============================================= *** R O C K Y M O U N T A I N H I G H *** ============================================= The John Denver Internet Fan Club Monthly Newsletter June 2002 Editor: Emily M. Parris ============================================= http://www.rockymtnhigh.org * emily@sky.net ============================================= Table of Contents June 2002 * Issue #98 John Denver Events................................2 An Afternoon with Sir James Galway by Emily M. Parris.....................3 "The Crash of 2002" by Emily M. Parris............4 John Denver's "Harbor Lights Concert" CD..........5 Review of the CD by Emily M. Parris.............6 John Denver Notes.................................7 John Denver Stories: Patrick Mancini.................................9 Poetry Corner: "Tribute to John Denver" by Beverly Townsend....9 John Denver Want Ads/For Sale....................10 <+> <+> <+> <+> <+> <+> <+> The Power of Persistence John Denver was rejected by 16 record companies before finally scoring at RCA with a four-album guarantee. <*> <*> <*> <*> <*> <*> <*> ======================================= J O H N D E N V E R E V E N T S ======================================= June 1, 2002 - Vail, CO / CO Friends of John Denver Annual Highway Cleanup / Evelyn and Rob June 8, 2002 - "The Christmas Gift" STARZ! FAM 7:35am CDT June 28 & 29, 2002 "A Tribute to John Denver: The Man and His Music, 2002, Hibernia County Park - 4 miles North of Coatesville, PA / Info: Judith http://www.judithgabriel.com / Tickets: Friday #18, Saturday $37, $45 for a 2-day ticket / $80 VIP ticket Under 12 free, over 65 free with ID / JD Tribute Concert Donation, P.O. Box 13363, Reading, PA 19612 July 20-21, 2002 - Third Annual Country Roads Folk Festival, Almost Heaven Farm, West Virginia with a special tribute to John Denver http://www.mofolk.com August 16-18, 2002 Cleveland, OH * 2002 Windstar One World Symposium. Tribute to John Denver on August 17th. http://www.homestead.com/nohiowstar/symp1.html August 17, 2002 * New Hampshire Friends of John Denver annual BBQ and adopt-a-highway cleanup. MacDowell Lake picnic shelter / Peterborough, NH. Music with Paul Swanton, Christine Martel, and Tina Waldron Sept 7-8 * Germany / "Music and Communication's" International Fan Club Weekend / Sinzig 10:00am Sat to 4:00pm Sunday Information: gabi.kuss@johndenverclub.de October 5th & 6th, 2002 - 4th Annual John Denver Celebration / Salida, Colorado http://www.johndenverlegacy.com Christine Smith 1-719-942-9620 October 10, 2002 - Aspen, CO - Work on the JD Sanctuary. http://www.john-denver.org/events/aspen2002/ October 11-13, 2002 - Aspen, CO * Fifth Annual "A Musical Tribute to John Denver" * Wheeler Opera House / Vince Gill & Amy Grant will be there for the October 13th performance. Info: Donna Young October 12, 2002 - Aspen, CO - Auction/concert/lunch at the Mt. Chalet 11am-3pm Mack Bailey, Chris Westfall, Mark Cormican, Frank DeLaMarre, Ron Rich & Twirp Anderson. $20.00 or $10 concert/auction only. Mary Ledford October 12-13, 2002 - Pacific Grove, CA / Fifth Annual John Denver Memorial Beach Cleanup and Tribute Weekend. Candlelight vigils on the beach both evenings 5:00pm Info October 12, 2002 * Snowmass, CO / Dinner at the Tower Restaurant (formerly owned by John) 4:00pm $26 per person Info: Send check or m.o. to: Vicki Wells / 420 SW 38th Street / Cape Coral, FL 33914 Ron Rich will be performing. October 14, 2002 * Aspen, CO / "John Adams and Friends - In Loving Memory of John Denver III" $30 Wheeler Opera House (970) 920-5770 ================================== An Afternoon with SIR JAMES GALWAY ================================== by Emily M. Parris Several months ago, my brother and I experienced a real treat when we were able to see a dress rehearsal of a James Galway concert here in Kansas City, Missouri. The concert was sold-out so they opened the dress rehearsal to anyone who wanted to come. It was amazing. He was rehearsing with Philip Moll, his accompanist on the piano. At first they were very serious going through certain passages in their repertoire with very little comment. But then James came forward and asked if we had any questions. He commented on his life and on playing the flute; and on how much he loves his instrument. It was very enjoyable to hear him talk. The audience was very delighted when he played "Danny Boy", "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" and several other selections. In the discussion following his rehearsal in Kansas City, he said that he attributes his success to his willingness to practice many hours a day on the flute. Mr. Galway has played on numerous John Denver albums and has John's music represented on his albums as well. He has one album named after a John Denver song. His album, "Annie's Song" from 1991 has classical music on it, along with the title cut by John Denver. The album, "The Wind Beneath My Wings" - also from 1991 - has the song "Perhaps Love" as well as other popular melodies. "Sometimes When We Touch" has the John Denver song, "Like A Sad Song." James Galway's "Greatest Hits" has both "Annie's Song" and "Perhaps Love". His "Greatest Hits - Volume 3" has "Like A Sad Song" repeated. Mr. Galway's album called "In The Pink" is filled with songs written by Henry Mancini. James Galway was born on December 8, 1939 in Belfast, Northern Ireland where he played the penny whistle as a small child before switching to the flute as his instrument of choice. At the age of 12 he won three top prizes at the Irish Flute