John Denver

Biography

The sounds of the earth are like music........Music that many do not hear. John Denver, born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., heard this music and put it in the form that many can hear. From songs that capture the song of the wind to songs that capture the thrill of flight, nothing escaped his ear.

Born December 31, 1943, in Roswell, New Mexico, John started life on a wing and a prayer. The wings came from his father Lt. Col. (Ret) Henry John "Dutch" Deutschendorf, USAF. Dutch was a career man in the Air Force, joining while it was still the Army Air Corp. John became interested in flying to narrow the gap between himself and his father. He later discovered a passion. This interest cost him his life on October 12, 1997, he was 53.

August of 1945 found the Deutschendorfs in Kwajalein, Japan and then in 1947 in Tokyo at Johnson Field. While in Japan John's brother, Ronald, was born in October 1948. John started school in Japan on the island of Honshu. The family was moved back to the United States in 1949, settling in Tucson, Arizona, where they lived for nine years.

Tucson was where John first dreamed of Windstar, the environmental organization he founded with friend Tom Crum in 1976. Tucson offered John an education about people and culture. There he was surrounded by many ethnic groups and felt comfortable with them.

John started his Sophomore year of high school a week after everyone else because the family had to move again. This time they landed in Montgomery, Alabama, a place that made John uncomfortable. He was used to the ethnic mix of Tucson but in Montgomery there were race issues that made the evening news. The following summer the family moved to Fort Worth, Texas. John graduated high school at the age of 17 from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth.

John received for his 12th birthday a 1910 Gibson F-hole Jazz guitar from his maternal grandmother. She had played it as a girl and wanted John to have it. He took lessons for about a year. John said later that this guitar opened doors for him. It helped him make friends where before there had been none.

During his Senior year John ran away from home for one week. He stayed with some of his mother's friends in California. He was seen as some sort of hero when he returned to school. A few weeks later, at a school variety show, he brought the house down with the song Runaway.

John headed to Texas Tech in Lubbock to further his education in the fall of 1961. He studied architecture. Music though cut into study time. Eventually John knew he was going to have to make a decision...music or school. He chose music and in January of 1964, John headed to California, again. He worked as a draftsman by day and at night he sang on the beaches. He, also, sang in some of the hootenanies around town, among them Ledbetters. Randy Sparks owned Ledbetters and managed the New Christy Minstrels. Randy was the person who helped convince John to change his last name. He chose Denver simply because of the choices he was given it was the one he hated the least. John Deutschendorf became John Denver. John went home for Christmas that year and when he returned he no longer had a job at Ledbetters. He then went to Phoenix, Arizona and played at the Lumbermill. While in Phoenix, John heard that Chad Mitchell was leaving the trio bearing his name. John auditioned and got the job beating out over 200 applicants.

One of the first gigs John did with the Mitchell trio was in St. Peter Minnesota at the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College, in 1965. John joined a group of students after the show, among them was Ann Marie Martel. John and Annie married June 9, 1967. During the course of their marriage John found out he had a low sperm count. John and Annie decided to adopt. Zachary John "Zak" Deutschendorf was born May 23, 1974 and Anna Kate Deutschendorf was born December 19, 1978. John and Annie divorced in 1983.

John had become internationally known. While on a tour of Australia in 1986, John met Cassandra Delaney. They married in August 1988. The following May 18th their daughter Jesse Belle was born. John had beat the odds and fathered a child. They divorced in 1993.

The year after John and Annie married was not a good one career wise for John. The Mitchell Trio disbanded, leaving several thousands of dollars in debt. John vowed to pay this debt off. John made the choice to go solo instead of trying to form another trio. He again played anywhere he could find and audience.

Milt Okun, who had produced the Mitchell Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary, was able to obtain John a record deal with RCA. This record deal guaranteed John four albums. The first, Rhymes and Reasons, was released in October 1969, without much notice. The fourth, Poems, Prayers, and Promises, released in 1971, gave us his first number one hit, Take Me Home Country Roads. John recorded more then 30 albums, received 8 Platinum albums, and 15 Gold Albums in the U.S. alone.

John used his gifts as a performer to help others. He raised money for hunger, the environment and peace. John spoke frequently how he felt his music was a wonderful way of influencing those who may not otherwise hear what they should. He felt his best work was a song called What Are We Making Weapons For? (Let Us Begin). The song came from several visits to the Soviet Union. The first visit in 1985, he met a Russian singer Alexander Gradsky, known as Sasha. John and Sasha became good friends and recorded this together. It was the first time a Russian singer was allowed to record with an American. John's first trip marked the first time an American had been allowed to perform in the Soviet Union since the mid 1970's. While in Russia, John visited the Piskryofkia Memorial Cemetery where more then 2/3 of the people who died in the siege of Leningrad of World War II are buried, many in mass graves with just the date of their death on the marker.

John also performed in China and Vietnam. John was thrilled to be seen as an ambassador of peace. The Voice of America is another name that is ascribed to John. One name that John did not feel comfortable with was that of idol. He never saw himself as a god. He knew that those who become idols do so on the strengths of their achievements and that idols are a social phenomena and, at least, as much a projection of society's wishes and ideas as the embodiment of their own personal concerns. He knew he had to stay firm with his ideas and concerns because if he allowed society to control him he would cease to be who he was. He also knew that under sociological scrutiny an idol tends to fall marginal at best, after all an idol is only human.

John's humaness is one of the things that attracts his fans. He always had the air of being approachable and just plain normal. His unswerving dedication to his causes showed us what kind of person he was...loyal. It can't be denied that John Denver was a talented and sincere man. He was a person who spoke for what he believed in and was not afraid of being himself. He was not afraid of sharing with people the things in life that were most meaningful to him.

This sharing of himself led to his having many names. Of the names given to John Denver, humanitarian, singer, songwriter, environmentalist, et cetera, the one he held most dear was Dad. He was Zak, Anna Kate, and Jesse's Dad, and that is very special indeed.

Though the best bio on John is to look at his music and see what he says.

To see more videos check out my You Tube page where I have started compiling links to John Denver videos...YouTube.com/jdssquirrel

Acknowledgements :
Denver, John with Arthur Tobier Take Me Home: An Autobiography New York: Harmony Press, 1994.
John Denver A Portrait. Produced by Cherry Lane Video Inc, Windstar Records Products and Monterey Home Video, 1994.
Parris, Emily Rocky Mountain High
Pinto, Donna Unauthorized Biography of John Denver Pipersville, Pennsylvania: Hearts in Harmony, 1994.
Young, Rory World Family Gathering Page