Talk:John Denver

Death

I read alot of stories on John Denver's Death.

The first Mass Media report said that he was drunk.

Th final report stated that he was died while switching fuel tanks in a plane that got 5,000 miles per gallon while an eyewitness stated that she heard a pop and saw a puff of smoke. Just after JOhn Denver took off.

This happened a few months after he saved the artic wildlife refuge from oil thugs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DarkCorners (talk • contribs) 04:22, 24 October 2004

I feel ther eis an error in this section. This article lists the aircraft registration as N555JD. Entering this number into the National Transportation Safety Board aviation accident database will not return Denver's aircraft, but instead a Robinson R44 helicopter. I will try to find the correct tail number, and put it in. If anyone claims that this (N555JD) is the correct tail number, please correct me. NozeDive 13:54, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

I deleted the above statement. Another search revealed that the registration was used at least twice. NozeDive 14:04, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Religion

Does anyone know what his religious background was? --Contrib 16:49, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

Lutheran

he also stated that though he was christian he believed that his thoughts and feelings tened to be closer to that of a Zen Buddhist, which is easy to see

Im sorry to mess this page around but does anyone know a poem that John did on peace? I think it went something like this "If peace is what we belive in and peace the we know ---- peace the way we grow" Paul.

Chainsaw?

I read once in a biography he attacked his wife with a chainsaw, is that true? --Kassie

Googling I found that while he was on tour once, his wife had his favorite stand of Oaks cut down. When he returned, he took a chainsaw and cut their bedroom furniture in half. That's the closest thing I can find to "attacking his wife with a chainsaw." I found the same story on several sites.

Sign your posts. I added yours above, but you can do this with 3 or 4 tildes (~~~ or ~~~~). The latter is preferred since it also adds a timestamp. — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:24, August 9, 2005 (UTC)

The above users right. I watched a film which was a remake of his life. He just cut into their wooden bed with a chainsaw. Wasn't an attack on his wife. --Jam_MastaJ

thats true, he was very hurt over the whole devorce and cutting his trees which i think were Aspens not oaks, down was a huge chip on his shoulder. so he made a plan to go back and confront her about it, he just cut some furnature, which he hated, up, and scared her a bit...he felt purged but also kind of bad afterwards.

A complete account(if rather onesided,and in my opinion,somewhat pompous) of the incident can be found in Denver's autobiography,"Take Me Home."In it he states that Annie had cut down the trees in his absence,which upset him greatly.He states in the book that the trees had been part of the reason he loved the property,and their removal felt like a personal violation.Annie had been in charge of the interior decoration,including the inclusion of purple bedhead"which I never liked." According to Denver,she had also been 'something of a socialite' famous for her entertaining."Her guests might not know me,but they would know my handiwork".He quit when the blade got caught in the bed sheets.He felt greatly ashamed of himself later for being capable of that kind of anger.Annie herself has been graciously silent on the matter,and has spoken with affection in many interviews about her late ex-husband,suggesting that what occurred had been long forgiven. added by user 'Fluffy 67'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.236.66.96 (talk) 00:41, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

minor points in "Related artists" section

In the "Related artists" sections, it states:

He recorded three albums with the Mitchell Trio, replacing Chad Mitchell 
himself as lead singer. His group Denver, Boise and Johnson released a 
single before he moved on to a solo career.

But at Chad Mitchell Trio the discography shows only two albums with Mitchell. I don't know which is correct.

The third album listed may have been one that was put together from unreleased recordings after Denver became popular. There is also this in the article

Denver sang in the smoky underground folk clubs in L.A., and in 1965 joined the Chad Mitchell Trio, a folk group later renamed "The Mitchell Trio" and then "Denver, Boise, and Johnson".

I believe at the time Denver joined the group it was renamed "The Mitchell Trio", not after he joined. I saw them in concert at Texas Tech in 1965 and they were named the "The Mitchell Trio" at that time. Little did I know the new guy would go onto to such success. WAB Houston 05:13, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

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Wasnt there another Album that he reliced right near his time of death. It had a train on the cover I forget the name.

The album name was "All Aboard" 1997 was when it was released or by whom.

