John Denver: Photographer

John Denver, Photographer!

John was many things, but one of the things that most people do not realize is that he was also a photographer.Yes, he not only captured places in song, in his heart and in our memories, he put them on film as well. 

He talks all about his favorite subject and how much there is to do and take pictures of in Colorado.  Here is a video of a television special called "Colorado, Picture Perfect" narrated by John, himself.  Courtesy of  YouTube, M. Mamassa channel. You will find many, many rare videos and clips of John Denver on M. Mamassa's channel. 

Not only did John Denver do specials such as this, he took many pictures that appeared his own gallery showing and can be found throughout the internet.  I posted some of them below.

Columbine at Night by John Denver

Hawk Feathers by John Denver

Hawk in Flight by John Denver

Reflection by John Denver

There are so many more moments taken by John. If you want to see more http://johndenver.com/photos/  A special thank you johndenver.com for the use of their photos in this blog. Many are also marked for sale on this site.

Now, go get your camera and steal some moments to be put to film, memory, in your heart and to share with others.

marie

John Denver: PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

WHO IS JOHN DENVER? 
                 Independence Day       July 4th

I wish I would have found this yesterday, July 4th, 2018, but it really is appropriate any day and every day, as John was "Proud to Be an American!"  Enjoy! ~~ Marie

HAVE YOU GOT JOHN DENVER SPIRIT?

What does that mean?  That is precisely what this blog is actively trying to do, define, describe and instill the spirit that John Denver did about life, the earth, the animals, the plants, the oceans, the people.

HAVE YOU HEARD OF care2.com?

Do you ever feel a bit helpless when reading of all the injustice in its many forms throughout the world?  the homeless, those without clean water or go days without food, children without meals at schools, polar bears drowning in the melting ice oceans, elephants being killed for their ivory tusks, lions being hunted just for sport. The list goes on and on.  Do you wish John was still here to do, say or sing something?

 John Denver deeply cared and sponsored many organizations that helped to speak up for those who didn't have a voice, the organization to end hunger in the world, trees for America. He spoke for the care of the land, the animals, ocean and fish.  NOW ITS OUR TURN. "but what can I do, who will listen to me?" "where do I start?"

JD Spirit: smilin' laffin' singin' Getting people together
to do something about "IT!
DOING

 http://www.care2.com is a site where you CAN make a difference and get the message to the govt legislatures to change the things that harm life.  It costs nothing to join.  You chose your causes and are rewarded for signing petitions. The rewards can be turned around to provide clean water, food, clean air, plant trees, feed and protect animals, the land, the water the earth.  It is a small step to help, but it is within our reach. 

 Is it enough?  NO! Taking action at the point of infraction would be best.  Sign the petitions, but keep actively fighting where you can!  I firmly believe that John would do this and would want us to do this, to carry on his work. I am not a representative of any organization or care2.com. I AM A MEMBER OF THIS PLANET, wanting to help.  

                                 CARE2

                                                                   GO THERE NOW!
~~Marie

Chancen Live TV 1988, Denmark

Here is a video that I had never seen until today. It is John Denver singing Country Roads, on Denmark, Chancen TV, Live, 1988 on You Tube

That smile, that laugh, those eyes,  I miss him more than I can say.  I love his mature voice as well as his younger sound.

~~Marie

A Fan's comment on who John Denver is

Who is John Denver?  Here is  P.J. Lowry's, a fan, rendition of who John was...



Thank you P.J. Lowry for capturing John so eloquently.


#P.J.Lowry #TheDenverMan

John Henry, One of John Denver's Greatest Collaborators

Joe Henry, One of John's Greatest Collaborators

John Denver was often asked where his songs come from.  He would answer, "I don't know. Sometimes they come all at once." He wrote "Annie's Song" as he sat on a ski lift in Aspen.  He states that he wrote "Shanghai Breezes" while sitting "on a napkin" (the grammar is wrong, but it always makes me laugh)  in a restaurant in Hong Kong Harbor. It was written on the back of a napkin.  However his songs were written, John proclaimed song writing as "something magical". "Sometimes you sweat blood trying to come up with a song and other times it just comes." john denver

MAGICAL, If you listen to his songs, you cannot help but experience that MAGICAL.  A moment when his song, words, thoughts touch you and you find yourself saying, "Exactly, I have felt that way!" Magical that one person's thoughts can touch your thoughts, your mind and your heart through word and music, song.

Joe Henry was a good friend of John Denver's.  He was a simple man, living a simple farming life. John would go to visit him, now and then and sometimes propose a subject or topic of music he was working on.  Joe and John would sometimes collaborate, and sometimes Joe Henry, would go to bed, come up with ideas, write them out and leave them for John to find in the morning.  Windsong was one such song and John admits much of the lyrics are Joe Henry's words.  John also admitted that sometimes Henry's writing such beautiful words, after Denver had tried to come up with images himself, he admitted it would "piss" him off big time.

Joe Henry

My thanks to Aspen Public Radio for the use of their link

and photography of Joe Henry

If you know of other stories 

behind John Denver's Songs,

feel free to contact me or leave 

a message/link in the comments.

Thank you.~~~~Marie

Joe Henry is a lyricist from Woody Creek, known for his collaborations with John Denver. In 1975, Henry and Denver collaborated with Frank Sinatra on a Christmas song called “A Baby Just Like You.” Henry has the backstory behind it.

If you want to hear the actual interview with Joe Henry, go to ASPEN PUBLIC RADIO.

