0:00:11 > 0:00:16On 12 October 1997, at Monterey Airport, California,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19the singer John Denver took off to test his new plane.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26The son of a famous pilot, Denver had thousands of hours'
0:00:26 > 0:00:30flying experience, and it was a simple flight on a cloudless day.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36But over Monterey Bay, something went wrong
0:00:36 > 0:00:39and John Denver's plane plummeted into the sea.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43He was killed instantly, aged only 53.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48# You fill up my senses
0:00:48 > 0:00:53# Like a night in a forest
0:00:53 > 0:00:57# Like the mountains In spring time... #
0:00:57 > 0:01:01When he died, John Denver was no longer in the limelight,
0:01:01 > 0:01:06but during the mid-1970s he was America's most successful solo singer.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10He was huge. He was one of the biggest artists in America,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13one of the biggest artists around the world.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18What Frank Sinatra was to the '40s, Elvis Presley was to the '50s,
0:01:18 > 0:01:23and the Beatles were to the '60s, John Denver was to the '70s.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24It was a rocket ship.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30And...it was big. It was really great.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36He projected an image of an easy-going country boy,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39at home with nature, skiing in the mountains.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43But behind the image was a more complicated man -
0:01:43 > 0:01:47an Air Force brat who became a peace campaigner.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50He was sort of the grandfather of celebrities being activists.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54The Stings and the Bonos - I think they were inspired by John back then.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59An ambitious, driven man who struggle with depression
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and the barbs of the music critics.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07He was called the Mickey Mouse of rock. The Ronald Reagan of pop.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10That angered him. That's what got under his skin.
0:02:10 > 0:02:1470 years after his birth, who was the real John Denver?
0:02:14 > 0:02:17And what's the appeal of his timeless songs?
0:02:17 > 0:02:22# Come fill me again... #
0:02:33 > 0:02:38SONG: 'Rocky Mountain High'
0:02:40 > 0:02:46# He was born in the summer Of his 27th year... #
0:02:46 > 0:02:48The Rocky Mountains of Colorado,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52are forever associated with the music of John Denver,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56and many of his most famous songs were inspired by the landscape there.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02In the early 1970s, John Denver was a new type of pop star,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06living in tune with nature, away from the city.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08I find when I come to Los Angeles especially,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12more so than most cities, that I physically don't feel good.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15I don't have the energy that I have when I'm back up in the mountains.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20My eyes hurt. Sometimes I feel a little nauseous from the smog.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25And I just prefer being back a ways where it's a little bit quieter.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27To me it's a little bit more peaceful.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31I can see more of the stars at night. I feel more comfortable.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34# Rocky Mountain high... #
0:03:34 > 0:03:37He just liked to sit and be in nature.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41It filled him up, and out of that,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45beautiful things came forth in terms of his songwriting.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48When he was in nature, it inspired his songs,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52it gave him a sense of who he really was.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56It brought him to be able to communicate,
0:03:56 > 0:03:57because he lived in it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04# Colorado Rocky Mountain high... #
0:04:04 > 0:04:07but the idyllic setting of the Rocky Mountains
0:04:07 > 0:04:10was a long way from the place where he grew up.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15BIG-BAND SWING MUSIC
0:04:22 > 0:04:26John Denver was born in 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30at the Air Force base where his father was stationed.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34And if this was far away from Denver, Colorado, so was his name.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39My real name is Henry John Deutschendorf Junior. And...
0:04:39 > 0:04:40That's a whole album cover!
0:04:40 > 0:04:42My father was in the Air Force
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and we moved around a great deal.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46And it was one particular period in my life
0:04:46 > 0:04:52when I was 13 years old and we moved from Tucson, Arizona to Montgomery, Alabama.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57And I was there for one year and then we moved to Fort Worth, Texas.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01It was always hard because you were going into a new school, new people.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05John was a little bit more shy, and so it was harder for him.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08And the music, especially his guitar,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11became a way of making friends and being accepted.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14And I said, "I like music, play guitar," blah blah blah.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17And so they asked me to bring my guitar to class one day, which I did.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19And all of a sudden...
0:05:19 > 0:05:22All of a sudden people were saying hello to me in the halls.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24All of a sudden people knew me
0:05:24 > 0:05:27as more than just another one of the Air Force brats
0:05:27 > 0:05:31that was coming through every year through Maxwell Air Force base.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33John's father, Dutch Deutschendorf,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36had been born to a poor Oklahoma farmer,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41but joined the Air Force in the Second World War and soon became a top pilot.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43He flew a number of planes.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46He actually gave Lindberg a test ride,
0:05:46 > 0:05:50and I think it was a B-25, he was flying those bombers,
0:05:50 > 0:05:55and then he went on to fly the plane that carried all the electronics
0:05:55 > 0:05:59when they dropped the first atomic bomb to test it.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Dutch Deutschendorf achieved national fame flying a new bomber,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05the B-58 Hustler.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11In 1961, he broke six world air speed records in one day.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15My dad was a very tough guy. A hard guy.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19And he was hard on us. Not abusive.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22I think John was... Not more sensitive,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26but a little shier and a little more withdrawn,
0:06:26 > 0:06:31and so where Dad and I would fight, John and Dad would argue,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33and John would get upset and go in his room, play his guitar.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41For this sensitive son of a Cold War warrior, something had to give.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Aged 16, he took the family car and ran away from home,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47heading out West to Los Angeles,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50with a dream of becoming a folk singer.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51But it didn't work out,
0:06:51 > 0:06:57and his dad jumped into a friend's jet to retrieve his wayward son.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Dad flew out there, and they went to Disneyland and SeaWorld
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and did all these things, and then came back and, to me,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07their relationship was, like, golden.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11But four years later, John tried again, dropping out of college
0:07:11 > 0:07:14and hitting LA just as the folk boom was at its height.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17So I left school and I came out here, and started singing every place
0:07:17 > 0:07:21I could around Los Angeles, at the hootenannies that were going on,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and things at the Troubadour and stuff like that. And Randy Sparks,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26who in those days had a group called the New Christy Minstrels,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30gave me the chance to sing and to do it for a couple of weeks,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34and gave me an opportunity to find out a little bit about
0:07:34 > 0:07:36whether I could work on stage.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And he found out if I worked for him and the audiences liked me.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- Were you John...?- I was John Deutschendorf.- Deutschendorf.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And things kind of started going well for us,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47at least they felt that we might go someplace.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49And one day there was this big heavy meeting
0:07:49 > 0:07:53and they sat down and said, "Listen, kid, Deutschendorf..."
