John Denver - 60's Folk Singer

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: cool hand Tom
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 11:38 PM

Just a shame John was a wifebeater.

as they say what goes around comes around just my tuppence.

Regards Tom..

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 10:21 PM

Do I remember correctly that "Sunshine" was written about his child?
I always liked it for that reason, anyway.

I also seem to remember there being a big "flap" when he subbed for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show--he wasn't a very good commentator; his come-backs consisted mostly of "Far Out" to the point of embarrassment for himself and his audience.

But music? You betcha, the guy was good. IMHO, of course.

Lin

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: number 6
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 07:24 PM

Guest John Hardly hit it right on ' He became judged by realists. Cynical realists.'

John Denver was not only a good singer, guitarist, but also an outstanding songwriter. One may not like his work, but he must be truly admired and respected for it.

John Denver will be missed.

sIx

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Folkiedave
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 07:09 PM

My favourite football (soccer) team, Sheffield United. sing the following words to Annie's Song:

The word "Magnet" refers to a brand of beer - some sing "maggots"... a reference to the local habit of fishing in anything larger than a puddle.

You fill up my senses
Like a gallon of Magnet
Like a packet of Woodbines
Like a good pinch of snuff
Like a night out in Sheffield
Like a greasy chip butty
Like Sheffield United
Come thrill me again
Lala La La
...continue ad infinitum........

This is played at the start of each home game - the first line is played and then the fans join in.......


Dave Eyre
www.collectorsfolk.co.uk

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 05:36 PM

That's right-"Perhaps Love." But no, not Aretha, to whatever the query was. (Did you dispute the Dionne Warwick part of the story, or the Diana Ross part? I watched both concerts, and don't remember ever seeing one like this with Aretha--and I would hazard a guess that she fits in the "can-belt-them-out" category).

SRS

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 05:30 PM

no I have no adverse comments to make about john denver. He was damn good. I just think maybe when you're that good everything sounds great - so some of his songs could have done with more careful writing - but they still sounded good - oh yes, at least good, maybe even great!

I don't think you do clunkers when you're that good. But not many people can cover your work. I used to get guitar students come up to me and ask how how to play certain songs - all I can say is, I found the songs quite difficult to get a handle on - some of them I'd forgotten almost as it stopped playing. Maybe that was me.

John Denver, a superior human being. His biopic is on tv this Fri - English terrestial that is.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: freightdawg
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 02:32 PM

SRS, the title of the song was "Perhaps Love" and it is amazing to me how the two vocalists, who each could have had an ego that wouldn't allow the other on the stage, put that song together. In one of JD's cd liner notes there is a story how early on in his career he was advised to give up the low brow pop/folk material he was working on and to put on a tuxedo and sing in the opera.

I think, given that anecdote, John probably always loved the opera and could have succeeded there had he wanted to. That Placido Domingo recognized the quality of John's voice and worked to blend with him (no matter how much I love JD's singing, I have to admit Placido has the better voice). It's just that John was a product of the west, he loved the west, he felt more at home and comfortable in the west, and the opera was probably a little too confining for his natural bent. That is not to disparage Opera!

Big Al, I am confused over your comment about strumming and singing being a "pretty nice noise". Are you suggesting JD lacked in his instrumental technique? If so, I beg to differ, because I have/am studying his guitar technique and I find it remarkably intricate and advanced. Perhaps it is difficult to notice on his albums due to the orchestration and backup guitars, but his technique, mostly heard in his intro's and outro's, is quite polished. I also believe his song writing to be exceptionally good. Maybe you are thinking of a couple of clunkers, but then no one is always perfect.

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 01:41 PM

Speaking of opera, I once worked as a production assistant on a television pilot for a resurrected version of "Omnibus". One pilot aired on ABC, but the show was never picked up, one of the reasons is highlighted on the story I am about to share.

One of segments of the show was going to be a comparison of Grand Opera with the Grand Ole Opry.   The producer paired up Loretta Lynn with Luciano Pavarotti. We actually recorded a very nice discussion between the two, but then it was decided that they would sing together. Loretta Lynn was so overpowered, and a bit intimidated, by Pavarotti. She basically whispered her vocals while Pavarotti boomed out his part. I don't think it made the final cut of the show.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: voyager
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 12:50 PM

Leave us not forget.....

Thank God I'm a Country Boy is the Baltimore O's 7th inning stretch
song --
    Balitmore O's Play John Denver Every Game!

