Sharon Magnusson - flipSide 11/02/2015

                      John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, actor, activist and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer, starting in the 1970s. He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was firmly established as America's best-selling performer, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era". After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. Throughout his life, Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million.

Email from Sharon Magnusson . . . .  "Hi John, 
As you know, I am a HUGE John Denver fan.  Perhaps you might consider celebrating John Denver in one of your segments of Sucks News.  I know I'm very biased towards him, but he was a wonderful human being who devoted his life to the environment, human and animal rights, justice and peace through his music and actions.  And even though he has beautiful songs expressing love towards his two ex-wives, his songs of love for mankind are also powerful."

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Denver starred in films and several notable television specials in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following decade, he continued to record, but also focused on calling attention to environmental issues, lent his vocal support to space exploration, and testified in front of Congress to protest against censorship in music. ​

Denver became outspoken in politics in the mid-1970s. He expressed his ecologic interests in the epic 1975 song "Calypso," which is an ode to the exploration ship  and team of environmental activist Jacques Cousteau. In 1976, he campaigned for Jimmy Carter, who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the Democratic Party and of a number of charitable causes for the environmental movement, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, and the African AIDS crisis. He founded the charitable Windstar Foundation in 1976, to promote sustainable living.  His dismay at the Chernobyl disaster led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of communist Asia and Europe.

Denver was known for his love of the state of Colorado, which he sang about numerous times. He lived in Aspen Colorado,  for much of his life. He was named Poet Laureate of the state in 1974. The Colorado  state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its state songs in 2007. Denver was an avid pilot, and died in a single-fatality crash of his personal experimental aircraft at the age of 53.

Sharon, I hope you enjoyed this presentation as much as I enjoyed helping you create it.

That's the flipSide

Harv