0:07:53 > 0:07:55- "Has got to go!" - "..has got to go!"
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Randy says that they asked him to change his name and John said,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01"No, I will not give up my father's name.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04"I'm proud to be a Deutschendorf." And Randy said,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07"It won't fit on the marquee. You have to change it."
0:08:07 > 0:08:10They had a minor hit at the time called Denver,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14written about this city, and the sheet music was on the wall behind the desk.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16And they said, "You're John Denver."
0:08:17 > 0:08:23Now with his new name, John Denver set out to make it as a folk singer.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26The opening came when one of the big names on the folk circuit,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29the Chad Mitchell Trio, lost their lead singer,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and hundreds of young folk artists tried out for the role.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36He came to New York to audition,
0:08:36 > 0:08:43and it was very clear right away that he was the best.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50And it turns out I was very cruel, didn't call him for a week.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53And he had a very nervous week.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57But it was obvious that John was going to be terrific.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01We just, you know, we were just knocked out by this guy.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04John was a fine musician, an excellent musician,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07a very fine 12-string guitar player.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12There was an innocence, I think, in a way,
0:09:12 > 0:09:18that was believable and true.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23The Mitchell Trio's trademark was left-wing political satire.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Their targets were politicians, religious leaders
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and any opponents of Civil Rights.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Top of the list was the secret racist group, the Ku Klux Klan.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38# You'll never recognise us There's a smile upon our face
0:09:38 > 0:09:41# We're changing all our dirty sheets And a-cleaning up the place
0:09:41 > 0:09:45# Yep, since we got a lawyer and a public relations man
0:09:45 > 0:09:48# We're your friendly, liberal Neighbourhood Ku Klux Klan
0:09:48 > 0:09:53# Yes, we're your friendly, liberal Neighbourhood Ku Klux Klan
0:09:53 > 0:09:56# Ever since we got that lawyer And that public relations man
0:09:56 > 0:09:58# Of course, we did shoot One reporter
0:09:58 > 0:10:00# But he was just obscene
0:10:00 > 0:10:02# And you can't call us No filthy names
0:10:02 > 0:10:04# What does Anglo-Saxon mean? #
0:10:04 > 0:10:08For John, being in The Mitchell Trio was a political education.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12He says, "I don't know anything about pol-IT-ics."
0:10:13 > 0:10:17And we looked at him and said, "John - it's PO-li-tics."
0:10:17 > 0:10:20He said, "That's what I said, I don't know anything about that."
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Which was really true.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24He was youthful, he was young,
0:10:24 > 0:10:29and grew up from the viewpoint of the material that we were doing.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31# Your friendly neighbourhood Klan who asks
0:10:31 > 0:10:33# "What's wrong with a hood?"
0:10:33 > 0:10:35# Your friendly, liberal Neighbourhood Ku Klux...
0:10:35 > 0:10:38# Grab your Cadillac And head for the hills. #
0:10:38 > 0:10:41APPLAUSE
0:10:41 > 0:10:44The Mitchell Trio's main audience were university students,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48and the group played campuses right across the Midwest.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52In spring 1966, they were in St Peter, Minnesota.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55In the audience was a young Annie Martell.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57I was a sophomore in college,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and John was part of The Mitchell Trio.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02And he came into town,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and about three weeks later I got a letter,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09and he said that if he was ever in the area again
0:11:09 > 0:11:12he would love to meet me and...
0:11:12 > 0:11:14have a talk.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18And a year later, he called me and he came over and picked me up,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and that's how this all started.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26I was 20 and John was 23.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Very young, but I thought he was very glamorous, very worldly.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32He was not at all, but I thought so.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37The two were married in June 1967, but for John,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41the hard life touring with The Mitchell Trio carried on.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44He was starting to write songs, and recorded some of them
0:11:44 > 0:11:48at his own expense, sending the album out as a Christmas present.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54This is the Christmas album that John made for all his friends,
0:11:54 > 0:12:00relatives, associates early in his tenure in The Mitchell Trio.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Track three on the album was called, Babe, I Hate To Go.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Milt Okun liked the tune, but not the title.
0:12:07 > 0:12:13I said, "John, that's a terrible name for a very beautiful song."
0:12:13 > 0:12:18He said, "What would you call it?" I said, "Leaving on a jet plane."
0:12:18 > 0:12:21He said, "But that's the third line of the chorus.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26"You never heard a song named after the third line of a chorus."
0:12:26 > 0:12:30I said, "It's a good name, let's go with it." And he went with it.
0:12:30 > 0:12:36SONG: 'Leaving On A Jet Plane'
0:12:36 > 0:12:39# All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
0:12:39 > 0:12:42# I'm standing here Outside your door... #
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Milt Okun passed the song onto another of his acts,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Peter, Paul and Mary, and it became a smash hit,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52going to the top of the American pop charts.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55# The taxi's waiting He's blowing his horn
0:12:55 > 0:12:58# Already I'm so lonesome... #
0:12:58 > 0:13:03John became a friend of the group, and would sometimes join them on stage.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06# So kiss me and smile for me
0:13:06 > 0:13:11# Tell me that you'll wait for me
0:13:11 > 0:13:17# Hold me like you'll never let me go
0:13:17 > 0:13:21# I'm leaving on a jet plane
0:13:21 > 0:13:25# I don't know when I'll be back again... #
0:13:25 > 0:13:28With the Vietnam War at its height,
0:13:28 > 0:13:33the song gained added poignancy and became a favourite among the troops.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38For them, it was their goodbye song when they were going to war.
0:13:38 > 0:13:45So it's very moving to see how a song travels in these kinds of ways.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49And how a song like Leaving On A Jet Plane
0:13:49 > 0:13:53has become really important to people.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56The song had a resonance for John even closer to home
0:13:56 > 0:14:00when his younger brother, Ron, went to Vietnam.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Well, I got drafted in 1968.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06The weekend I shipped to Vietnam,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11John was at the Washington Monument at a peace concert.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15A protest concert. And...
0:14:16 > 0:14:18That was just the way it went.
