{"id":27906,"date":"2019-07-06T08:29:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-06T14:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/?p=27906"},"modified":"2019-07-06T08:29:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-06T14:29:04","slug":"john-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/john-denver\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas Music of John Denver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JohnEach decade seems to produce a dominant performer in the popular music of Christmas<\/a>. In the 1970s that performer was John Denver.<\/p>\n

Born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr in 1943, John Denver first rose to fame as the lead of The Mitchell Trio. As a late sixties folk-singing anti-government group The Mitchell Trio was slightly out of step with the times because they were clean-cut and wholesome. By 1969 Denver set out on his solo career.<\/p>\n

For Christmas<\/a> Denver gave friends and family a demo recording of songs, some which he wrote himself. One he titled, \u201cBabe, I Hate to Go\u201d<\/em>. The song was given to Peter, Paul and Mary and renamed \u201cLeaving on a Jet Plane\u201d<\/em>, which went on to become Denver\u2019s first legitimate hit song as a songwriter.<\/p>\n

RCA signed him to a contract and Denver broke through in 1971 with Poems, Prayers and Promises<\/em>, an album that featured the hit single, Take Me Home, Country Roads<\/em>, which cemented Denver\u2019s image as a positive environmentally sensitive country boy. With an infectious smile, a frequent laugh and a light-hearted \u201cFar Out!\u201d, Denver built a loyal fan base that would carry him to the top of pop fame through-out the 1970s.<\/p>\n

A series of albums from 1972 to 1974 catapulted Denver to A-list status among American entertainers. In 1972 he released Rocky Mountain High<\/em>, a song that has become an anthem in the state of Colorado, where Denver made his home. That was followed with a string of number one hits including Sunshine on my Shoulders, Annie\u2019s Song, and Thank God I\u2019m a Country Boy.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1975 Denver released his first and biggest Christmas<\/a> album titled Rocky Mountain Christmas<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

It was accompanied by a network television special of the same name that went on to set a viewing record for ABC at the time. It was seen by more than 60 million people, which was bigger than television specials of the time by Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Perry Como.<\/p>\n

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