My thanks to Joe Henry for his his lyrics, poems, words, sensitivity, generosity and collaboration with John Denver. I feel I know you, through John.

Country Roads

TAKE ME HOME COUNTRY ROADS!

Start at 49:00

To hear Country Roads and John's story of how it came to be start at 49:00

I wondered which song to start with. Do I cover one I do know? Do I research and then choose. Like most things John Denver, the answer came to me as I was listening to one of the recordings of his songs. 

I had heard that Tim Danoff and Taffy Nivert had actually written part of the song as they were traveling. It was in a You Tube interview where Taffy Nivert shared that they were no where near West Virginia, but on a beautiful country road lined with trees and quaint farm houses.  The partial song sat for about six months....until one night after a concert that they shared with John, they went back to Danoff's house and were just hanging around. Danoff pulled out and played what they had several times and everyone started to throw lines around. By 7:00 a.m. they had a song, that they thought sounded pretty good.  God, I've done projects like that and well, you know how they can look. The day after it all, they decided to go to New York and record what they had. It became number one on the top hits list.  We've all been singing it ever since! 

 https://youtu.be/JG5WKUcO69M  This was recorded at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, September 1, 1971

My thanks to 

Take's Live Roots Music Channel 

for sharing this video and allowing me to share it on my blog.

~~Marie

Who is John Denver?

WHO IS JOHN DENVER?

John Denver

Wikipedia says he is an American singer-songwriter who is "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".  But, he was so much more than that as anyone who listens to his songs  and is a true fan will tell you.  He was a deep consciously feeling person with a heart and soul that constantly searched for his own reason for existence, as well the existence of all human beings and living things in the universe. He shared his deep feeling and his life experiences through his songwriting and singing so that others could share in his discoveries in the world and deep within.  He was a humanitarian, activist and actor.

A young Henry John Deutchdorf, Jr.

From his birth on December 31, 1943 in Roswell, New 
Mexico, named Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., named after his father, John Henry by his mother, Irma, seemed to be a very happy, curious and precocious young American boy.  Shared family pictures seem to witness this characterization.  He grew up in a military family who traveled and lived in various locations both in the states and other countries..  ?

I think we get the best idea of his childhood years from John's own words, in his songs,  Thank God I'm A Country Boy. and Gramma's Feather Bed.  He grew up spending allot of time on his grandparents farm where he learned the joys and happiness found in work of a simple country life as well as taking notice of the changes and beauty of the seasons and nature.

A school age Henry John Deutchendorf, Jr.

Henry John Deutchendorf, Jr.
High School Year Book 

THANK GOD I'M A COUNTRY BOY

Written by: JOHN MARTIN SOMMERS

Lyrics © Reservoir One Music, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

Well life on a farm is kinda laid back,

Ain't much an old country boy like me can't hack          


It's early to rise, early in the sack
 Thank god I'm a country boy

Well a simple kinda life never did me no harm
A raisin' me a family and workin' on a farm
My days are all filled with an easy country charm
 Thank god I'm a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle                      




When the sun's comin' up I got cakes on the griddle   

 Life ain't nothin' but a funny funny riddle

Thank god I'm a country boy

When the work's all done and the sun's settlin' low
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow
The kids are asleep so I keep it kinda low
 Thank god I'm a country boy

I'd play ¡°sally goodin'all day if I could 
But the lord and my wife wouldn't take it very good
So I fiddle when I could, workS when I should  

Thank god I'm a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle 
When the sun's comin' up I got cakes on the griddle 
Life ain't nothin' but a funny funny riddle
 Thank god I'm a country boy

Well I wouldn't trade my life for diamonds and jewels 
I never was one of them money hungry fools 
Iid rather have my fiddle and my farmin' tools  

Thank god I'm a country boy

Yeah, city folk drivin' in a black limousine
A lotta sad people thinkin' that's mighty keen
Son, let me tell ya now exactly what I mean
 Thank god I'm a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle 
When the sun's comin' up I got cakes on the griddle 
Life ain't nothin' but a funny funny riddle
 Thank god I'm a country boy

Well, my fiddle was my daddy's till the day he died
And he took me by the hand and held me close to his side
Said, ¡°live a good life and play my fiddle with pride 
And thank god you're a country boy

My daddy taught me young how to hunt and how to whittle

Taught me how to whistle and play a tune on the fiddle  Taught me how to love and how to give just a little  Thank god I'm a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle 
When the sun's comin' up I got cakes on the griddle 
Life ain't nothin' but a funny funny riddle
 Thank god I'm a country boy
 Thank god I'm a country boy

Thank God I'm a Country Boy [Live] Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2017. Web. 1 Nov. 2017. <https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/1666238>.

John Denver Playing 'fiddle" as he sang "Thank God 

I'm a Country Boy"  from the Around the World Tour, You Tube.com

     

BUT,,,,He was more than a country boy. Come back soon for more John Denver Spirit!
~~Marie

        

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HAPPY EARTH DAY!

EARTH DAY

I always think of John Denver every day, but on Earth Day, I see it being his day. So much he did to bring the environment to the world's attention.  He may have done more for the Earth than any one else who ever lived.  Take time out today to spend sometime outdoors, with the Earth. Count the birds, flowers, animals, sounds, count your blessings!

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY EVERY DAY!

My absolute favorite song about the Earth is Let the Mountains Speak, Let the Rivers Run known as Healing Time On Earth.



Video Produced and Published by Colleen Gruver 2014  Thank you Colleen
Thank you John, for loving the Earth so and showing us the beauty of it all.  ~~Marie