Or the Bill Danoff Connection --
Scroll Down for Danoff Does Denver

Danoff and Denver had one of the best collaboration track records
in the music business IMHO.

voyager

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 12:23 PM

you mean Aretha Franklin?

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 12:19 PM

The reason the Denver concert with opera singers worked was the same reason the Dionne Warwick concert with opera singers worked--because Denver and Warwick can belt out a song and they don't need the mic 1/4 inch from their mouths. If you look at the careful design of the stage for the concerts, you'll see that Domingo's microphone is two or three feet in front of him, because he needs to wind up to sing and it takes that much distance to account for what would otherwise be too much volume and distortion. Warwick and Denver, as I recall, had their mics at a respectable 12 inches or so from their faces. In the Diana Ross-meets-the-Opera Singers concert I saw (I don't remember what it was actually called, or the date), the poor little thing had her mic right on her mouth to catch every breathy little sound she made. She's a product of MoTown, her training (does she have any?) is completely different. While she has some great catchy music, she's pure electronic amplification. (Thread drift here, but it helps to make my point).

If any of them had been singing on a concert stage, with an audience, I'm sure things would have been a lot different mic-wise. But they were singing in a cathedral without the people, and were set to capture the accoustics as well as the voices. (That's my take on it, anyway).

Denver and Domingo recorded "Almost Love" (I think was the name) together and no doubt both used the song on their respective current albums. It didn't hurt either to reach audiences through the cross-over.

SRS

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,John Hardly
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 12:10 PM

Yeah LH,

But not that "saccharine" that in large doses kills rats . Just that saccharine that's a bit too sweet when viewed through cynical-colored glasses.

Few artists have created a reality stronger than John Denver did. Denver wasn't a realist any more than Andrew Wyeth was a realist. He became judged by realists. Cynical realists.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 12:03 PM

Buffy Sainte-Marie did frequent work on the muppet show too.

I did find some of John Denver's songs too saccarine for my personal taste, but I didn't let that stop me from admiring his consummated skill as a musician. Yeah, he was awfully touchy-feely at times, but, boy, could he play and sing!

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,Steve in Ohio
Date: 10 Jan 05 - 11:55 AM

Well said Ron! You took the words right out of my fingers/thoughts!

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 11:56 PM

"Still, I can't envision Woody or Pete or even Harry Chapin on stage with an opera singer."   Why, because they don't bathe or something? What is wrong with opera singers?

Would Paul Robeson count? Not quite opera, but close. I believe he sang at benefits with both Seeger and Guthrie. Harry Chapin was a strong supporter of the arts in all forms, including opera. Because of his work, there are several companies in Long Island that continue to present their productions to this day.

I wonder if there is a opera forum somewhere that critiques Placido Domingo for singing with John Denver??? I would doubt it, I think lovers of opera tend to be more open-minded than folk music fans.

What a person does for their art should not stereotype them. Frankly, I think people tend to catagorize and compartmentalize artists when they do things that don't fit the mold. Look at the person as a whole, and what they have accomplished for others on the planet before passing judgement.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Lane
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 11:21 PM

John may have gotten a bad rap beacuse he was too diverse - did things like Muppets and said "far out!" a little too much, maybe. But I love his music and play a number of his tunes.... Poems, Prayers and Promises, and This Old Guitar are too fine to be looked down upon.

I met him once, 1969 or so, after a concert.... a small group of close friends hung around after the show. He said to us: "Each bird, each tree, each rock, each star, each wave, each blade of grass - each other".

Nice guy

Lane

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Auggie
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:55 PM

And excuse the thread drift but Wee LD, if you haven't heard Steve Goodman's version of "Its a Sin..." on "Jessies Jig and Other Favorites" (from about 1975) you're missing a good one. It sold me on Stevie more than City of New Orleans ever did.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Auggie
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:48 PM

Don't get me wrong Ron. I have three or four late 60's or early 70's John Denver albums around here somewhere and like much of what is on each, as I liked his work with the Muppets and filmwork with George Burns.
But one of the questions was why he rubbed so many the wrong way, and in addition to his gas hording being at odds with his well polished John-Boy Walton public personna, I think it was obvious that,over time, he sold out.
His music went from sparse, mostly thoughtful and mostly acoustic to mostly trite and mostly overproduced. Such at least, is MHO, which of course could/should mean shit to anyone but me. Still, I can't envision Woody or Pete or even Harry Chapin on stage with an opera singer.

He was indeed a product of his times. Unfortunately, those were times which also brought us leisure suits, pet rocks and Tony Orlando and Dawn.