0:14:19 > 0:14:26# Last night I had The strangest dream
0:14:26 > 0:14:32# I never dreamed before
0:14:32 > 0:14:38# I dreamed the world Had all agreed
0:14:38 > 0:14:44# To put an end to war. #
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Even with his success as a songwriter,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50John and The Mitchell Trio were struggling.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Their clean-cut good looks were out of step with the new long-haired rock bands,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57and in 1968 they called it a day.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01John decided to pursue a solo career,
0:15:01 > 0:15:06but his producer, Milt Okun, struggled to get record companies interested.
0:15:06 > 0:15:12I struck out with John Hammond at Columbia, Wexler at Atlantic,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15and half a dozen others.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20And someone at RCA, Harry Jenkins, liked it.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26And I brought John in the next day to sing for the executives.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29And it was a home run.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33John Denver signed to RCA in 1969.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38His first albums were in the classic singer-songwriter vein.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40The songs were intimate and personal,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43full of images of the natural world.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50# Oh, I am the eagle I live in high country
0:15:50 > 0:15:56# In rocky cathedrals That reach to the sky
0:15:56 > 0:16:00# I am the hawk and there's Blood on my feathers
0:16:00 > 0:16:06# But time is still turning They soon will be dry. #
0:16:06 > 0:16:11Songs like The Eagle And The Hawk remained a mainstay of John's act for years to come.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14But those early records refused to sell.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Jerry Weintraub is now a top Hollywood producer.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Then, he was a streetwise New York music promoter,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and was brought in as John's new manager.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29And we got along, and I said, "Yeah, let's try it." So we tried it.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32And it was very successful for a long time.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34He was...
0:16:34 > 0:16:36He was a farm boy.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Really didn't understand the city or the ways of the city.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45He was kind of naive at the time.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48But he was nice.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50John came to the meeting, you know,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54with a guitar slung over his back and wearing sandals,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and I wasn't sure that this meeting would last more than five minutes.
0:16:58 > 0:17:04But, you know, the synergy was there, and it became successful.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08# And reach for the heavens And hope for the future
0:17:08 > 0:17:15# And all that we can be Not what we are. #
0:17:15 > 0:17:18You don't make anybody anything,
0:17:18 > 0:17:22you expose people to the talent
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and they either like it or they don't. You can't make anybody like...
0:17:25 > 0:17:28You don't put a gun on their head and say, "Go buy this record."
0:17:28 > 0:17:33They listen to it, and they decide to enjoy it or not enjoy it.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37I enjoyed his music and his songs,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and I always felt he was going to be a star.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Jerry and John loved each other,
0:17:43 > 0:17:49and I think Jerry epitomised a lot for John in terms of
0:17:49 > 0:17:53show business, and Jerry saw something in John,
0:17:53 > 0:17:58I think his wholesomeness and this kind of, "gee-whiz" quality.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01We all got on a rocket ship together,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05and it was big, it was really big.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09The song that launched the rocket ship was
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Take Me Home, Country Roads.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16# Almost Heaven West Virginia... #
0:18:16 > 0:18:20It was co-written by two of John's friends from the folk scene,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert
0:18:24 > 0:18:30# Life is old there Older than the trees
0:18:30 > 0:18:34# Younger than the mountains Blowing like a breeze... #
0:18:34 > 0:18:38We were working at the Cellar Door as John's opening act,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42the week between Christmas and New Year's 1970 going into '71.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44John liked our music.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48He was going to come over one night he wanted to know what else we had.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50I said, "Let's show him Country Roads."
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Bill says, "It's not finished."
0:18:52 > 0:18:56I said, "I know, but, you know, let's just show him what we got."
0:18:56 > 0:18:58And he absolutely loved it.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03And in the singing of it, John took the lead,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Bill and I fell in with a harmony
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and it just sounded so good like that,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11that we just decided to perform it like that the next night at the club.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17# Dark and dusty Painted on the sky
0:19:17 > 0:19:20# Misty taste of moonshine
0:19:20 > 0:19:28# Teardrops in my eye Country roads take me home
0:19:28 > 0:19:34# To the place I belong
0:19:34 > 0:19:40# West Virginia Mountain momma
0:19:40 > 0:19:45# Take me home Country roads. #
0:19:45 > 0:19:50I remember riding in a car with him. We were going to a concert in Connecticut.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54And he heard on the radio for the first time. We heard it on the radio.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57And when I heard it on the radio, I turned to him and said,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00"That's going to be a smash hit. That's great."
0:20:00 > 0:20:06But I loved it. And the public loved it. And they sold.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Sold a lot of records. He sold an amazing amount of records.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12He was an amazing artist.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Take Me Home, Country Roads was a huge hit in the summer of 1971,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19peaking at number two in the charts
0:20:19 > 0:20:22and selling more than three million copies.
0:20:22 > 0:20:31# Mountain momma Take me home country roads... #
0:20:31 > 0:20:35When we recorded Country Roads,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39we needed a little "tsch-tsch" noise at one point,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and the only thing that made any sense in the studio was,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45John had some change in his pocket,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49and instead of a tambourine or something that was loud,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52it was just a "tsch-tsch-tsch-tsch."
0:20:54 > 0:20:55Money made music, baby.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02# Down country roads Take me home
0:21:02 > 0:21:07# Down country roads. #
0:21:07 > 0:21:10APPLAUSE
0:21:16 > 0:21:22# It's a long way From LA to Denver... #
0:21:22 > 0:21:24After the success of Country Roads,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27John moved permanently up to the Rocky Mountains
0:21:27 > 0:21:31and built his dream home in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado.
0:21:31 > 0:21:38# A long way home to Starwood in Aspen... #
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Now it's one of the wealthiest towns in America,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43home to billionaires and movie stars,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46but back then it was very different.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50# Sweet Rocky Mountain paradise... #
0:21:50 > 0:21:51All of the mountain towns,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54it was a little bit more like the Wild West then.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56But unexplored, certainly.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01John fell in love with the outdoors, and it was reflected in his music.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06And I think he was on the cusp of that becoming part of everyone's consciousness back in the '70s,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09just looking around and seeing the beauty of nature.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13And hearing it expressed in his music was a big plus for him.
