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The name Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. is a name
that will almost certainly mean nothing to you but I guarantee
that you will know exactly who he is and will have almost
certainly heard and probably even whistled along with his
hit records on the radio over the last 35 years.
For the young Deutschendorf eventually found fame and became
better known as internationally renowned singer-songwriter
and political activist John Denver.
Henry Deutschendorf was born on New Years Eve 1943 not in
the city of Denver or one of its neighbouring environs as
you might assume from his nom-de-plume, but in Roswell New
Mexico into a forces family. His father was serving in a nearby
base in the American Air Force, a career which would imbibe
his son with a lifelong love and passion for flight and air
travel which would eventually have tragic consequences.
However it was to music rather than to the air that Deutschendorf
turned having been given a vintage 1910 acoustic guitar by
his Grandmother whilst still a teenager.
Not much is known about his early life, maybe because he
moved around as his Father took up new air force postings,
until 1964 when he dropped out of the college and moved to
Los Angeles to join local folk group the Chad Mitchell trio,
where his songwriting skill briefly enlivened a group that
was already on the wane.
Henry Deutschendorf though a perfectly good name was also
proving to be a bit of a mouthful and maybe not one that suited
the burgeoning and exciting mid-60's music scene, so for professional
purposes he abandoned his birth name, briefly becoming John
Somerville before alighting upon John Denver, the name been
taken in tribute to the capital city of Colorado a state which
he felt a great affinity with.
The Chad Mitchell trio enlivened by the bright young singer-songwriter
in their ranks managed to extend their career until 1969,
whereupon after a brief name change to the trio Denver left
to become a solo act and almost immediately released his debut
album "Rhymes and Reasons", which was not a hit
but contained possibly his most loved composition "leaving
on a jet-plane" which was written about his lifelong
love for air travel and became a worldwide hit when covered
by folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary.
It wasn't until the 1971 smash-hit "Take me home, Country
Roads" that Denver found true superstardom, but from
that point on he was rarely out of the charts for the next
five years, as the record buying public warmed to his simple,
tender, sincere songs and his blond choir boy looks which
just seemed suited to sing such songs as "Thank God I'm
a country boy" and 1974's "Annie's Song", a
loving tribute to his wife. At the peak of his pomp in the
mid-seventies the state governor of his adopted state Colorado
proclaimed him the state's first poet laureate.
However as the seventies became the eighties music trends
shifted and Denver found himself out of fashion with all but
his most ardent fans.
So rather than lick his wounds and wait for the music industry
to proclaim back in fashion, Denver shifted his emphasis into
political activism and humanitarian work, particularly within
the field of environmental issues.
He continued these good works until his tragic and untimely
death on 12th October 1997, where with a terrible irony given
his life-long fascination with aircraft and the title of his
first hit record, he was killed whilst piloting a home-made
experimental aircraft.
And as his many fans mourned his passing they were comforted
by the knowledge that though the man maybe gone his music
shall always survive.
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