But to call him a republican? Well, lets not speak any further ill of the dead.

Regards

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:27 PM

In the early 70's he was quite a role model - people tried to look like him.. Songs like Rocky Mountain High showed off not only his way with words, but his technical facility at singing high notes with great strength and confidence. He was a helluva singer and guitarist, but his albums got slated regularly by the critics - I remember Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy being singled out for particular venom - the lyrics seemed to them saccharine and trivial.

I admired him , but he was a hard man to like thoroughly - even now its a strong stomach that sits all the way through the floor singers favourite ,Grandma's feather bed without throwing up. the way he guyed mopping his brow on the line, I even kissed Aunt Lou! - ooh! was thoroughly parodied and ridiculed in the recent film A Mighty Wind.

Some of his later work seemed lacking in structure. he knew just strumming and singing was a pretty nice noise, so he was content not to observe the normal structures of songwriting. fine if you have some artistic point to make - but one suspected at the time he simply couldn't be arsed to hammer out the verses and choruses and middle 8's.

One thing I liked about him he always used to sing Its sin to Tell a Lie, because it was his Mothers favourite song. it was my mothers favourite song too, and nowadays I always include it in my set for the same reason.

all the best

Big Al

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:24 PM

His Muppet Show gig was terrific. My grandkids have the video, so I get to enjoy it from time to time.

In the mid-'50s one of the big record labels tried to get on the "folk" train. My mother sang in a group in NYC that they wound up calling The Skifflers - a quartet with Leon Bibb (using "Lee Charles"), a woman named Libby (forgot last name) and Milt Okun, who later produced John Denver albums.          Tw

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Bobert
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:21 PM

I don't know about John Denver being a Repub 'er Dem but I heard him play at Bobby Kennedy's house in McLean, Va. around '71... I had just interviewed with Ethel Kennedy to be like a grounds keeper and got the invite... He didn't impress me one danged bit...

BTW, I didn't get the job primarially because I told Ms. Kennedy that as fir the pets in the house, her kids should feed 'um....

Bobert

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:12 PM

John Denver a Republican?   If THAT is what pisses people off, then it is an example of how partisan politics cloud our minds.

I do not have a clue as to how John Denver voted.   I do know that Ronald Reagan conferred a public service medal to him for his work on hunger issues, but Jimmy Carter was the one who selected him for his commission(along with Harry Chapin.)   I don't think Denver let whatever his politics were stand in the way of his beliefs. Perhaps a few Mudcatters could follow that lesson.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:07 PM

"Can you envision Pete Seeger or Woody doing a Christmas Special? with Placeto Domingo no less?"

Yes. If they could get on TV and sold as many records as John Denver.    I say that with no disrespect to Pete or Woody. They lived in a different world and to knock John Denver just because he was successful and appeared in several very successful Christmas programs is a silly arguement.

By the way, Pete recorded two Christmas albums in his career, three if you count the very commercial recording he made with the Weavers for the holiday.   There was nothing wrong with the music on any of them.   John Denver's recordings and TV shows were products of their time.

I find it odd that people choose to remember his work with the Muppets and by and large forget about all the charitable work he did, including his work in various hunger projects with artists like Harry Chapin. Denver was asked to serve as a member of the Presidential Commission on World and Domestic Hunger and he founded The Hunger Project. Denver also devoted much of his energies to environmental causes and wrote a song about Jacques Costeau which helped enlighted his audience to the work that was being done.   The Windstar Organization which he founded in 1975 continues to address environmental concerns.

He may have been a friend to Kermit, but he was also a friend to every living creature on this planet.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 10:00 PM

I know nothing about him except that I liked "Country Roads" & that he seems to have made enemies. I remember hearing a satire against him, maybe 20 years ago, to the tune of that song, with the line "Country songs make me rich", which additionally accused him of hanging out with Frank Sinatra. Somehow, that did not make it into the Mudcat, or even Google.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,Ron D.
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 09:46 PM

I always liked John's singing and guitar skills. I too saw his work in the recent Pbs special. You're missed John!

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 09:25 PM

People delight in finding one or two flaws in a genuinely valuable person, and consigning the whole rest of their life to the trash. Observe the activities of the movie magazines for tips on exactly how to go about doing that.

I can easily forgive John Denver for the gas tanks.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: DaveA
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 09:13 PM

Ahha!!!!

