Being from Colorado, John Denver's songs were some of my favorites. Even though I was much older and never really cared for rock and roll or country, Denver's songs just kind of hit the spot with me.

In 1997, I was in Kenya doing a walk about with a Masai guide in the Masai Mara. He had heard about John Denver's fatal crash on a short wave radio the night before. How strange it seemed to learn of his death way out there in the bush. At first I had some doubt that my guide had the straight story, but when I got home, it turned out to be all too true.

A year ago, I was on a cruise ship in French Polynesia. The stage show one night was a musician who "does" John Denver. And how! The voice, even his appearance are eerily similar to John Denver. The musician's name is Jim Curry. His website is here:
http://www.jimcurrymusic.com/

If you like John Denver, check him out.

That was plumb cute.

The thing is, you have to divorce John Denver from his persona and the 70s to really enjoy the music. His stuff was really good but it has so much baggage its hard to listen to.

There's a reason that, as Farva points out, he won Country Entertainer of the Year from Charlie Rich in 1975!

https://youtu.be/qXgiCr-V9HM

Already shared, Gerard. Thanks.

今、私が住んでいて、日本人としてきました。すべて理由を理解。

"Country Roads" is an important part of the anime movie Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba). The protagonist ends up writing her own version of the lyrics about life in the city, and her musician friends and family do their own unique arrangement.

Amusingly, the English dub version then had to come up with its own new version of the Japanese lyrics!

Sorry that I can't find a link right now, as my Internet is running very slow.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, I want to point out that another Studio Ghibli movie employs a version of "The Rose". We've all heard the Bette Midler version, but the Japanese version is sung by a woman with a much lighter and more pleasant voice than Midler's. It is, as Mushroom might say, "plumb cute".

Hale Adams
Pikesville, People's still-mostly-Democratic Republic of Maryland

Don't forget that Bill & Taffy Danoff were the prime movers behind that song. Deutschendorf may have gotten writing credit but Bill & Taffy are vastly more the creators.

Hi! I could have sworn I've visited this web site before but after looking at some of the articles I realized it's new to me.
Anyways, I'm certainly pleased I discovered it and I'll
be book-marking it and checking back regularly!

This is so fantastic and wonderful. Thanks for posting.

This may sound crazy but I think I remember Frontier Airlines pumping "Rocky Mountain High" through the headphones as we flew into Denver circa 1978/79.

Suburbanbanshee, the only part about the English dub of "Whisper of the Heart" that I didn't like was replacing the Japanese singer and version of the song, especially during the "a capella" version when the girls were singing on the park bench. I thought their voices were much better than the English girls', not that I'm a "weeabo" or anything. The Japanese voice actresses were more gentle, more tentative and therefore more touching, to me. You can't go wrong with renting or buying the movie though, by any stretch. Just be sure to watch it one time with the subtitles.

According to statistics only two or three of those people want to have sex, get married and raise a family.

Thanks so much for that --didn't realize i could smile that big this early in the morning!

Nice cover of John Denver's "Country Roads, Take Me Home". These young people are some wonderful artists.