0:22:13 > 0:22:19# I forgot what it's like To be home... #
0:22:19 > 0:22:25It was this old mining town becoming a ski area, becoming a famous ski area.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28And you also had this little intellectual, cultural aspect.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32All of it was in its formation. It was a wonderful time to be here.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36And you'd have dinner with people
0:22:36 > 0:22:41that were plumbers, electricians, fishing guides.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46Everything was pretty easy, very laid-back and safe. Safe.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49You could be yourself here.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55# Oh, my sweet Rocky Mountain Paradise. #
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Inspired by this relaxed, back-to-nature lifestyle,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05John wrote a hymn to the Rocky Mountains and his life there.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08The song went on to become an anthem for the state of Colorado.
0:23:10 > 0:23:17# He was born in the summer Of his 27th year
0:23:17 > 0:23:22# Coming home to a place He'd never been before... #
0:23:22 > 0:23:27We went camping, backpacking with some friends to a place
0:23:27 > 0:23:30not far from here called Williams Lake,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33and it was the night of the Perseid meteor shower.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38And we're all camping and we're laying out under the stars
0:23:38 > 0:23:43and they start really going through the sky between midnight and three.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47And everybody was clapping and yelling,
0:23:47 > 0:23:52and it's really a magnificent, magnificent thing to see.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Out of that he wrote Rocky Mountain High.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58"I've seen it raining fire in the sky."
0:23:58 > 0:24:04# But the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
0:24:04 > 0:24:10# I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
0:24:10 > 0:24:18# The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby
0:24:18 > 0:24:24# Rocky Mountain high. #
0:24:24 > 0:24:27'So we were up all night watching the most glorious display that'
0:24:27 > 0:24:30I've ever seen in these mountains, of meteorites,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32and with that camping trip
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and with the feeling of coming home here to Colorado, to a place
0:24:36 > 0:24:39I'd never been before, I ended up writing Rocky Mountain High.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50APPLAUSE
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High were big hits,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56but John's next move cemented his stardom.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Folk music on television to that date had been serious and earnest.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04But John's outgoing personality made him a natural for the small screen.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08I...I know what you're thinking.
0:25:09 > 0:25:15You're thinking, "Sure, he can play guitar and sing.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19"But...can he juggle?"
0:25:19 > 0:25:21LAUGHTER
0:25:28 > 0:25:32'Television is a very different medium
0:25:32 > 0:25:35'from live entertainment, because...
0:25:35 > 0:25:39'you watch television in your home and in 1970'
0:25:39 > 0:25:43people had television sets in their bedroom
0:25:43 > 0:25:46and they laid in bed and they watched television.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49When you let somebody into your bedroom,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53they'd better be a nice person or you don't want them in your bedroom.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55This is TV, right?
0:25:56 > 0:25:59I can do it again or do you want me to leave it like that?
0:26:00 > 0:26:04That's a very different quality, from just being a performer,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06he had that quality.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08People wanted to be around him,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11he made people feel good and comfortable.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14# Jessie went away last summer
0:26:14 > 0:26:16# Couple of months ago. #
0:26:16 > 0:26:21In 1973, Jerry Weintraub launched John Denver's television career
0:26:21 > 0:26:26not in America, but on the BBC where there was less stress on ratings.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30The six-part series combined music, dance and comedy routines.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33It was a runaway success with British viewers.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42# I think I'd rather be a cowboy. #
0:26:42 > 0:26:46'It was my first step in television, in entertainment television,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49'I'd done a couple of documentaries prior to that,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52'and what I wanted to do was to come someplace where there wasn't quite
0:26:52 > 0:26:55so much pressure on the subject and to stretch out a little bit
0:26:55 > 0:26:59and see if I could dance and what kind of comedy I could do.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02# Magic moments.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06'I was doing Top Of The Pops with Pan's People, six dancers,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10'a wonderful choreographer, Flick Colby.'
0:27:10 > 0:27:14I wish we'd had a camera on the rehearsal of the choreography
0:27:14 > 0:27:19because that was insanely funny, because he was pretty much
0:27:19 > 0:27:24flat-footed, but Flick was clever enough to give him little moves
0:27:24 > 0:27:28that he could do and of course it was always hilarious.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Me Tarzan, you Jane.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37It was a joy, we did a live show every week.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Live on stage with an audience.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43But it was more like a variety show.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47# And daggers fly Everybody loves to see the villain. #
0:27:47 > 0:27:52And we were wearing costumes and doing silly songs.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Oh, it was so much fun.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58- John Denver! - CROWD CHEERS
0:27:58 > 0:28:01The series also gave John his catch phrase.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03It's far out, you guys have been so great.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07I thought that was far out, it made my whole day.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Far out!
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The success of the BBC series was repeated in the USA
0:28:12 > 0:28:16where John hosted TV specials and documentaries.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20He was fast becoming one of the biggest stars in American music.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24And his greatest hits album of 1973 sold over 10 million copies
0:28:24 > 0:28:26in the first six months alone.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35The Rocky Mountains were John's retreat,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38a place where he could hide away.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Staying there in early 1974, he wrote his most famous song -
0:28:42 > 0:28:45a love letter to his wife, Annie.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47Although it was written after a row.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51John and I were in our kitchen.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54And we had had an argument.
0:28:55 > 0:29:01And we'd had an argument and then we had sorted it out.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04And he left to go skiing.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07And I was putzing around and about a half hour later,
0:29:07 > 0:29:1045 minutes later, he came back in the door.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14And he had gone to Aspen Mountain and gotten on the chairlift
0:29:14 > 0:29:16and he wrote the song in 10 minutes.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19And he came back and he played it for me.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25# You fill up my senses
0:29:25 > 0:29:28# Like a night in a forest
0:29:30 > 0:29:35# Like the mountains in springtime
0:29:35 > 0:29:40# Like a walk in the rain
0:29:40 > 0:29:44# Like a storm in the desert
0:29:44 > 0:29:49# Like a sleepy blue ocean
0:29:49 > 0:29:54# You fill up my senses
0:29:54 > 0:29:59# Come fill me again. #
0:29:59 > 0:30:01There was nobody on the mountain when I started out that day.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04I skied down this very tough run, all out of breath,
0:30:04 > 0:30:06I skied right onto the lift.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09I was riding up again, sitting there, catching my breath,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12looking down at where I'd just been a few months ago -
0:30:12 > 0:30:14all this physical stuff going on.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19When suddenly I was hypersensitive to how beautiful everything was.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22The sky was a blue you only see from mountain tops.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Then I became aware of the other people skiing,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28the colours of their clothes, the birds singing,
0:30:28 > 0:30:29the sound of the lift,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32the sibilant sound of the skiers going down the mountain.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34All of these things filled up my senses
0:30:34 > 0:30:36and, when I said this to myself,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39unbidden images came one after the other -
0:30:39 > 0:30:42the night in the forest, a walk in the rain,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44the mountains in springtime.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49All of the pictures merged and then what I was left with was Annie.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53That song was the embodiment of the love that I felt at the time.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56In the 10 minutes it took to reach the top of the mountain,
0:30:56 > 0:30:57the song was there.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06# Let me give my life to you. #
0:31:06 > 0:31:10It's been wonderful for me, because I've heard it in elevators,
0:31:10 > 0:31:15I've heard it in St Mark's Square with violinists.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18My daughter had it played at her wedding.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Erm...
