John Denver was the quintessential vanguard of Folk and Folk Rock through-out the 70s and into the 80s. I only have a pair of songs from this illustrious songbird and will only begin to represent his contribution to music.
Denver wrote this song after recently moving to Aspen, Colorado to voice the wonder and awe he found in his new home. But he was to find his song being banned under new FCC anti-drug reference guidelines until he explained “high” referred to the rush and overwhelming peace one found when taking in Colorado’s beauty for the first time.
Later, in 1985, Denver would relate his experience to the Parents’ Music Resource Center Congressional hearings: [1]
This was obviously done by people who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains, and also had never experienced the elation, celebration of life, or the joy in living that one feels when he observes something as wondrous as the Perseid meteor shower on a moonless, cloudless night, when there are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight, and you are out camping with your friends, your best friends, and introducing them to one of nature’s most spectacular light shows for the first time.
Here is a Televised Live Performance.
Denver was all right by me.
Two things:
1) Denver once said “I epitomize America.” I recall thinking this was sort of big-headed of him, but the farther away we get from his period of success, the more I think he was onto something there.
2) I recall watching the Denver/Dallas superbowl where they interviewed him and Walter Cronkite. I remember Denver was for Denver and Cronkite said something like “You’ll have to call me Walter Dallas.” I had a growing distaste for Denver’s music at that time, but knowing that he wasn’t a Dallas fan was enough to completely improve his image in my book. Heh.
Finally, I always respected him for being on the correct side of the PMRC debate. Brother really maybe did epitomize America.
To me, growing up, Denver’s music is what you sang along with, like America (My Country ’tis of Thee) but you didn’t necessarily rush out and buy a copy of.
Yeah, we heard a ton of it. I think my dad did buy some of his albums. I remember listening to “Grandma’s Feather Bed” like ten million times.