Pilot "License"

The sentence "It should be noted that Denver was flying with a suspensed pilot's license due to his prior alcohol abuse." does not belong in this article. He was not flying with a suspended pilot license. The issue concerns his MEDICAL certificate. The FAA had sent him a letter stating "If you do not wish to voluntarily return your (medical) certificate, your file may be sent to our regional office for appropriate action." They asked him to give it up, he didn't acknowlege the request, so the implied threat is that they would revoke his medical certificate. Please do not add inaccurate information to this article. Mexcellent 06:55, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Being 'medically disqualified' is the same thing as having your license suspended. According to the FAA and the NTSB accident report, he did not meet the medical standards prescribed in Part 67 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, and a determination was made that he was not qualified for any class of medical certificate at that time. Check-Six 17:47, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

No, it is not the same thing at all. Your medical certificate and pilot certificate are two separate certificates, you can lose one without losing the other. His pilot certificate was in no way suspended, surrendered, or revoked at the time of the accident, only his medical certificate was in question. Mexcellent 18:38, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

To use a cliche, it is two sides of the same coin! The fact is, according to the FAA, he should not have been flying due to his medicial condition (history of alcohol abuse). 'Suspended' may be too harsh a word, but it is a true statement nevertheless. Check-Six 18:49, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Okay, how about we use this in the article: "Prior to the accident, the FAA found that he did not meet the medical standards prescribed in Part 67 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, and a determination was made that he was not qualified for any class of medical at the time. At least a third-class medical was required to exercise the privileges of his pilot certificate"

That statement is (mostly) taken from the NTSB report, and is accurate from any point of view. It leaves off mention of his pilot certificate, yet makes the point in the article that he should not have been PIC of an aircraft. What do you think? Mexcellent 19:10, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Works for me... It's probably the most accurate statement one could make. Check-Six 19:17, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Very good, it's been changed. Mexcellent 19:41, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

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Ahoy: Wondering if a pilot's license is even required when flying ultre-light-type aircraft. It may not be applicable if Denver had any type of pilot license if the craft being used did not require a license to operate.

While at the time at least, a license was not required to fly ultra-light aircraft, the plane Denver was flying was not an ultra-light and would have required a proper pilot license and medical certificate. Wschart 19:54, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Attention John Denver fans

There's a new template for John Denver fans(I created it):

FThis user listens to Folk Music.

Add it to your page with {{User folk}}. Enjoy. Editor19841 23:22, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Leaving, On a jet plane

wouldnt it be better to put this song on its own seperate page? as an incredibly popular song which has been recorded by so many multiple artists over the years, it took me a while to find the original author, it would probably be better off with its own write up like Mack the Knife or The House of the Rising Sun. Someone even did a horrible punk rock rendition which has been featuring in television commecials recently. other popular john denver songs could also be candidates. -2 may 2006 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 141.168.58.201 (talk • contribs) .

Firstly, welcome, 141.168.58.201! I'd encourage you to be bold and work on such an article. You might want to check out WP:SONG and Wikipedia:WikiProject Music/Notability and Music Guidelines/Songs for guidance. Good luck! Lbbzman 12:12, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Uploading Covers

Hey, I'm no good at uploading, but am looking to upload some images [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] . If someone could help me out and get these images uploaded for me, that'd really help me out. I came to this page, because they're all Album Covers of John Denver's (speaking of which, I didn't find them all). Thanks. Editor19841 00:33, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

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Does anyone know anything about his relationships/love life? Why hasn't that been mentioned? Was he married? When, to whom, and what happened with that?

Unsourced quotes

• "To be human is to be nourished by the wild country."
• "live in the song"
• "I'm about as honest as a Denver man can be"
• "Aspen is a life to live"
• "The wind is the singer who sang the first song"
• "I think I'd most like to be remembered for the fact that I stood up for what I believe in."

These quotes were added without source information. They may be restored when source info is supplied.--Blainster 22:11, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

• The next-to-last one isn't really a quote, anyway. It's a line from one of his songs. Joyous! | Talk 23:41, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

• Most of these are from songs. The second one is from "A Song for All Lovers". The third one is a line from "Me and My Uncle", which was originally written and recorded by the Grateful Dead. The fourth is from "Aspenglow". The fifth is from "Windsong". The last quote is from "The Wildlife Concert" DVD. If someone wants to add that back in, they can. I own the DVD and he definitely says that in one of the interview clips near the end. | Casey —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.62.119.195 (talk) 05:33, 23 February 2007 (UTC).

GA Nominee suggestions

Hi, I'm not comfortable being a good article evaluator, yet, just practicing, so am not going to put this article on pass/fail/hold, but one of my articles just survived the process, so I thought I'd give you a couple hints: You need a LOT more source material! Lack of footnotes and references is going to be an issue for this article and could get it placed on hold or even failed. It's a PITA to do the sourcing, but it seems to matter a lot to the reviewers. As an example, look at the sourcing that was done with the article on Cat Stevens, an artist of the same time period and a similar genre, which passed GA criteria. I also wonder if you need to list all the singles, or if you could move them to the discography that exists elsewhere. They seem to frown on excessive lists. Good luck! Montanabw 07:36, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Definitely needs more inline citations. Also, the Popular Culture section needs conversion into prose, a stray away from its listy format. LuciferMorgan 00:52, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Failed GA:

Thank you for submitting the article. The article appears to be well written, but criteria #2 for GAs are that it must be possible to trace its references, to verify that reliable sources are used. Unfortunately that is not possible with this article. You are welcome to resubmit when this concern has been addressed.

