John Denver 080

John Denver 080

Look closer for five lyrics and one song title: “Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoa River”(Take Me Home Country Roads); “Life ain’t nothin’ but a funny, funny riddle”(Thank God I’m a Country Boy); “Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend”(Back Home Again); “To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean”(Calypso); “You fill up my senses like a night in a forest”(Annie’s Song); “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy”(Sunshine On My Shoulders); Rocky Mountain High.

The Story:

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (12-31-1943 – 10-12-1997), known as John Denver, an American singer and songwriter, is known for popularizing acoustic folk music in the 1970s as part of the ongoing singer-songwriter movement of the mid-to-late 20th century. Denver is widely recognized as a cultural icon of the American West.

After traveling and living in numerous locations growing up in a military family, Denver began music with folk music during the late 1960s.

At 11, Denver got an acoustic guitar from his grandma. He learned to play and performed at local clubs by the time he was in college. Denver decided to change his name when Randy Sparks, founder of New Christy Minstrels, suggested that ‘Deutschendorf’ would not fit comfortably on a marquee. Denver studied architecture at Texas Tech University in Lubbock and sang in a folk-music group, “The Alpine Trio”. He was also a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Denver dropped out of Texas Tech in 1963 and moved to Los Angeles, where he sang in folk clubs. 

[John Denver experienced his first major break in the music industry when he was chosen from 250 other hopefuls as lead singer for the popular Mitchell Trio. Two years and three albums later, Denver had honed his considerable vocal talent and developed his own songwriting style. He gained recognition when his song “Leaving On A Jet Plane” was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, becoming their first and only number one hit. As the Mitchell Trio disbanded, Denver was climbing up the pop charts as a solo act.]

credit – JohnDenver.com

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 one of America’s best-selling performers; AllMusic has called Denver “among the most beloved entertainers of his era”.

Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S by the RIAA, with estimated sales of more than 33 million units. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, disdain for city life, enthusiasm for music, and relationship trials. Denver’s music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Poems, Prayers & Promises”, “Annie’s Song”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Calypso”, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”, and “Sunshine on My Shoulders”.

Denver was in several films and television shows during the 70s and 80s, including the 1977 hit Oh, God!, in which he starred alongside George Burns. He continued to record into the 1990s, focusing on environmental issues as well as lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress to protest censorship in music. Known for his love of Colorado, Denver lived in Aspen much of his life. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature adopted “Rocky Mountain High” as one of its two state songs in 2007. West Virginia made “Take Me Home, Country Roads” a state song in 2014.

An avid pilot, Denver was killed in a single-fatality crash while piloting a recently purchased light plane in 1997 

Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico to Erma Louise (née Swope; 1922–2010) and Captain Henry John “Dutch” Deutschendorf Sr. (1920–1982), a United States Army Air Forces pilot stationed at Roswell Army Air Field.

In his 1994 autobiography Take Me Home, Denver described his father as a stern man who could not show his love for his children. With a military father, Denver’s family moved often, and he found difficulty gaining friends and assimilating with children of his own age. The introverted Denver often felt misplaced but did not know where he truly belonged. While stationed at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, the Deutschendorfs purchased a home and lived there from 1951 to 1959. Denver lived in Tucson, Arizona from the age of six until 14.

During these years, Denver attended Mansfeld Junior High School and was a member of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus for two years. He was content in Tucson, but his father was transferred to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. The family later moved to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, where Denver graduated from Arlington Heights High School. Denver was distressed with life in Fort Worth, and in his third year of high school, he drove his father’s car to California to visit family friends and begin his music career. His father flew to California in a friend’s jet to retrieve him, and Denver reluctantly returned to complete his schooling.

credit – Wikipedia

The artwork: 

The first print of this illustration is available to support a non-profit fundraiser. Contact lisafromlsu@gmail.com.for details.

Digital Print on Archival Matte – Original in graphite and these Prisma Colors: For Denver’s conservation efforts, Dark Green; Terra Cotta; and Pale Vermillion; Sunburst Yellow is used to illustrate the warmth projected in all ways through his music to each and every one of us.

Artist: Tobin Bortner of Bastrop, Texas – drawing done in October of 2023 – ©Tobin Signs/Look Closer Illustrations 
DERIVATIVE Work – photo credits: face from i_pinimg_com – 9168d7b5892812957124a14f6fc414d0; guitar from masslive_com – ax249-0f5d-9jpg-45a2ab284034a12a.

What you get:
$40 (36.95 + 3.05 tax)
11 x 14 Print Package with Authenticity Sheet
signed and numbered (run of 40)
Domestic Priority Mail $8 (Free shipping)