0:31:20 > 0:31:23but people still carry that with them
0:31:23 > 0:31:28and it's just a beautiful, beautiful gift.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32The songs weren't contrived, he wasn't a Tin Pan Alley writer -
0:31:32 > 0:31:35he didn't go into an office in the morning
0:31:35 > 0:31:37or a studio and say,
0:31:37 > 0:31:42"I'm going to sit and write some songs," whenever it hit him.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44He, erm, he wrote a song.
0:31:47 > 0:31:52# You fill up my senses
0:31:52 > 0:31:59# Come fill me again. #
0:32:03 > 0:32:07APPLAUSE
0:32:14 > 0:32:16John Denver's rise to stardom coincided
0:32:16 > 0:32:18with a bleak time in American life.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23With the Watergate crisis and the end of the Vietnam War,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26his simple songs of love and nature
0:32:26 > 0:32:29struck a chord across war-weary America.
0:32:29 > 0:32:38# Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. #
0:32:38 > 0:32:42You know, this was the Vietnam era,
0:32:42 > 0:32:48Nixon, hearings, there were problems with gasoline shortages.
0:32:48 > 0:32:54It's in those crisis moments when you look to home and hearth
0:32:54 > 0:32:59and meaning and taking care of the Earth and taking care of each other.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06# Looks so lovely. #
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Yes, it does.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11So, this was post the hippie period
0:33:11 > 0:33:19and it was more a middle America appeal, I think,
0:33:19 > 0:33:24to people who did want that kind of kindness.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29Not as a gesture of opposition.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34But as a simple affirmation
0:33:34 > 0:33:39of people's ability to care about one another.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44# Just like today. #
0:33:44 > 0:33:46But not everyone liked John Denver.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50In the rock music press, he was widely loathed.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54John took his shots from a generation of rock critics
0:33:54 > 0:33:56in the early '70s.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Rock journalism was kind of in its nascent stages at the time
0:34:00 > 0:34:02and you had people jockeying for position by pointing out
0:34:02 > 0:34:04the coolest music or the newest music
0:34:04 > 0:34:06or the most underground music.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07And that wasn't John.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10John wore granny glasses, he said "far out",
0:34:10 > 0:34:12he was relentlessly cheerful.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16So he wasn't going to get backing in that particular sector
0:34:16 > 0:34:19and it's too bad, because they didn't pay attention to his music,
0:34:19 > 0:34:21they paid attention to his image.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Well, they didn't say good things about him, you know.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29They didn't give him the same adulation that they gave the Beatles
0:34:29 > 0:34:31or that they gave...
0:34:31 > 0:34:36And he sold as many records. He didn't get that from the critics.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39He got the opposite. They'd say, "What is this about?"
0:34:40 > 0:34:43John read that stuff and it really affected him.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47'The last interview I conducted with John was in the early '90s
0:34:47 > 0:34:51'and we got around to the topic of his detractors'
0:34:51 > 0:34:53and he said something that really resonated with me.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56He was called the Mickey Mouse Of Rock,
0:34:56 > 0:34:58the Ronald Reagan Of Pop.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01What he was angry about was what it meant regarding his fans -
0:35:01 > 0:35:04the people that had seen a birth of a child to his music or
0:35:04 > 0:35:07had gotten married to one of his songs -
0:35:07 > 0:35:08that they were being disparaged.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11That angered him. That's what got under his skin.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15John would sing to 18,000 people
0:35:15 > 0:35:21and the music critics would just talk about how pap his music was,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23and the last tag line was
0:35:23 > 0:35:26"But the 18,000 people seemed to enjoy it."
0:35:28 > 0:35:32John Denver was a hugely popular live entertainer.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35His concerts often had the reverence of a religious gathering,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37rather than a regular pop concert.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48# I had an uncle name of Matthew. #
0:35:48 > 0:35:50He put together a stellar band,
0:35:50 > 0:35:55many of whom had played for Elvis, like guitar legend James Burton.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57His music was very disciplined.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03And everything had to be just in the right spot, the right space.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07And John relied a lot on his band,
0:36:07 > 0:36:12but he was a very good musician and a great singer/songwriter.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16And he could put the people in the palm of his hand.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It was just like a one-on-one, you know.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23The people were right there with him.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26I mean, even though we had 30,000 people,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29it was like they were right there with us on stage.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35# Blue, just a Kansas summer sky. #
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Now, you hear that? That's not a Rocky Mountain High.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59Here he is, ladies and gentlemen. My friend, Mr Frank Sinatra.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05By 1976, less than five years after Country Roads,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07this former folky had been transformed
0:37:07 > 0:37:10into America's most popular performer.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14Now the biggest stars wanted to be seen alongside him.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18# I've got you under my skin. #
0:37:18 > 0:37:20'I remember the first time they worked together,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22'we did Harrah's in Lake Tahoe.'
0:37:22 > 0:37:27And when we put the show on sale,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30the phone lines in the western United States
0:37:30 > 0:37:33went down from the reservations.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34That's how big it was.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38You know, Frank, I was just thinking about the time that song
0:37:38 > 0:37:40was first heard, so was I.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43LAUGHTER
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Boy, you know how to make a guy feel mature, don't you?
0:37:45 > 0:37:47Well, no, really, Frank,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50do you have any idea how many romances got started to your music?
0:37:50 > 0:37:53- No, I don't, but I never got any of the action either.- Folks...