Championships, which earned him a BBC Radio session, as well as a spot in the Belfast Youth Orchestra. His introduction to Classical Music was through "Tom & Jerry" and "The Lone Ranger." He attended the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, as well as the Paris Conservatory. In 1969 he was appointed Principal Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic. After six years he decided to establish a solo career and within a year he had recorded his first four RCA LP's and had played in more than 120 concerts. In 1978, his version of John Denver's "Annie's Song" became an international hit. On May 29th of 2000, James had a rose named after him and at the ceremony he played "The Last Rose of Summer" on the flute. He became "Dr. Galway" in June of 1998 when he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He wrote "James Galway: An Autobiography" in 1978. Sir James Galway's new albums "The Very Best of James Galway" and "Music For My Little Friends" will be released on June 25, 2002. * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * THE CRASH OF 2002 In May of 2002 there was a thunder storm that knocked out the main hard drive of SKY.NET - the Internet Service Provider who hosts the Rocky Mountain High Website and Mailinglist. The service was down for a week and when they came back it was a tape-backup from December of 2001. So all of the (1) "June" information was lost. All of the (2) "New Members" - ready to be subscribed - were lost and all of the (3) "Changes" were lost. I had those all stored on my Sky.net Account while I was ready to (1) write the June Newsletter (2) Sign up the New Members and (3) Get email addresses changed on the Rocky Mountain High Mailinglist. When Sky.net came back what I found on my account was a list of the projects that had been going on in December of 2001. So all information from 2002 was lost. Of course, the same thing happened to the Rocky Mountain High Website. I had made extensive changes to the "Articles" document linking many new articles. But the document I found after the Crash was the December 2001 document...BEFORE I had done the updates. So the Website is in chaos and I have been working on getting as much of it updated as I can. Meanwhile - to add insult to injury - Sky.Net has decided to drop all Unix Shell Accounts. That's the way I have been updating the web page. I've been updating it online with my Unix Shell Account. Now I'll have to learn some other way to edit the Rocky Mountain High web pages offline. As if that wasn't enough of a blow, they have also announced that we will have to look elsewhere for a place to host the mailinglist. Majordomo (our mailinglist) seems to be working at the moment, but I don't know how long it will last. So I'm writing amidst the ruins of Rocky Mountain High, hoping that somehow I'll be able to learn how to do everything in a different way. Sincerely, Emily M. Parris * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * JOHN DENVER'S H*A*R*B*O*R L*I*G*H*T*S C*O*N*C*E*R*T CD From: Amy Kolker I am writing to you from BMG Heritage. We recently released John Denver's concert at Harbor Lights in Boston. The "Harbor Lights Concert" signals one of John Denver's final performances. The album is a remarkable 28-song / 2-cd collection with John Denver playing more acoustic arrangements of his hit songs than usual and never released until now. Some of the classic Denver tracks featured on the album include the all-time favorites: "Rocky Mountain High", "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Annie's Song" and "Back Home Again". On the evening of September 9, 1995, John Denver performed what would turn out to be one of his final shows at The Harbor Lights Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. The cd is available from http://www.naturemusic.com Track List: Disc One 1. Eagles and Horses 2. Children of the Universe 3. Rocky Mountain High 4. I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado 5. Druthers 6. Today 7. Wild Montana Skies 8. Intro for Darcy Farrow 9. Darcy Farrow 10. El Paso 11. Whispering Jesse 12. Me and My Uncle 13. Intro for Band and Fox Fire Suite 14. Fox Fire Suite 15. Amazon Disc Two 1. Take Me Home, Country Roads 2. Back Home Again 3. Grandma's Feather Bed 4. Spanish Pipe Dream 5. Dreamland Express 6. I'm Sorry 7. Intro for Shanghai Breezes 8. Shanghai Breezes 9. For You 10. Intro for Kissing You Goodbye 11. Kissing You Goodbye 12. Annie's Song 13. Calypso ====================================== Review of THE HARBOR LIGHTS CONCERT CD ====================================== by Emily M. Parris Disc 1 "Hi, Gang!" - That's how John Denver starts out the concert at the Harbor Lights Pavilion, and then he launches into a rousing version of "Eagles and Horses". John speaks to the audience at the beginning of the "Rocky Mountain High" cut welcoming everyone to the concert. His version of "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" is slow and soulful, sung at a gentle, melodic pace. His guitar work starts out "Druthers" - John's statement of his choice to be fishing. It is a light and upbeat version of the song. "Today" needs no introduction, and he gave it none - the beautifully melodic song that for some unknown reason was left off of the 1-cd U.S. version of "An Evening with John Denver." John sings it with love. In this concert it seems as though he is singing each song slowly as if to pour his entire soul into the words. "Sing it with me" he prompts gently... The pace picks up with "Wild Montana Skies". During