I have my cookie back

Dave

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,DaveA
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 09:05 PM

I heard him do an unannounced acoustic gig in Melbourne (Australia)in 1984 as - in his own words - a warm up for his concert tour which was about to start. Just him, his acoustic guitar & about 60 very appreciative guests at a struggling folk singing venue holding an open stage Tuesday night.

He did some oldies, a few from the about to be released "It's About Time" album and a fair amount of chat between songs. I still remember how good a guitarist he was live (even though he hadn't brought his 12 string with him.

He seemed genuinely pleased when I told him after the gig that I had his LPs of the Mitchell Trio & still regarded his version of Mr Tambourine Man as the best I had heard.

On that one hearing & meeting I'd say to hell with political, marital & style of music concerns. He was one hell of a performer and a modest considerate bloke. To use the old fashioned term - a true gentleman. And very sadly missed.

Dave

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Auggie
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 09:05 PM

SRS points to one of the reasons he got so much disrespect,despite his obvious talent, from so many quarters. Can you envision Pete Seeger or Woody doing a Christmas Special? with Placeto Domingo no less?

Upon reflection I guess, PPM did one, so maybe thats not a fatal flaw, but it speaks to his tendancy in his later years to waste that fine voice and nice playing ability on slickly produced MOR commercial ventures and to move a long way from his folk roots.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 08:11 PM

Though enjoying some of his music I have to say that I really thought he was pretty damned good as an actor on some TV shows---admittedly most TV shows are pretty bad. He did, however, really put in some good performances in a few dramatic ones. I am not talking about his utterly boring and annoying Christmas specials (as mostof them are).   Also--recall his appearance in film w/ Geo. Burns.


Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 08:11 PM

He did a very nice christmas special with Julie Andrews and Placido Domingo back in 1987. He may have been a "popular" singer instead of operatic like the other two, but he sounded very good. (Much better than Diana Ross, who tried something similar).

I also find a declaration about his party politics to be surprising. Is there some foundation to this statement, or is it speculative? (i.e., he had money, therefore he must have been a Republican)

SRS

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Teresa
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 08:02 PM

Oh yay, another Jd thread. :)

I don't know if he was "folk" or not, (labels can be so darned limiting much of the time) but I do know I loved his music, and also loved folk music, because of the simplicity and sparse character in both. (at least in John's early music).

My brother, six years older than me, and a teenager into heavy rock music in the mid-70s, incessantly teased me about him. He made "douche" jokes about John's birth surname (Deuschendorf sp?) and tried to get my goat by telling me about the gas tank incident. I always knew human nature was full of inconsistencies, so in the long run, it didn't bother me, although as a ten-year-old, I did get upset for a little while.

I've never heard his work with the Trios, and would love to. :)

teresa

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: freightdawg
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 07:45 PM

John Denver a Republican?? Wow. In many areas he is virtually my hero, but I have never (and would never) consider his pacifistic, environmentalist, socially conscious outlook to be Republican. Maybe you could expand, Mick. Maybe he was Republican in some of his economic views, but he would be largely outside the mainstream of the Republican party today.

Denver viewed himself as a "Western" singer, although he loved country music and had a couple of "Country" hits. He felt betrayed and abused by Nashville, and I think Nashville never could really grasp some of his socially conscious songs. He went one way and contemporary "country" went another. I believe John chose the wiser and better path.

If I can have my last wishes, there will be nothing sung at my funeral if it was not written and/or performed by JD. That way, if people are not sad that I'm gone, they will at least miss that someone is dead.

Like other posters above, I never really viewed Denver as a "Folkie," whatever that really is, but more as a iconoclastic artist who sang songs that had meaning and significance. Most of his body of songs have significant orchestration (which I do not typically associate with "folk" music, although it does not preclude "folk"), but I think JD was at his best with just a small ensemble of guitars, drums and a mandolin, or solo with just his 6 or 12 string guitar. I think that John got a bad rap early in his career, and then when he went through his problems with Annie and the inevitable slump in popularity he also produced some weak songs. However, some of the most beautiful, and most powerful, songs that he wrote were written toward the end of his life. I think he was on the verge of a "Renaissance." I just wish he had gone golfing with his friends instead of heading to the airport to fly his new purchase.

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: DonMeixner
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 05:56 PM

Watch the World Wildlife Fund concert if you can find it. You'll see a great stage craft engineer and a solid singer, songwriter, and performer.

Much of what made most of his music good was that John believed what he wrote.

Don

"Sunshine" perhaps being an errant bit of twaddle.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Once Famous
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 05:34 PM

The Republicans had no trouble separating his politics from his music.

Keep in mind that John Denver was one of popular country music's biggest atars.

