THE UNTOLD TRUTH 💛 JOHN DENVER

life is old there older than the trees man how time flies we just passed the 50th anniversary of take me home country roads take me home the big 5-0 can you believe it it's a song with so much power it's been recognized in varied forms of media all around the globe from a feature in the 1995 anime film whisper of the heart to the second kingsman film and most recently the sci-fi multiplayer game fallout 76 but you can't honor that hit song without recognizing the legend behind it i'm nostalgic nick for do you remember and today we're discussing the legacy of john denver a folk rocker who made some amazing strides and released some of the greatest pop country hits of all time [Music] but sadly flew a little too close to the sun if you enjoy our video don't leave on a jet plane please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel for more throwbacks and bios now let's rock onward a young military mountain man henry john dutchendorf jr was born on december 31st 1943 in the military town of roswell new mexico only a couple years before the infamous ufo sighting in 47 his father who john often clashed with was a conservative u.s air force test pilot and also a drinker with a bit of a temper his father would regularly get posted in a variety of places which brought the family to various southern and southwestern states and even temporarily to japan but jon attributes his happiest times to his grandmother's farm in oklahoma where he heard the classic country music of the era and his other grandmother actually gifted him with an antique gibson guitar in 1957 the family settled in fort worth texas and john would later attend texas tech university pursuing a degree in architecture and it was here that he began singing in a folk music group called the alpine trio but his education wasn't made to last as the folk rock fever began sweeping all over the american west denver dropped out of texas tech and moved to la where he coined that infamous moniker john denver an ode to those mountains he loved so dearly in 1965 denver scored a major breakthrough when he replaced the eponymous chad mitchell of the chad mitchell trio as the lead vocalist and guitarist besting some 250 other performers who auditioned for the job after performing with the group at a college in minnesota denver met sophomore annie martell and the two were married the following year and later adopted two children zachary john and anna kate and in 1968 when the mitchell trio disbanded denver released a solo album [Music] a song denver wrote in a single evening after he supposedly locked himself in his room with a pound of salami and a six-pack of beer you can't get more country roads than that take me home denver moved to aspen colorado in 1970 and signed a record deal with rca and the following year in 71 john denver would co-write and perform the song that would transform him from a local legend to an american folk rock sensation take me home country roads john denver's 0 to west virginia a song that hit number one on the record world pop singles chart and number two on the us billboard hot 100 topped only by how can you mend a broken heart by the bee gees but man this song became such a hit the west virginia legislature approved a resolution to make it the state song the song was co-written by bill danoff and taffy nybert of the starland vocal band with whom he later founded the winstar label john's ex-wife annie denver describes jon as driven to write songs saying that the music came out of a very deep place and often times out of that deepness jon felt very alone if you listen to his songs there's a lot of loneliness there some other john denver hits include thank god i'm a country boy the beautiful annie's song which was dedicated to his wife and reportedly written in 10 minutes on a colorado ski lift and rocky mountain high a very memorable ode to colorado and those clear blue lakes in a decision that came as no surprise to most colorado governor john vanderhoff named denver the state's poet laureate in 1974 and john would gain equal popularity among both the pop and country audience in 1975 when he took home country music's entertainer of the year award this decision infuriated country purists including the show's host charlie rich who actually set fire to denver's award envelope with a cigarette lighter now that's rich it seems that many music critics didn't seem to embrace the shifting attitudes at the time nor denver's quote overly sentimental lyrics including british writer dave lang who described john's sunshine on my shoulders as egregious in denver's obituary that's a low blow there lang but jon did have his defenders country singer kathy matea said in an interview with entertainment weekly that john quote articulated a kind of optimism and he brought acoustic music to the forefront bridging folk pop and country in a fresh way people forget how huge he was worldwide and john denver's career was as big as those rocky mountains in the mid 70s when denver won four american music awards honors that measured the sentiments of music buyers rather than industry figures i mean look at the numbers 14 of his 24 albums were eventually certified gold for sales of 500 000 copies or more and eight of those reached the platinum or million seller mark a huge accomplishment for a very short-lived career a change of pace denver's fame went well beyond the music scene too in 1977 he appeared alongside comedian george burns in the film oh god he was also a host for a number of various tv specials including 1975's rocky mountain christmas which he later received an emmy for and of course john denver and the muppets a christmas together in 1979 which has never been re-released commercially so if you have a taped copy on vhs treat it well john was very big into giving back he was appointed to the commission on world and domestic hunger by president jimmy carter where he supported anti-hunger initiatives the united nations children's fund and nuclear disarmament organizations in 1987 he received the presidential world without hunger award from president ronald reagan followed by a switzer music award for humanitarian activity which made denver the first musician from outside of classical composition to earn the award but for all his success and new beginnings john denver was reaching the end of that shining country road the end of the road after admitting to cheating on his wife numerous times john and annie denver filed for divorce in 1982 and in 1988 john would marry young australian actress cassandra delaney together they had a daughter jesse bell but those two were divorced in 1993. then jon had trouble securing a major label recording contract falling back on his windstar label he was also arrested twice for drunk driving in 1993 and 97. denver became an experienced pilot after following in his father's footsteps he flew his own planes in colorado and around monterey in california and on october 12 1997 after playing a round of golf with friends denver decided to take his plane out for a spin horribly denver's plane plummeted into the ocean killing him instantly the cause of the mechanical problem is assumed to be engine failure denver flew his plane illegally since his license was missing a medical endorsement due to his dual drunk driving arrests yet he was not intoxicated during the crash the world was shocked by denver's death a career ending at 53 just seemed tragically short fifteen hundred people attended his memorial service in aspen colorado his music even influenced a musical featuring his songs titled almost heaven it debuted in 2005 and in 2011 jon became the first inductee in the colorado music hall of fame truly a fascinating career it's amazing how much john denver accomplished in such a short lifetime and how much his music has influenced american culture even far after his death so let's toast to john what is your personal favorite john denver tune any west virginians out there and if so do you ever get tired of hearing country roads cause we never do as always please like and subscribe and from all of us here at do you remember thank you so much for watching and we hope you're listening to some great tunes

Channel: DoYouRemember?

Views: 261,007

Rating: 4.91504 out of 5

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Id: IXzobn1Zohs

Length: 9min 59sec (599 seconds)

Published: Fri May 28 2021