Fred-Chess 15:26, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Annie's Song

This article states:

"Anne, the mother of two of his three children, was the subject of his much-beloved hit "Annie's Song", which was written by Denver during a hike in a state park near New Ulm, Minnesota."

If you click through to the Annie's Song article, it states:

"Annie's Song" was written as an ode to Denver's then-wife, Annie Denver (Annie Martel). The two had started to come apart following his sudden success, and had separated when he took a trip to Switzerland. While on a ski lift by himself, Denver started to marvel the beauty around, and, thinking about his wife back at home, penned the song in a few minutes."

Tjvweb 04:33, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

In an America Online's CENTER STAGE live online chat featuring John Denver (8/2/95) [10] the following exchange occurs:

"Question: Where did you get the inspiration for "Annie's Song?" My husbandand I feel like the chorus was written about us.

JohnDLive: The song came to me one day when I was skiing. I tell the whole story in my autobiography Take Me Home."

I haven't read the book so I can't correct the article(s), but perhaps someone who has read it can help. Tjvweb 19:01, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

This situation has now been corrected. Tjvweb 18:45, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

John Denver?

The image Image:JohnDenverAtRedRocks.jpg doesn't really look like John Denver. Is it possible that it's a case of mistaken identity, and that the photo is actually of someone else? Jude (talk) 12:58, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

I have to agree. I am pretty sure that is not John, face structure is a bit off, and John's hair was straight and thats fairly fuzzy/frilly. Count this as a vote for removal if we can get a consensus Dureo 18:19, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I have read several articles lately that had pictures of well-known John Denver Impersonators(e.g Little John,John Adams) labelled as being those of JD.I have had fans vigorously argue with me that I was wrong until I produced a link with the original photo and they had to concede defeat.John had a very distinctive face.Despite John's varied appearance over the years re his weight,hair,glasses etc,the tribute artists depicted were noticably heavier,lacking the fine bone structure,wide smile,triangular face etc that a true Denver fan should recognize on sight.How could they get it so wrong? _Fluffy 67 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.236.66.96 (talk) 00:52, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Slap Fighting

At the end of the later carrier section it mentions drunken slap fighting. Slap fighting? Realy? Spanner3 19:45, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

It was vandalism and has been removed. --Blainster 22:02, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps could be more objective

This entry seems to be written by fans rather than by objective wiki-folks. I don't think it is a bad entry, but it just has the feel of something composed by someone who wants to list all of Denver's achievements. This seems fairly typical of a number of entries written about living or recently deceased entertainment figures. While I do enjoy Denver's music, he seems deserving a more balanced entry.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.131.198.105 (talk) 05:15, 14 July 2007

Along these lines, there should be some treatment of his substance (alcohol?) abuse problems.LCP 21:44, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

I added to the article 2 things I felt were important: the contribution of Jerry Weintraub to Denver's career,and the importance of television in the making of that career.Few television shows were listed,and I have expanded that section too. fluffy 67 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.236.66.96 (talk) 00:57, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Gasoline hoarding

One of the more interesting rumors that flared during the 1970s gas crisis was that Denver was hoarding gasoline on his property. I cannot find any corroborating articles other than other sites parroting the same rumor. Group29 20:58, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

I remember this happening in the 70's and remember the phrase "The Sheik of Starwood" being applied to John. I'm trying to track down a newspaper article also. --13:14, 8 October 2007 (UTC)216.23.53.192 Actually, I have PDF's of two collaborating newspaper articles about the hoarding, which was not a rumor. I've got to figure out how to post them on here. --216.23.53.192 00:11, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

I think the article is incomplete without citing the movies he appeared in as an actor -- see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000135/ 72.70.19.122 (talk) 20:56, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

John's children

In the Wikipedia article, it states John and his first wife Annie had a child of their own, before adopting Zachary and Anna Kate. It said this child was DPS driver Sam Flatgraf. I was unaware of this, can anyone explain? ----Dawn —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cavaliers4me (talk • contribs) 20:55, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

PMRC

I noticed that there is no mention of his testimony against the PMRC during the hearings against rock music in 1985