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Savannah Meier

English 111-181

Professor Intawiwat

October 27, 2017

Music Persuasion Essay

Why Denver?

John Denver was known as one of the greatest musicians of the 1970s and 1980s. His

music touched many people from all walks of life. Throughout his music career, Denver was

extremely successful. His environmental activism, humanitarianism, new ideas and powerful

lyrics, and his worldwide success allowed him to shape a new path to music.

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., also known as John Denver, was born in 1943 into a

military family. The gift of his grandmothers guitar inspired Denver to start learning and

playing music. He joined a boys choir and started taking guitar lessons. By the age of twenty,

John moved out to Los Angeles to truly begin his career. He then changed his name from Henry

John Deutschendorf Jr. to John Denver for his music career. He got the name from his favorite

state, Colorado, which eventually became his home (Tobier).

Denver auditioned to be the lead singer for the famous Mitchell Trio, and got the gig out

of 250 other people. He stayed for two years and three albums, but left to start his solo career.

Leaving on a Jet Plane, one of Denvers biggest hits because it was covered by the folk-rock

group Peter, Paul, & Mary. Denver quickly became popular and signed to RCA Records in 1969
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(Denver). Some of his greatest hits were, Take me Home, Country Roads, Rocky Mountain

High, Calypso, and Thank God Im a Country Boy (Tobier). His songs gave a sense of

peace to our nation in some of our toughest times.

John Denver used his popularity to send a message to his fans. He was involved with

many organizations such as the National Space Institute, Save the Children Foundation, Friends

of the Earth, and many more. He was personally appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the

commission on World and Domestic Hunger (Denver). Denver even co-founded the Windstar

Foundation, and was one of five founders of the World Hunger Project in 1977. Denver traveled

around African countries and campaigned against chronic hunger throughout the United States.

He was so active in the environment and society, and that only translated to his fans. Denver

received many awards over his career such as the Whale Protection Fund Service Award,

Presidential World Without Hunger Award conferred by President Reagan, and the 1985:

NASA Medal for Public Service Award (Tobier).

He was so dedicated to making music from his personal experiences and sharing that to

the world. Denver once said, My music and all my work stem from the conviction that people

everywhere are intrinsically the same. When I write a song, I want to take the personal

experience or observation that inspired it and express it in as universal a way as possible. Im a

global citizen. Ive created that for myself, and I dont want to step away from it. I want to work

in whatever I dotowards a world in balance, a world that creates a better quality of life for all

people (Tobier). Denver truly wanted the best for not only his fans, but the whole world.

Many of his songs had a very clear environmental message coming through. Whose

Garden Was This? was one of his first songs with an environmental message. He spoke of

peace, love, and compassion. Denver said, Music does bring people together. It allows us to
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experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter

what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love

and our faith, music proves we are the same (Tobier). He expressed love in a way that everyone

could understand and feel, and that is why he was loved by many different kinds of people.

In 1985, Denver was invited by the Soviet Union of Composers to perform in the USSR.

This was huge news because no American artist had given a performance in Russia since the

Cold War began. One year later, in 1986, Denver did an entire tour throughout the Soviet Union

which was uncharted territory between America and the Soviet Union. This led to the song Let

Us Begin (What Are We Making Weapons For?) to be created, and internationally known. There

was also a powerful video released with it, inspiring and moving viewers all around the world.

Six years later, in 1992, Denver did a tour around China. He was one of the first artists to do this,

and was pleasantly surprised to discover his song, Country Roads was wildly popular in China

(Tobier).

In his free time Denver enjoyed photography. He took photos all around the world, and

said he found it relaxing. He loved being outside to hike, camp, fish, and climb. He also enjoyed

flying planes, seeing as his father was an Air Force test pilot; his father actually taught him how

to fly a Learjet. Unfortunately, in 1997 Denver was flying off the coast of Monterey Bay,

California when his engine gave out. His plane crashed into the ocean and he died on impact

(Singer). John Denver was greatly loved all around the world. His music inspired others to

promote peace and love. He wrote songs and told stories that had a true meaning. He used his

fame for good. In 2007, Rocky Mountain High was actually declared the state song of

Colorado (Tobier). To this day, his legacy still lives on as one of the most influential musicians

that ever was.

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Works Cited

Compiled From, News S. "SINGER JOHN DENVER PERISHES IN PLANE CRASH; HIS

FOLKSY TUNES DELIGHTED MILLIONS JOHN DENVER, 1943-1997." St.Louis

Post - Dispatch, Oct 14, 1997, ProQuest Central,

http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/403742409?acco

untid=10008.

John Denver. Biography.com. https://www.biography.com/people/john-denver-

9542069?_escaped_fragment_=

Tobier, Arthur. Take Me Home. John Denver. 1994. http://johndenver.com/about/biography/

Word Count: 969