had the privilege of being entertained at the South Bend, Indiana, Morris Civic Auditorium on December 10th. The multi-talented John Denver played to a sold out house, continuing with the same successful format that he has used this December for his Christmas Show. The lights darkened and down rolled a single projection screen showing of the Muppets singing the "Twelve Days of Christmas," with John dressed in his top hat and coat. It was fun to hear the kids in the audience giggle with laughter at the antics of this most unusual group of minstrels trying their best to perform this Christmas Classic. It occurred to me that this most likely was the first time some of those youngsters have had the chance to see the original Muppets perform along with John. Special Moment #1 Soon after we were treated to the harmonious sounds of John with the local Methodist Church Children's Choir. These talented and lucky kids sang along with John performing five or six Christmas classics like "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Away In the Manger". Near the end of the Christmas part of the show, he explained how much things have changed since he wrote, "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas", many years ago. Implying the fact that this song might evoke a little different perception than it might once have had. He sang it beautifully. John related that while in England working on the Muppet Christmas Show he might have been inspired by the talented works of the muppet crew to write the poem, "Alfie". He laid down his guitar and masterfully recited this wonderful poem about the Christmas tree that just didn't want to change the show. Watching John perform with both hands free to express the emotion of the presentation was another...Special Moment #2...could 55 minutes have passed already?? After the break, it was John giving his all with what seemed to be a little more spontaneous audience appreciation of his efforts. Lets face it...this guy can really sing GOOD!! Out came many all time favorites, all sounding just as good and likely better than any recording I've ever heard of them. My favorites like "Rocky Mountain High", Sunshine On My Shoulders", Grandma's Feather Bed", and "Country Roads". Heard from the audience were shouts of..."We Love You John",..."Happy Birthday John", (3 weeks early), and "Thank You John". Me, well I just sat there in a trance with a silly smile on my face that I just couldn't seem to remove. I sometimes had to remind myself that I was really there and this was all for real. Special Moment #3 I think if I were to pick best song of the evening it would be either "For You", or maybe "Calypso". Where he gets the air to hold those long and intensively beautiful notes in "For You", I don't know. I do know that the audience was absolutely quiet during this ...Special Moment #4...song. He wrapped up the second half with "Calypso", after which came the well deserved standing ovation. Almost two hours and twenty minutes have all to quickly passed. The encore performance of "Falling Leaves", created a warm holiday mood that I think a lot of people carried with them on the way home. With John leading us through the verses of this most touching song, we all held hands and sang together. I was fortunate to have two lovely ladies on each side of me. Special Moment #5! ...Thanks John!! PEACE, on Earth! Harold Simpson --------------------------- Minneapolis, MN Saturday Night Concert From: jdbugsy@aol.com Reply to: jdbugsy@aol.com Date: 8 Dec 1996 16:48:28 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Newsgroups: alt.fan.john-denver Followup to: newsgroup(s) Well, The Christmas Concert here in MPLS, MN was Glorious!! I really enjoyed it tremendously!! Even thou he s only doing 1 Concert a day, his Voice was outstanding & enchanting!! JD joked around a lot tonight!! The kids were super & John teased me about being more dressed up then at rehearsal - in fact he hardly recognized them. I ve been to 6 of his concerts now & every time I can feel his voice uplifting my spirit. He had us do the Chorus with him for Dreamland Express & joked about how we would be walking around the Mall of America singing this and then others will stop us & point out that they were there, too!! For the first time he did the FOXFIRE SUITE during a Concert that I was at & it was Fantastic! He even got all the way through the Tongue Song - the audience went crazy for this one. Of Course, FOR YOU was Superb!! (Wish Everyone Could Hear This One!!) At the end he sang FALLING LEAVES & had us sing along with him for the repeat of the first verse. I can t list every song that he did, but each and everyone were Perfect - What a Voice!! His Band was magnificent as always. It s funny how things are in this life. Listening to John s Music has been my balancing point for years. I find that I need to listen more when my stress rises!! His Music calms my Soul! JD Forever!! Mar --------------------------------------------------- J O H N D E N V E R N O T E S --------------------------------------------------- From: acesone@rof.net To: emily@sky.net Subject: Trevor Washko Greetings from Aspen! Just last night John played a free show at the base of the Silver Queen Gondola of Aspen Mountain. It was outside so he only played about 5-6 songs including Christmas for Cowboys, Alfie, Rocky Mountain High, Aspenglow, Starwood in Aspen, and Annie's Song. It was fabulous!! The crowd was fairly international as well as local. The performance followed a torchlit parade by 200 skiers down Aspen Mountain and some comments by the Aspen mayor and Skiing Company President. It was to recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Aspen Skiing Company. Just thought you might like to know. I have not read what the local papers had to say about the show yet, but the bad joke around town was that he was doing it for free because he had to work off community service hours. Peace, Trevor From: "Maria J. Casolaro" <104450.2544@compuserve.com> Subject: The Story of Aspen In the latest issue of the Aspen Times, there's a book advertised called 'The Story of Aspen' by Mary Eshbaugh Hayes...the advertisement pictures many prominent Aspenites, including JD..it's available through the publisher for a mere $50.00 (gulp)...in case anyone wants to order it, the address is: Aspen Three Publishing Box 497 Aspen CO 81612, or they can call 970-925-7127. From tclimp@ismi.netThu Oct 24 10:28:26 1996 Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 22:30:23 -0700 From: tom conner To: emily@sky.net Subject: An Evening With JD The 2 cd set An Evening With John Denver from RCA Germany is available as an import from TCL Imports (http://home.navisoft.com/tclimports) e-mail tclimp@ismi.net. $32.99 + 4.00 s/h --------- -------------------------------------------- J O H N D E N V E R E S S A Y S -------------------------------------------- From: Ted Vives John Denver's music, unlike that of most of today's popular offerings, is about love, compassion, and reverence for the earth and all life on it. While I have been a fan of John for many years, it is only in the last seven or eight that I have truly begun to realize just how precious and beautiful all life is, and how John's words and music so perfectly meld together to express this message. I suppose that as we grow older, each of us experiences a certain measure of realization of our own mortality. These moments of reflection are often accompanied by "life events" that we would just as soon forget, but that we learn from nevertheless. John's music has helped me through such a dark period, and had I not been able to draw inspiration from it, these words that all of you, his fans, are reading, might never have been written. His music means THAT much to me. -Ted From: Eve Saizan "Why I Love John Denver" by Eve M. Saizan Picture it: Cold winter evening, December 1971. Young teenage girl listening to the radio. A song comes on with a mellow piano and guitar. All she remembers is the disc-jockey saying "That's "Poems, Prayers & Promises by John Denver". That song gave me such a warm and wonderful feeling that cold December evening... I never heard the song again. Flash to late 1972... everyone is freaking out to this new song "Rocky Mountain High" and they kept saying it was that same guy who had the big hit "Take Me Home Country Roads"... I remembered that song... who sang it? John something or other. Finally (like 'DUH'!!) I connected John... John Denver... you mean that's the same guy who sang that beautiful song I heard one evening late in 1971? FAR*OUT. The first John Denver album or l.p. I ever bought was "Rocky Mountain High" and since they were only $1.98 at the time I treated myself to the "Aerie" l.p. as well. Well, I became hooked and to this day I am a devoted John Denver admirer. I love John Denver because he sings of things that I feel. No other singer has ever touched my heart the way he does. In some of my most saddest and difficult times in my life I have turned to his music for comfort, warmth and peace. I find John's music to be soothing to my soul and it has been an inspiration for me for many years. When my husband, Paris, and I were first 'courting' I taped a cassette of some of my favorite John Denver songs and gave it to him and said "If you want to know what I am all about, listen to this tape". Paris knows how much John and his music mean to me and we have gone to many concerts together (I have seen John in concert 18 times!). Paris enjoys his music too and is a fan. I have followed John's career for over 20 years and no matter what, I know that he will always be 'my favorite singer/songwriter'. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE John Denver! John is like 'family', ha! "... how sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care, how long it's been since yesterday, and what about tomorrow? and what about our dreams and all the memories we share..." Friends With you, Eve M. Saizan aspenglow@netgate.net ******************************** ****************** From: aspenglow@netgate.net Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 13:54:22 This message was sent by Distinct Mail / News ************************************************** From mhoppe@worldaccess.nlFri Jan 3 01:06:20 1997 Date: Mon, 09 Dec 96 00:07:42 GMT From: Mar To: emily@sky.net Subject: Readable now: What JD's music means to me He's been a favourite singer to me for about all my life (I am 31) Though it took me till my very first concert here in Rotterdam before I felt the spirits of a live performance, as I hadn't been able to "feel" the lyrics like this before, just always had liked them. Now I have a little difficulty compared to about most of you fans that write to the alt.fan.JD news group : I am Dutch and live in Rotterdam which means that I just didn't get the opportunity to hear live concerts more often as he doesn't visit my country (Holland) that regularly. But I was lucky to be at his concert a second time which was also in Rotterdam about two years after my first one. In November 1995 that 2nd time was MAGIC to me... It took me till now to realize WHAT but most important WHY I heard the songs this way now. I've had a car accident the 12th of October 1994 which has caused to mentally change me somehow. It has been over two years now and I have managed to live and fight the few disabilities I still have, but also this mental change which still is hard to accept, sometimes more than others. My latest (and hopefully last) test had a result that shook me up quite a bit but also sort of proved my feelings I had these two long years; it is brain damage which cannot heal, I must accept it. So I AM different now; I can no longer remember like I used to, I sometimes cannot follow conversations or suddenly get lost in them, leave people waiting when I forget my appointment, have trouble to get new things told to me get through me and "understand" them... So I didn't imagine the changes about me. But one thing I am really pleased with is the change to be able to FEEL his songs ! They mean so much to me NOW in such a different way and I am happy and grateful about that. I for now simply LOVE lyrics like "do you care what's happening around you? Do your senses know the changes when they come ?" I DO ! If only I could join another concert here in my country and close to my hometown..... I would love to personally thank him for having him being responsible for my ability to look around me and appreciate the little things in life like a bird in the air. I have chosen a song for my "departure" long before I had this accident. It will be "the Road of experience" as I believe that is meant for everybody; experience and find your way of living your life... I did ! I will be "like an eagle flying high" when I'll go but till than his songs will be in my 'ears and soul' for his words are to my knowledge simply meant the following; Appreciate life and all what's in it, cherish little things and try to be there for everyone and everything around you... Take NOTHING for granted as nothing is, life is a gift like THE GIFT HE IS ! John Denver ; Thank you for meaning this much to me Mrs. M.Hoppe Rotterdam the Netherlands mhoppe@worldaccess.nl P O E T R Y C O R N E R ---------------------------- NEW YEAR'S THOUGHTS by Emily M. Parris I'm grateful for my family For poetry and friends I'm grateful for this new year As the old one ends I'm grateful for the sunshine And mornings fresh and new So alive with possibilities For great things I can do Three hundred sixty-five days To plan however I will An entire year of living To serenly and joyously fill The Christmas season was such fun I loved the yuletide cheer But I am looking forward To an extra special year The turkey is in the oven The parade is on tv Soon more friends and family Will come share it with me Simple, home-like pleasures Fill me full of cheer Supper on the table And a brand new year ------------------------------------------------------ J O H N D E N V E R W A N T A D S ------------------------------------------------------ * Ted Vives is looking for the albums "Autograph" and "John Denver." * J.K. is desperately searching for vinyl copies of "Aerie", and "Take Me To Tomorrow" and a cd of "Higher Ground." * Jennifer Ladner is looking for a video of the Rocky Mountain Christmas tv special from 1975. * From: Felicia MacPhee Subject: John Denver 1988 Christmas in Aspen - HELP! Hi -- PLEASE HELP! I accidentally taped over my boyfriend's copy of "John Denver's Christmas in Aspen" and he is very upset. Do you know how I can get another copy? We play the tape over and over every Christmas Eve while we open gifts with the kids and the neighbors. This year I forgot to take the tape out of the VCR and I taped the soap over it. *********************************************************** Rocky Mountain High: The John Denver Internet Fan Club http://www.sky.net/~emily Editor: Emily M. Parris January 1997 - Issue # - emily@sky.net ***********************************************************