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Sometime during his tenure with the trio,
0:37:58 > 0:38:02I remember him saying that it was one of his ambitions
0:38:02 > 0:38:05in life to become as much of a household name as Frank Sinatra.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09The pay off came years later
0:38:09 > 0:38:13when I found myself in Los Angeles driving up Sunset Boulevard
0:38:13 > 0:38:18and looking up and seeing a humongous poster of the two of them
0:38:18 > 0:38:21with their arms crossed, standing back-to-back with each other.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25And I thought to myself, "By golly, he made it!"
0:38:25 > 0:38:28# But I get a kick
0:38:28 > 0:38:31# You give me a boot
0:38:31 > 0:38:34# I get a kick
0:38:34 > 0:38:37# Out of you
0:38:37 > 0:38:41# Out of you. #
0:38:44 > 0:38:47APPLAUSE
0:38:51 > 0:38:53John was now in the superstar league -
0:38:53 > 0:38:56he had his own Learjet and got his dad to fly it for him.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00I hope you folks recognise me,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03but I'm not sure you'll recognise the gentleman on my right.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05He's my father, John Deutschendorf.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09He's been a pilot all his life, he taught me how to fly.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13# I guess he'd rather be in Colorado. #
0:39:13 > 0:39:17And back home in Aspen, John's own family started to grow
0:39:17 > 0:39:20as he and Annie adopted two small children.
0:39:20 > 0:39:26Zach was the first and he was this little brown, beautiful little boy.
0:39:26 > 0:39:27And then Anna Kate was the second.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30And John was just thrilled and over the moon
0:39:30 > 0:39:34that this was happening too, cos we'd have a boy and a girl.
0:39:35 > 0:39:40You know, when I was younger, I just thought that was, I guess,
0:39:40 > 0:39:41it was normal.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Erm, you know, I thought it was always like that
0:39:45 > 0:39:52until I was old enough to understand that it was different.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Erm, and that all these people were coming to see him.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00And for Zach and kids everywhere, John was a fixture on '70s TV
0:40:00 > 0:40:04through his frequent appearances with the Muppets.
0:40:04 > 0:40:10It was... Early on, it was, you know when the Muppets were big, I guess.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13It's different than it is now.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16But it was always a lot of fun.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Where to, Mr?
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Get in.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Oh.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Already a big star on TV, John Denver next went into the movies.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Produced by Jerry Weintraub,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Oh, God was a comedy which played on John's everyman appeal
0:40:36 > 0:40:39by casting him as a supermarket manager
0:40:39 > 0:40:41who is visited by the Almighty,
0:40:41 > 0:40:46personified by 90-year-old comedian George Burns.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48I was just thinking, maybe...
0:40:48 > 0:40:50- What about a little rain? - A little rain?
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Yeah, a small shower.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55One small shower, you got it.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59RAIN STARTS
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Hey, hey, it's raining.
0:41:03 > 0:41:04You made it rain!
0:41:04 > 0:41:11'It was an exciting time and Oh, God was a big hit all around the world.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15'I don't know how skilled he was as an actor,'
0:41:15 > 0:41:20he was good because he did on screen exactly what he did on television.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23He had a great smile and you accepted him in your house.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27I wouldn't term him an ac... He was a singer, an artist.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29It's just like Noah's Ark!
0:41:29 > 0:41:31Same thing, without the smell.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42# It's cold here in the city. #
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Despite his huge success,
0:41:44 > 0:41:48John Denver had always been prone to insecurity and self-doubt.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51From the early '70s,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53he'd been involved in new-age therapies including
0:41:53 > 0:41:58the controversial self-awareness programme EST or est.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Est is Erhard Seminars Training,
0:42:00 > 0:42:06it's one of the many self discovery actions or seminars or workshops...
0:42:06 > 0:42:10Why did you want to discover more about yourself? Was it something you were uncomfortable with?
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Oh, I think it's part of what Tom Wolfe called,
0:42:13 > 0:42:15in the 1970s, The Me Decade.
0:42:15 > 0:42:16We really want to know who we are.
0:42:16 > 0:42:17There are things going on.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20We learn more and more about ourselves all the time.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24And to really find out what it is that makes us tick
0:42:24 > 0:42:26and how we are and can be really individuals
0:42:26 > 0:42:29and how our lives can make a difference.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31He was extraordinarily serious about est.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33That doesn't mean that I have to be, you know,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35I thought it was stupid, but that's just me.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38But I know a lot of people that came out of est,
0:42:38 > 0:42:39they'd got a lot from it.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43But he needed that. You know, people need things,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47they turn to whatever it is that gets them through the day.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50That helped him get through the day for a very long time.
0:42:50 > 0:42:51John was complicated.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55I think people have a certain vision of him -
0:42:55 > 0:43:00the kind of "Gee golly, far out," those kind of things.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02But he was basically a pretty quiet guy.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07I think he was insecure.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10But I think he had a difficult time with success.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15I think that was very hard for him.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Because I don't think he knew how good he was.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Many, many artists don't realise how good they are,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25that's when the darkness comes out.
0:43:25 > 0:43:32I don't think he ever accepted the fact that he was as good as he was.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Because the critics always were a problem for him.
0:43:35 > 0:43:40I think most of our fear comes from not thinking we're enough
0:43:40 > 0:43:45and that ironically I think sometimes the more success you can have,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49and particularly if it's been a rocket ship, a rocket ride,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54that there's not all that time to develop perhaps other aspects of yourself.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57That's just my take on it.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04But for the time being, these doubts were put to one side as John
0:44:04 > 0:44:08continued his reign as America's favourite singer.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11He was one of the first celebrities to use his fame to raise awareness
0:44:11 > 0:44:15of environmental issues and forged a firm friendship
0:44:15 > 0:44:18with underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22- Welcome aboard Calypso.- It is great to be here.- Let me show you around.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26At some point, I think it was during dinner or after dinner,
0:44:26 > 0:44:27he asked my dad, he said,
0:44:27 > 0:44:33"Captain, do you mind if I go to the bow of the ship
0:44:33 > 0:44:38"for a while? I need to think." And my dad said, "Yes, of course."
