FAMILY:Aspen Times Article about John
Dorothy
aspentimes/dir/98/oct/week2/coverB/htmI
I copied article for everyone - just in case - here goes...
@Topic
<Picture: Aspen Times - Aspen Snowmass OnLine>
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Vol 117 Num 90 October 10 & 11, 1998
- Times Highlights -
- Aspen Snowmass OnLine Home Page -
John Denver
By Stewart Oksenhorn
Aspen Times Staff Writer
During his last few years on Earth, and especially in his hometown of Aspen, it became easy -- popular even -- to dismiss John Denver the man and to forget John Denver the musician.
Those who felt closest to him, however, are not so quick to dismiss or forget Denver, his unique vocal gift and the wide impact he had on the music world, the larger world beyond and the smaller world of the Roaring Fork Valley.
When Denver died a year ago, Oct. 12, letters of grief and reflection from around the globe poured in to local newspapers. John Denver fan clubs remain intact and devoted. "A Tribute to John Denver: Poems, Prayers and Promises," a book by Javana M. Richardson, was published recently by Colorado-based StarsEnd Creations. And a grassroots buzz has begun in Aspen to create a museum to honor Denver, his music and his many charitable activities.
"He has one of the most incredible appeals worldwide," said Kris O'Connor, who served as Denver's road manager for some 27 years and co-produced several of Denver's recordings. "There were fans that followed him all over the world. There was a tremendous love for the man and the music, and I don't think it will ever go away."
That appeal seems to be as strong as ever now, a year after Denver's fatal airplane accident. A host of former musical see Denver on page 7-B colleagues of Denver's -- band members, recording collaborators, writing partners -- decided to get together for a weekend of memories and music-making in Aspen, Denver's home since 1969. When tickets went on sale in June, the seats for "A Musical Tribute to John Denver," fueled by the interest of Denver's numerous fan clubs around the world, were snapped up within two weeks -- for dates still four months away.
Now those dates have arrived. This weekend the Wheeler Opera House, sight of several Denver appearances over the years, will play host to some 15 of Denver's closest compadres for two nights of music and celebration. Proceeds from the two concerts, set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10-11, at 7 p.m., will go to Challenge Aspen, a local nonprofit organization that provides outdoor sports opportunities for physically handicapped athletes.
On hand for the weekend will be the likes of local musician John Sommers, who wrote Denver's hit "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"; Bill Danoff, who co-wrote "Take Me Home Country Roads" with Denver; and former local player Steve Wiesberg, a guitarist in Denver's band. Other former band members coming to pay tribute to Denver this weekend include bassists Dick Kniss and Alan Deremo, woodwind player Jim Horn, Colorado singer-songwriter Jim Salestrom, and three members of Denver's most recent band: guitarist Pete Huttlinger, pianist Chris Nole and percussionist Michito Sanchez.
Also on the roster are concert co-producer and mandolinist Kenn Roberts and singer Mack Bailey of the Hard Travelers, who performed a benefit concert with Denver in Baltimore last year to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. Rounding out the bill are Colorado singer Molly Weaver, and Side By Side, a duo comprised of Doris Justis and Sean McGhee that has participated in several Denver tribute concerts over the past year.
Valley resident Tom Crum, a longtime friend and personal assistant who co-founded with Denver the environmental organization Windstar, will serve as master of ceremonies for the two concerts.
The weekend concerts could have easily turned into a star-studded affair, so strong was Denver's appeal in the music business. But Roberts and co-producer O'Connor, who have been organizing the concert tribute since February, sought to keep the event as personal and as connected to Denver as possible.
"We intentionally stayed away from asking big names to join us, because it's not necessary," said Roberts, who lives half the year in Snowmass Village. "We wanted it to be about John and feature the people who made the music with him. We have an assemblage of musicians who went all the way back to just after the Chad Mitchell Trio, the first solo stuff, and all the way up to the most recent bands. And no matter how many people are onstage, there will be 400 people singing in the audience."
What has touched those 400 people -- and several millions more around the globe, as judged by Denver's record sales -- was Denver's combination of musical ability, personal charisma and a streak of innocence that characterized his voice and his lyrics. It was that whole bag of goods that first captivated O'Connor, who would go on to spend nearly three decades at Denver's side.
"When I first saw him at the Cellar Door with the Chad Mitchell Trio, I was overtaken by his happiness onstage," said O'Connor, a former valley resident who now lives in Virginia. "And he had a wonderful voice. With the Vietnam War, and acid rock happening at the time, I think people saw him as having an innocence, a very childlike thing to him."
But though O'Connor saw Denver as a good friend and an upstanding person -- honest, charitable, devoted and talented -- he said Denver was, himself, plagued by self-doubt. "He didn't think he was as great as he was, didn't think he had a friend in the world even though he had a bunch," said O'Connor, who attributed much of Denver's insecurity to his upbringing as an air force brat, moving from place to place with his family every few months. "One of the things he strove for in life was to be a normal type guy, just accepted by people. And I don't think he ever thought he achieved that."
One aspect of Denver's life and career that can hardly be doubted is the enormous impact he had on the town of Aspen. When the ski town began to attract international attention in the 1970s, for many people it was Denver's songs -- "Rocky Mountain High," "Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado," "Annie's Song" -- which first captured their attention. Denver hosted a series of Christmastime television specials from Aspen that featured the likes of Steve Martin and Olivia Newton John. And Denver's charitable contributions to the town -- from the establishment of the Windstar Foundation to the frequent benefit concerts he performed for the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf and the Aspen Music Festival to the many less-public gifts he made -- have added up to make the Roaring Fork Valley a better place to live. Denver's friends regret that those contributions were overshadowed in recent years by a pair of DUI arrests and Denver's reputation for surliness.
"It pissed me off that two or three people could set themselves up as judge and jury for John," said Roberts. "As if no one else ever drank, no one got a DUI.
"He did more for this town than any one single person. Christmas for me was watching John's TV special, and where was that from? Right in front of the Sardy House. He brought so much positive things to this town."
Dorothy <sco...@aol.com>
Long Island, NY USA
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- Friday, October 09, 1998 at 22:46:54 (CDT)
This article was posted from The World Family of John Denver
Gathering Center, at http://www.austin1.com/JD/memobook.html.
You are invited to drop by and join in on the celebration of
life, and the wonder of living.
Duetschess
>I copied article for everyone - just in case - here goes...
>
Thank you, Dorothy, for posting this article! I most likely would've missed
it otherwise! Have a good weekend, and peace to you this October 12th.
Peggy
Bill or Dot Smith
Dot
In Tx