Except of course, to the hard boiled Nashville scene.

John Denver left folk music in the dust and let his talents get his music heard and made himself a lot of money. Folk music was his training wheels.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Big Mick
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 05:26 PM

I enjoyed much of his music, but at some point he became so slick that the music ceased to be good. I think that folks also couldn't separate his Republican politics from his music. But I must tell you that I liked and continue to sing certain songs of his.

Mick

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 03:40 PM

The promoter would have won.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,celebrity boxing fan
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 02:27 PM

so who would have won a fist fight

John Denver or Donovan ?

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 01:04 PM

this all seems a pretty accurate picture of him and his talents....(being a 'trad' aficionado, I didn't follow him closely)

I DO remember why he had a bad image with some folks....he had property near Aspen, Colo, during the fuel crisis of the 70s, and was caught trying to have a couple of huge gasoline storage tanks installed for his 'personal' use. If I remember right, the project was stopped before he actually filled them....

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 12:44 PM

I think that here in the U.S. he suffered by comparison: the genteel romantic nature of many of his songs along with a good voice and performances relatively free of heavy percussion was in direct contrast to the hard-living world of the various metal rock bands popular at the same time. His voice was good, his songs were well-written, and lately his environmental activism kept a steady audience listening to him. He died way too young.

I had a friend in the mid-1970s who listened to a lot of Denver and Gordon Lightfoot. I think they're still pretty comparable.

SRS

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: artbrooks
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 09:43 AM

Too smooth, good voice, excellent stage presence. Just not very "folkie." Consider Dylan.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 08:04 AM

Great singer and performer. I think it was his Waltons-style wholesomeness that put us British off.

cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 01:44 AM

Can anyone remember why he's generally held in low esteem
and considered a joke here in the UK ?

I vaguely remember his TV shows when I was a kid,
and no one I knew ever had any respect for him.

I suppose out of fairness, I ought to find a cheap compilation CD
so I can judge his work for myself now that I'm older
and more mature in my taste in music.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: DonMeixner
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 01:31 AM

I saw him at The saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1970. He was very good. Tickets were $ 2.00 to sit on the lawn. His talent at stage craft was very apparent and he was a very good musician and show man. He even juggled.

Don

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: GUEST,Wesley S at Home
Date: 08 Jan 05 - 09:54 PM

SRS - From what I've heard his dad was in the air force and was stationed out at Carswell - now the Naval air base -while John was in high school. I think he only spent about three years here in Ft Worth but I could be off on that. But yes, he attended Arlington Heights High School.

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Jan 05 - 09:17 PM

I heard him in 1967 when the Mitchell Trio played my college. They introduced him, and he sang (IF I remember rightly), a traditional song although I no longer remember which one.

He was introduced as the author of some the songs the Trio sang, and then he did the solo (although the group did some of the guitar backup).

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jan 05 - 09:01 PM

I read that he grew up here in Fort Worth, TX, in the Arlington Heights neighborhood. I wonder what information is available about him locally? I'll have to check into it.

SRS

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 08 Jan 05 - 07:07 PM

I saw him at the Main Point in Philadelphia in December 1969, and I still have his first two solo albums from 1969, Rhymes and Reasons and Take me to Tomorrow. He wasn't a folksinger then, but the songs he sang certainly reached me, as an angst-ridden and impressionable teenager. He wrote some good songs, and had good taste in the other songs he chose to sing, for the most part.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: Once Famous
Date: 08 Jan 05 - 07:06 PM

I saw John Denver with the Mitchell Trio shortly after he joined them. I was a pretty big fan of the Chad Mitchell Trio and thought I would be disappointed but John's talents came through.

As far as traditional songs go, I loved commercial folk music groups. The less traditional, the better. Those boys could sing!

Subject: RE: John Denver - 60's Folk Singer
From: artbrooks
Date: 08 Jan 05 - 06:51 PM

Marnie, around here the word "traditional" is not used lightly, and some folks tend to jump on those that they believe use it incorrectly (by whatever definition they prefer, and there doesn't seem to be much agreement on that, either). IMHO, John Denver was much more of a performer and singer-songwriter than he was a "traditional" musician, but that is only my opinion.

I expect you'd find a few trad things on his many recordings. Amazon.com has most of them, dating back to the early 1970s. Amazon also has some of the Mitchell Trio and Chad Mitchell Trio re-releases.

Good luck on your quest, and I think many of us would be interested if you located any early/mid-60s-era recordings of John Denver solo.