0:44:38 > 0:44:42So he went to the bow and that's when he wrote Aye Calypso.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46# Aye, Calypso, the places you've been to
0:44:46 > 0:44:50# Things that you show us The stories you tell
0:44:50 > 0:44:53# Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
0:44:53 > 0:44:57# The men who have served you so long and so well. #
0:45:01 > 0:45:07Typical of John and his generosity, ultimately he gave the revenue
0:45:07 > 0:45:13of that particular song to the not-for-profit company of my father.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16And I remember collecting big cheques.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Supporting Jacques Cousteau was only one strand
0:45:20 > 0:45:23of John's political activism and this side of him,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26last seen in the Mitchell Trio days, was reborn.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29He campaigned against whaling...
0:45:29 > 0:45:36# Have you heard the song the humpback hears 500 miles away
0:45:36 > 0:45:45# Telling tales of ancient history of passages and home. #
0:45:45 > 0:45:47..and worked with President Jimmy Carter
0:45:47 > 0:45:50on a commission combating hunger in Africa.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55He was the guy that was there before We Are The World,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58the whole Hunger Project, he started that.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02Working on the President's commission
0:46:02 > 0:46:05on world and domestic hunger.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08Everywhere he saw... And this was in the '70s, this is early
0:46:08 > 0:46:09and he was ahead of his time.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11The Stings and the Bonos
0:46:11 > 0:46:15and the people who use their status well to help others,
0:46:15 > 0:46:20I think they were inspired by John back then, he sort of set the tone.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25To further these ideas, John Denver set up his own foundation, Windstar,
0:46:25 > 0:46:30and bought a large tract of land near Aspen as its base.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34This is late '70s, the land was purchased by the mid-'80s,
0:46:34 > 0:46:37we had hundreds of people out there,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41we had wind generation experiments, solar demonstrations,
0:46:41 > 0:46:45we had an international symposium where 1,500 people would come,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48so it was an exciting, exciting place
0:46:48 > 0:46:50and probably ahead of its time.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53# Usually in the morning
0:46:53 > 0:46:57# I'm filled with sweet belonging. #
0:46:57 > 0:47:01While he was famous as a campaigner, by the early 1980s,
0:47:01 > 0:47:05John Denver's status as a pop star was fading.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07Although his albums were still popular,
0:47:07 > 0:47:12he hadn't had a hit single since Calypso in 1975.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18His personal life was also in turmoil.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22His father, to whom he'd grown closer through their love of flying,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25died suddenly in March 1982.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29And only three months later, on their 15th wedding anniversary,
0:47:29 > 0:47:31Annie asked him for a divorce.
0:47:33 > 0:47:34It's complicated.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38I think anybody that's been married to an entertainer or in that
0:47:38 > 0:47:40kind of industry where it's bigger than life...
0:47:40 > 0:47:45I think the pressures are enormous and I didn't have the maturity,
0:47:45 > 0:47:47and I don't think John did, either,
0:47:47 > 0:47:52to be able to deal with each other the way perhaps we could now, today.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54You know, there was hurt, there was anger,
0:47:54 > 0:48:00there was disappointment and I know for me when I look back is that we
0:48:00 > 0:48:04were young and we didn't know how to talk about these things.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Well, I think over the last four, five, six years,
0:48:07 > 0:48:11we started drifting away from one another and part of it had to do with
0:48:11 > 0:48:15the amount of time that we spent not together
0:48:15 > 0:48:16and the things that we, I suppose,
0:48:16 > 0:48:18got locked into and not being together
0:48:18 > 0:48:21and then an inflexibility when we got back together
0:48:21 > 0:48:24to sort of integrate the other's life into our own.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29Within that, we sort of found that we have different interests,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32we had different friends, we had very little in common.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35- Do you see her? - Yes, I do.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40# This is what it's like falling out of love
0:48:41 > 0:48:45# This is the way you lose your very best friend
0:48:47 > 0:48:53# This is how it feels when it's all over
0:48:53 > 0:48:58# This is just the way a true love ends. #
0:48:58 > 0:49:02Like so many people, they look at divorce like it's a failure.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05It's one of those big failures, you know.
0:49:05 > 0:49:11John was depressed about it.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15He loved his kids, I think he loved Annie
0:49:15 > 0:49:18and John had all of the things tugging at him
0:49:18 > 0:49:20that he wasn't about to give up.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24And Annie wanted a guy to be around and he wasn't.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30# Then the nights grow cold and hard to live through. #
0:49:30 > 0:49:34The down spells cycled throughout his life
0:49:34 > 0:49:36from when he was very young.
0:49:36 > 0:49:42And I think he went through this enormous down spell with relationships.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47And maybe because suddenly they weren't playing his music,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49every star has their flourishing
0:49:49 > 0:49:51and then there's a time when you're not being played,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55so those insecurities might have crept in. Who knows?
0:49:55 > 0:49:58All I know is John went through a very difficult time.
0:50:01 > 0:50:07# This is how it feels when it's all over. #
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Well, I think as we get older and we lose people...
0:50:10 > 0:50:15You know, his father died and then his first marriage failed.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17And then he had other disappointments
0:50:17 > 0:50:20and I think you become more serious.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28Yeah, I think it was a hard period for him,
0:50:28 > 0:50:34but like they say, "One door closes and another one opens."
0:50:34 > 0:50:38And in Australia in 1986 there was a new stage in John's life
0:50:38 > 0:50:41when he met singer and actress Cassandra Delaney.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45I was in Sydney, cos that's where I was raised,
0:50:45 > 0:50:49and I was actually a wedding singer the night that I met John.
0:50:49 > 0:50:54I was at the Sebel Town House doing a show for this wedding
0:50:54 > 0:51:01and we were sitting at the bar and it was packed and in walks this...
0:51:01 > 0:51:07this guy with two guys beside him and I looked over and it was...
0:51:07 > 0:51:11And he looked at me and it was kind of love at first sight.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15And I turned to my guitar player and he was like,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18"Do know who that is?" I'm, like, "No."
0:51:18 > 0:51:22And he's like, "That's John Denver," and I went, "Oh, well...
0:51:22 > 0:51:26"John Denver. Well, maybe I'll just go home!"
0:51:27 > 0:51:31After a whirlwind courtship, John and Cassandra married
0:51:31 > 0:51:34and she joined his life on the road and his campaigning.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37When I met him in the late '80s,
0:51:37 > 0:51:43he was really getting involved in the politics of the environment
0:51:43 > 0:51:48and you know he was passionate about NASA and going to the moon.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51You know, he was going into space.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56For many years, John had been one of the foremost campaigners
0:51:56 > 0:51:59for civilians to go into space.