the introduction to "Darcy Farrow" John says: "I love songs about the west, I love old ones and new ones and probably some that haven't even been written yet and maybe I'll get to write one of them...." "Darcy Farrow" is once again, sung slowly and with feeling. The 'whistling interlude' on "Whispering Jesse" is done by John, and the harmonica interlude is done by Pete Huttlinger. "El Paso" and "Me and My Uncle" are two western story songs. They get creative during the introductions. In the cut where John introduces the band, Chris Nole uses his synthesizer to replicate a jet flying overhead. The talking portions of this concert are very entertaining, lending a relaxed, easy feeling of musicians who are genuinely having a good time. "Thank you very much. We'll see you in a few minutes" John says at the end of disc one as they take a break. * * * Disc 2 What better way to start the second half of a concert than with "Take Me Home, Country Roads" - one of John's signature songs - and the classics, "Back Home Again" and "Grandma's Feather Bed." "The Dreamland Express" was, as usual, a dreamy melodic expression of John's love. On "I'm Sorry" John was at his best with a song from the beautiful album, "Windsong". John tells the story of the writing of "Shanghai Breezes" before he sings the song. John talks a lot in this intro. He tells about how the song came to be during the course of his day. And he also tells about other concerts he is going to do. Then he sings one of my favorite John Denver songs - a song that surely inspired me over the years. Ironically, John sings "For You", which was written for Cassandra, just prior to his introduction to "Kissing You Goodbye" - a song of quite different circumstances. But the song is certainly universal - a most perfect love song. And we've all been waiting for years for "Kissing You Goodbye" to appear on a John Denver album. John's dialogue about Country Music is very funny. "Annie's Song", John's popular ode to his first wife, Annie, is done with his usual love and tenderness. This is a John Denver concert that will make you feel as though you were there, and since we can't have any more concerts with John, this one is a classic. ________________________________________________________ ======================================= J O H N D E N V E R N O T E S ======================================= Northern Ohio Windstar is hosting the 2002 Windstar One World Symposium, August 16 to 18 in Cleveland. Windstar connection group members from all over the US will be attending. Presentations about the environment and creating a more peaceful compassionate world will be featured. A special tribute to John Denver is scheduled for the evening of August 17. http://www.homestead.com/nohiowstar/symp1.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Windstar Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that a heroic size statue of Windstar Foundation founder, John Denver, will be unveiled at the Windstar Land Conservancy this October. In addition, gallery-quality bronze reproductions of the study which preceded the large statue, designed by noted artist Sue DiCicco are now available to order in a limited run of 200. The Windstar Foundation site has a photo of the Statue of John that will be on the Windstar land. http://www.wstar.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ann Schnitz The Board of Directors of the John Denver Memorial Peace Cloth is proud to announce the unveiling of a curriculum dedicated to peace education, with a companion biography of John Denver. Our dear friend, Linda Wolverton, spent many months lovingly creating these wonderful documents for us. The curriculum covers grades 2 through 10 (grades 11-12, optional) and there is an age-appropriate module for each, accompanied by one or more of John's songs. The extensive bio is provided for educators who may not know much about John's life and his accomplishments. It is hoped that this curriculum will be a starting point for discussions with children about peace, the environment and what it means to be a citizen in today's complex world. To download the curriculum and bio: Go to: http://www.johndenverpeacecloth.com Click on the tab on the left marked "Education". The documents (in pdf format) are on this page, towards the bottom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Poetry can be submitted for the 3rd annual Poetry in Aspen book and reading event to be held 10-11-02 at the Mountain Chalet in Aspen. Submit any poetry to: PoetryInAspen@aol.com Submissions will be taken until July 1, 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - David Marx I just returned from my first visit to our brand new Best Buy. It opened its doors last month. In their music section they have 20 inch by 24 inch photos of various recording artists. John's photo is among them. To me, it looks like a "Spirit" era pic that I think I've seen before. It's a very nice photo and I'm glad to see it "permanently" displayed. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cath Meadows The animated film "Spirit" has opened with great success and houses a vision of the kind of world I believe John Denver envisioned and expressed in his life and music. Brian Adams presents the music, but if ever there had been an opportunity to play "Eagles and Horses" in a film, this was it. Recent events have offered the world a mirror for awareness and true growth. In spite of global terror, greed and competitive schemes still seem to lead modern day. Money, power and control remain front runners. Even talented minds fall prey to ways that weaken the human spirit. I don't think that is why we are here. So, thanks God for the Dreams. The movie "Spirit" is a reminder that 'spirit can never be broken nor caught.' It is a refreshing and uplifting film for children and adults, and there is a yearning in society for these values to return to our daily lives. I hope you enjoy. Blessings, Cath - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mary Wernke I am a member of the chat room http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InMemoryofJohnDenver I have three scrapbooks worth of newspaper articles that I have been keeping since about 1974. I am retyping the short articles from newspapers and magazines that I have and doing them as one post each day. A lot of the trivia that's mentioned in these very short stories isn't known anywhere else. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - George Zinn I was searching the website of the Mormon Church's genealogy, and noticed that John Denver's name has been submitted for processing in their temple. This means that the Church will proceed to do posthumous rites to make John a Mormon, ie, baptizing a person in John's behalf. I contacted the submitter of his name and she apparently knows nothing about this, but told me that the Deutschendorfs are her ancestors, and John's name must have randomly been included in her research. You can find the record at http://www.familysearch.org then on their search page enter Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I was excited to see the ad for West Virginia on tv and they were playing JD's "Take Me Home"... made me want to get in my car and drive! Very effective! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ======================================= J O H N D E N V E R S T O R I E S ======================================= Patrick Mancini I believe it was in the Fall of 1970, when I met John at the Main Point Coffee House. There were about 70 people at the club that night for the first show. He and I talked before the show, and believe it or not, he liked one of my songs. That evening during the show he told the audience he and a few friends recently wrote the next tune he was about to sing. It was, "Take Me Home, Country Roads." One year later almost to the day, he was at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. In my opinion, John Denver was the best singer/songwriter of the 20th century. His music, his love for people and his love for nature will never be forgotten. ======================================= J O H N D E N V E R P O E T R Y ======================================= Tribute to John Denver by Beverly Townsend Like an Eagle he will soar high over the mountains. The sound of his voice will sing in the wind as it blows. His music will flow like a river. John Denver will forever be loved. It is hard to say good-by and live with a legacy. Always in our hearts and minds John will be. His songs will mend our broken hearts and make us smile again. God please take care of him on his final flight. Give him the finest set of wings you have got. Like an Eagle he will soar High over the mountains above. The sound of his voice will sing in the wind as it blows. His music will flow like a river. John Denver will forever be loved. _____________________________ Copyright by Beverly Townsend ================================================= JOHN DENVER W A N T A D S / F O R S A L E ================================================= Charmi I have 3 JD CD's for sale - "Spirit", "John Denver (JD)", and "All Aboard." All three are un-opened. $12/each plus s/h. If interested please email me. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - October 10, 2002 Work Detail Volunteers needed to work in the JD Sanctuary. http://www.john-denver.org/events/aspen2002/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jim Wakeman I'm looking for a video copy of "Rocky Mountain Holiday", the tv special with John Denver and the Muppets from 1983. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Melanie Please email me if you would like to be a part of the "World Family of John Denver Singers" singing at the Senior Center in Aspen in October. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stephen McMylor I'm desperately trying to research the story, meaning or inspiration behind "The Wings That Fly Us Home." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chris Nole I have a new cd out entitled "Songs of the High Country." It is a new age instrumental production that ranges from soaring orchestration to acoustical jammin.' http://www.chrisnole.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To subscribe to the Yahoo group "In Memory of John Denver" write to: InMemoryofJohnDenver-subscribe@yahoogroups.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John Denver Trivia Challenge http://pub.alxnet.com/quiz?id=2060741 John Denver Collages Online from Linda: http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/lsettel/musicindex.html Czechoslovakian John Denver Fan Club http://wwwl.johndenver.unas.cz In Memory of John Denver http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InMemoryofJohnDenver Friends of John Denver (UK) http://www.fojd.org.uk ************************************************************* Rocky Mountain High: The John Denver Internet Fan Club emily@sky.net http://www.rockymtnhigh.org June 2002 * Issue #98 * Editor: Emily M. Parris *************************************************************