John Denver Remembered

[Taylor Martin Guild]

We lost John Denver 14 years ago today.
This week, there is a gathering of his fans, friends and family in Aspen.
They are there to honor his music and his passion for the Earth and for all of us that live on it.
I wish that I could be there with them but I will only be there in spirit this time.

Thank you John for your music and for your passion.
You are missed by many of us.

 

[Christopher Cozad]

Hear, hear! I loved the man and his music.

(15 years ago... wow...)

Christopher

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Actually is was 14 years ago.
October, 12, 1997.
I just made the change.

 

[scott]

I miss John daily; still play his music all the time. He was the inspiration for many of my songs and guitar playing techniques I still use. I have 4 guild 12's and an F-50R custom shop that I still play and perform with. Never heard of guilds prior to JD. He sold many guitars for guild. I was in the middle of teaching my First-Graders when I heard the news- similar to John Lennon and JFK.

 

[killdeer43]

I'll second all those emotions.

John traveled with me during a transitional stage in my life in the mid-70s and he and his music were always good for keeping me grounded, no matter where I was.

It would really be FAR OUT for him to still be here, aging with the rest of us.

Joe

 

[6L6]

I'll be sure to play three of his songs tomorrow night at O/M.

I first met him in a cheap pizza joint "On the Hill" in Boulder, CO back around '63 or so when his name was still John Deutschendorf, Jr. The pizza was so bad, I was almost alone sitting there listening to him play a 12 string guitar (first one I'd ever seen). He joined me at a couple of breaks and we shot the breeze about things I've chronicled here before (mainly about his dad, a famous USAF Test Pilot).

At that time he was earning busfare to get to Los Angeles and try to make a go of it in the music business.

He made it.

As life went on for both of us, we crossed paths several times. It culminated with his daughter rooming with my daughter at Dartmouth College.

He is missed, but his music will live forever.

6

 

[killdeer43]

Great story, 6.
Thanks for sharing. :wink:

Joe

 

[RevG]

Well, if it weren't for John I'd have never wanted to pick up a guitar. When I was six (back in 1974), I used to set up all my stuffed animals and action figures in the living room and perform the whole "An Evening With John Denver" album to them.

Funny how things come around...on that LP after "Today", John introduces the band. Before he does, he says "Hiya Pokey, how you doin' tonight?"

Well, Pokey is Steve Weisberg, who has since become a friend and performing partner for John Denver tribute shows. Who'd-a-thunk? Not me, that's for sure.

I've been fortunate to see John four times, he is certainly a central part of the formation of my sense of Spirit and my ethic of environmental stewardship, and I still listen to him almost every day. He was a big part of my wedding, and when we went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon there was a blind St. Lucian on the resort standing there with a guitar singing "Country Roads". We then returned home to Logan Airport and the minute we got off the plane "Rocky Mountain High" was playing over the PA system....

You tend to find JD fans wherever you go...if it comes up in conversation, people you'd never expect it tend to say "Oh, I LOVE John Denver!"

I was in seminary when he died, and I deeply mourned losing a mentor to me on so many levels. But clearly, especially now that I'm doing these shows with Pokey, his legacy will remain with us profoundly for a long time yet to come.

John is always around....and I think that would make him smile.

 

[Bikerdoc]

John was an inspiration in my life from the very beginning. While I never had the good fortune of meeting him, I did see him in concert. And because of him I learned to cherish my West Virginia heritage, my family, and hope.
Miss ya John.
Peace