0:51:59 > 0:52:00He hoped to lead the way as a passenger
0:52:00 > 0:52:04on the Challenger Space Shuttle.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06Until President Reagan announced a year and a half ago, during his
0:52:06 > 0:52:09presidential campaign, that he was going to send a teacher first,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13I thought that I would be the first one to go and that was my flight.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15He sent Christa McAuliffe.
0:52:15 > 0:52:16I knew all of the astronauts on board,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20I knew Christa. I support NASA 1,000%.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23I think it's one of the best things going on
0:52:23 > 0:52:25not only in the United States, but in the world.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28Tragically, the Challenger exploded on take off
0:52:28 > 0:52:29killing everyone on board.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32Would you go if there were another Challenger mission?
0:52:32 > 0:52:35I would go right now, I would go tomorrow if it were possible.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38# They gave us their light
0:52:38 > 0:52:43# They gave us their spirit and all they could be. #
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Although he still featured in events like the Challenger Benefit,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49by the mid-1980s John Denver's star had fallen.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54When the charity record, We Are The World, was produced in 1985,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57he wasn't even invited to take part.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02He also broke up with his long-term manager Jerry Weintraub.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06And, in 1986, Denver was dropped by RCA,
0:53:06 > 0:53:11the company for whom he'd sold over 100 million records.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14RCA was an incredibly stupid record company.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18Unfortunately, every year they changed presidents
0:53:18 > 0:53:25and changed A&R people and new people came in, younger people,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27they didn't care about John Denver,
0:53:27 > 0:53:31they probably didn't even know who he was, you know?
0:53:31 > 0:53:36# Lady, are you happy?
0:53:38 > 0:53:43# Do you feel the way I do? #
0:53:45 > 0:53:48His personal life went through more troubles.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51Although John and Cassandra had a baby daughter, Jesse Belle,
0:53:51 > 0:53:55their marriage was short-lived and ended in divorce after four years.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59In the 1990s, his appearances in the media were more often
0:53:59 > 0:54:02for drunk-driving offences than for his music.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07# My sweet lady. #
0:54:07 > 0:54:10But John Denver had a loyal fanbase
0:54:10 > 0:54:13and he still played sell-out shows around the world.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17In 1995, he released a double live album
0:54:17 > 0:54:19which surprised many by going gold.
0:54:19 > 0:54:20For his friends,
0:54:20 > 0:54:25John seemed to be in a happier place than he'd been for many years.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28He was turning the corner on so many things.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33He was still discovering what he's going to do in this next era.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37But there was a deeper peace about him, a deeper understanding
0:54:37 > 0:54:44about him, much greater wisdom about this celebrity which the
0:54:44 > 0:54:48flourishing star maybe had passed, but the ability to make a difference
0:54:48 > 0:54:52was possibly even stronger, because he had greater wisdom.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59But tragically there was to be no comeback for John Denver.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03Since learning to fly with his father, he'd become a keen pilot,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07owning a number of high-performance stunt planes.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09On October 12th, 1997,
0:55:09 > 0:55:14he took delivery of an experimental kit plane, the Long-EZ.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Test flying it at a low level over Monterey Bay,
0:55:17 > 0:55:20the plane crashed into the sea.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24The accident report concluded that it had run out of fuel
0:55:24 > 0:55:28and that John had been unable to switch to the reserve tank.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31He was killed instantly.
0:55:31 > 0:55:32We got to talking one day and I said,
0:55:32 > 0:55:37"John, do you ever think about something,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41"maybe tragedy in a plane or something?" He said, "Never."
0:55:41 > 0:55:45He said, "If it's my time to go,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48"I would want to go flying my plane."
0:55:49 > 0:55:55I picked up the phone and Malcolm said that,
0:55:55 > 0:55:59"Cassie, there's been an accident."
0:55:59 > 0:56:01And I'm like...
0:56:01 > 0:56:05I, I pretty much just fell to the floor.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08And then I got on the phone and started talking to everybody
0:56:08 > 0:56:11and telling them how it was a mistake, it wasn't John,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13he wasn't there, you know, blah, blah, blah.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18And trying to cover it to keep it from getting to Mom...
0:56:18 > 0:56:20for a while.
0:56:21 > 0:56:27# I've been lately thinking about my life's time
0:56:27 > 0:56:32# All the things I've done and how it's been
0:56:34 > 0:56:40# And I can't help believing in my own mind
0:56:40 > 0:56:45# I know I'm gonna hate to see it end. #
0:56:45 > 0:56:47I think he was a great artist.
0:56:47 > 0:56:53I think he was a wonderful man, a wonderful fellow, when I knew him.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57I loved him dearly, I miss him a lot.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03# I've known my lady's pleasures. #
0:57:03 > 0:57:06He represented America at its best and healthiest.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09He's a wonderful artist and a wonderful writer
0:57:09 > 0:57:13and I think his songs will be sung for hundreds of years.
0:57:13 > 0:57:14They're that good.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19# I have to say it now It's been a good life all in all. #
0:57:19 > 0:57:20My brother was a great guy.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24I mean, he could be wonderfully generous, like all people,
0:57:24 > 0:57:27and he could be an asshole like all people.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31And I have experiences of both, you know.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36It didn't affect my love for him or that I like his music.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40# Sit and pass the pipe around. #
0:57:40 > 0:57:45He was a hard guy to picture dead, cos he'd been so alive.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48As I said, nothing scared him.
0:57:48 > 0:57:55# How sweet it is to love someone How great it is to care
0:57:55 > 0:57:58# How long it's been since yesterday. #
0:57:58 > 0:58:01I feel close to him, you know, when I'm in the mountains.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05And, you know, when I'm looking at things that I know he looked at,
0:58:05 > 0:58:09you know, that he saw, I feel pretty close to him.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13# And talk of poems and prayers and promises
0:58:13 > 0:58:16# And things that we believe in
0:58:16 > 0:58:23# How sweet it is to love someone How right it is to care
0:58:23 > 0:58:27# How long it's been from yesterday
0:58:27 > 0:58:29# What about tomorrow?
0:58:30 > 0:58:35# What about our dreams and all the memories we share? #
0:58:38 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd