John Denver--Rocky Mountain High (1972)

     Every so often there is an opportunity to interject some of my childhood in these blogs, and this one has been sitting there for a long time. When a teenager I had a major admiration for John Denver. His voice could be a bit whiny, but his early days as a folkie and his commitment to ecological and conservation concerns was a cause that became one of mine as well.
     The "country boy" persona of the mid-70's was a bit tiring, maybe because for a 4 year stretch, the country got a bit of JD saturation. You couldn't turn on a radio, or watch a TV without hearing or seeing him. He was even a movie with George Burns!
     Although he had his first major hit with "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in 1971, it was "Rocky Mountain High" in late 1972/early 1973 that became his calling card. (Maybe because he was always more of a Denver guy, then he was a West Virginia dude...)
    Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born in Roswell, New Mexico but with his dad being an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel they moved quite often. The relationship between father and son were strained during those years as John even took the family car and ran away to California while still in high school.
     Several years later, he had moved to Los Angeles for good and began singing in the folk clubs. He was recruited to sing in the Mitchell Trio in 1965, then Denver, Bosie, and Johnson. During this time he wrote the song that would eventually give him the ability to start a solo career. In 1967 he recorded a demo which had a song on it called, "Babe, I Hate to Go". The manager for The Mitchell Trio forwarded the demo to Peter, Paul, and Mary who changed the name, "Leaving On a Jet Plane", which became their last top 10 hit in 1969.
    Denver's career was in fits and starts for several years having a big hit ("Country Roads", "Rocky Mountain High") then a time where other songs would languish away on the charts. By 1974, he had the twin number one hits, "Sunshine On My Shoulders", and "Annie's Song" which is where his career took off. 

      

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Brewer and Shipley--One Toke Over the Line (1971)

     Brewer and Shipley was your average early 70's folkie duo who sang about social injustices and such...except for this song. It actually was a bit of a lark... something they threw together backstage before a gig, liked what they did and recorded it. Although they had a couple of other songs on the top 100, this was by far their biggest song.
     What is most interesting to me was how it was accepted at the time. There were some, like Vice President Sprio Agnew who condemned them personally as being detrimental to youth culture. Others, because of the use of the name "Jesus" considered it to be a spiritual song. Now....I have never inhaled (no...really....I haven't), but the vast majority of my friends growing up did, and I never remember any of them equating it to a religious experience. Anyway....I have included the two versions of this song. One is the original, and the other is from none other than the version sung on Laurence Welk! If you can't stomach listening to the entire video....I at least encourage you to fast forward to the last 15 seconds which is one of those TV moments you just can't make up.....

   

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Joan Baez--Diamonds and Rust (1975)

     Joan Baez is a treasure in the music world that should never be forgotten. Her beauty and distinctive vocal talents was accompanied with a passion for social justice that has never wavered in the over 50 years since her first album in 1960. However, it seems as if she had been overshadowed musically (at least in the decades since the 60's) by Bob Dylan, and then by other artists such as Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins.  

     In fact, it was Baez who, in covering one of Dylan/s songs brought him to prominence (they were a romantic couple for the better part of 3 years). As Dylan went way beyond traditional songs, his popularity began to soar. Joan continued to do well throughout the 60's and of course had her biggest commercial success on the charts with a cover of The Band's, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". The first time I heard Baez was in the mid-70's with this song. Her folk music might have been influential politically in the 60's, but this was one of her finest moments as a songwriter as she sings about her relationship with Dylan in the 60's. It's a clear look at a relationship in loving, but unsentimental terms.    

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Happy Belated Birthday to Bob Dylan.....

    Yes, yes, I realize that his birthday was several days ago, but time got away from me....

     Dylan's influence in modern music is almost incalculable. His role in the folk, electric folk, country rock, and singer/songwriter genres is groundbreaking. He proved (which was an impossible notion at the time) that you didn't need a great voice to be successful. Much of the introspective writing that the Beatles were given credit for would have never happened without Dylan. For a child of the 70's however, he never seemed to :"click" like he does for a child of the 60's. It's not the music because many of his albums from the 70's were among his best. He had a bit of an up and down decade in the 80's, but since 1993's, "World Gone Wrong" he has consistently been on his game. So for me and many others who's formative musical years was not in the 60's the question has been, "what was the fuss?"

     As one looks back it's clear that by the mid 70's all of the groundbreaking had been done. Everything I mentioned at the beginning of this article had been accomplished by 1975, which is why I believe he went through a bit of a downturn in the 15 years after that. He had done it all and more...and it was obvious he was a bit without direction. Thankfully that has changed and he is not only considered the accolades for his groundbreaking work in the past, but also given credit for the wonderful songwriter that he continues to be......

     Here are three classics and one new one from the great Bob Dylan

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