[playing the eagle and the hawk] ♪ >> the arc of his career was like that of an eagle taking flight. people have said that what sinatra was to the 1940s, elvis to the 1950s, the beatles to the '60s, john denver was to the 1970s. his music was powerful, and his message was so positive and compassionate. it's refreshing to hear it again today. >> ♪ oh. ♪ i am the eagle. ♪ i live in high country ♪ in rocky cathedrals ♪ that reach to the sky. ♪ i am the hawk, ♪ and there's blood ♪ on my feathers, ♪ but time is still turning.

♪ they soon will be dry. ♪ all those who see me ♪ and all who believe-- >> john always talked about coming back as an eagle, and it's, you know, it's an incredibly difficult song to sing--the notes he has to hit-- but it's brilliant in terms of the personification of the animal. >> ♪ come dance ♪ with the west wind ♪ and touch on ♪ the mountaintops. ♪ sail over the canyons ♪ and up to the stars ♪ and reach for the heavens ♪ and hope for the future. >> if any song would be john's profile, it would be the eagle and the hawk, because i think he saw himself as that. that's why he always wanted to fly. sometimes, when i would rehearse the orchestra before he would come in, and he would get this kind of crusty symphony orchestra, and they were all kind of a little upset that they're doing a pop concert,

and then john would come in and start singing, and lo and behold, little smiles would start to appear. and all of sudden, you would catch the first violinist kind of tapping his foot or her foot, and suddenly they would, like, "oh," you know? >> from a performing standpoint, working with john every night on stage was like being in school with the master. nobody could work an audience like john denver. people are always asking me, "hey, how come you're so relaxed onstage?" i said, "i had the best teacher." john denver taught me to be myself onstage. >> it was quite an experience for all of us, the band members and the wives and my friends and all of our friends, watching john, you know, make the transition from a well-known singer-songwriter to a household name. >> whoo-hoo! thank god i'm a country boy! yes, i am! >> john denver had a profound effect on so many of us.

several years after his death, we, his friends, are able to speak about him. >> ♪ oh. ♪ rocky mountain high. i can't remember not singing. evidently, from the time i could first talk, i started repeating the songs that i heard on the radio, and they called me "jitterbug" as a matter of fact. i think that's because that was kind of the popular music form at the time, and my grandmother gave me a guitar when i was 12 years old. it was a guitar that she had played in her younger years. >> and i got the guitar out, and i let him pick around on it, and he just tried to sing up a storm. he was singing little nursery

rhyme songs at the time, and i says, "john." i said, "would you practice if mom would give you music lessons?" i said, "if you will, grandma will give you this guitar." and so he asked his mom, and she says, "if you'll practice." so i gave him the guitar, and that's where he is today. >> when john first walked into the audition with a smile as wide as his face, i was immediately attracted, and i was won over completely. it became, you know, probably the strongest relationship i ever had in music. i worked with him, you know, from four days after his audition to the day he died and felt closer to him than anybody. >> leaving on a jet plane was the song that really, to me, opened the door for his career and what would follow.

it was a great song. it was timely song. a lot of people didn't know he had written it. >> the first time i heard leaving on a jet plane, i was at--in minneapolis--at an auditorium that john was doing a sound check in. he was with a group called the chad mitchell trio. he was standing by himself in this auditorium, and he was singing leaving on a jet plane. it was really beautiful. it was crystal clear. john had this crystalline quality to his voice, and that was the first time i ever heard it. >> i think the first real impact that his stardom had on me was when i did the first live concert with him. john came out and started performing, and the crowd just went wild. that was my first realization that he had something that was magical with all these people. and i would look out at the audience, and there were people of all ages. >> ♪ all my bags are packed.

♪ i'm ready to go. ♪ i'm standing here ♪ outside your door. ♪ i hate to wake you up ♪ to say good-bye, ♪ but the dawn is breaking. ♪ it's early morn. ♪ the taxi's waiting. >> you heard peter, paul and mary rendition of leaving on a jet plane, and you heard it for the first time on the car radio, and you practically had to drive off the road, you know, to get away, you know, to stop the car. he was so exciting. >> ♪ and smile for me. ♪ tell me that you'll ♪ wait for me. ♪ hold me like ♪ you'll never let me go. >> the end of a summer tour, we were in boston playing the harbor lights right down on the water and right near logan international airport, so planes kept going overhead. and he starts the song. [playing leaving on a jet plane]

♪ and a jet comes taking off, and it's so loud, we can't hear anything. so he starts again. and he keeps doing this, and at one point, chris nole, the piano player, had this keyboard, and he had a jet plane sound in there, and he cranked it up, and so the whole theater was just booming with this jet plane. >> ♪ 'cause i'm leaving ♪ on a jet plane. ♪ don't know when ♪ i'll be back again. ♪ oh, babe, i hate to go. ♪ there's so many times ♪ i've let you down, ♪ so many times ♪ i've played around. ♪ i tell you now, ♪ they don't mean a thing. ♪ every place i go, ♪ i'll think of you. ♪ every song i sing,

♪ i'll sing for you. ♪ when i come back, ♪ i'll bring ♪ your wedding ring. ♪ so kiss me ♪ and smile for me. ♪ tell me that you'll ♪ wait for me. ♪ hold me like you'll never-- >> and john sang the song for me before we recorded it, and i liked everything about it except the name of the song, oh, babe, i hate to go. i said, "john, that's kind of a bland title. it's hard to remember, but you have a great line in the chorus, 'leaving on a jet plane.' let's name it that." >> ♪ 'cause i'm leaving ♪ on a jet plane. ♪ don't know when ♪ i'll be back again. ♪ oh, babe, i hate to go.

♪ i'm leaving on a jet plane. ♪ don't know when ♪ i'll be back again. ♪ oh, baby, i hate to go. [cheers and applause] >> if they know a western song in china, they know take me home, country roads. >> take me home, country roads actually was started by bill danoff and his wife taffy. and one night after john had performed, we got together with bill and taffy and a group of musicians, and bill had started take me home, country roads. and they proceeded to play all

night, and they came up with this song. >> ♪ almost heaven, ♪ west virginia, ♪ blue ridge mountains, ♪ shenandoah river. ♪ life is old there, ♪ older than the trees, ♪ younger than the mountains ♪ growing like a breeze. ♪ country roads, ♪ take me home ♪ to the place ♪ i belong. ♪ west virginia, ♪ mountain mama, ♪ take me home. >> take me home, country roads is a classic sing-along song. it's an audience song. it just fits into that great sort of tradition of a song that everybody sings, and everybody wants to sing. you don't have to be the greatest singer in the world. you could just sing that melody, just pour your heart into it.

>> ♪ dark and dusty ♪ painted on the sky, ♪ misty taste of moonshine, ♪ teardrops in my eye. >> it has become popular all over the world, and surprisingly, it was a very big song in china, and that came about when john did a concert at constitution hall in washington. the president and the premier of china were invited to john's concert. afterwards, someone told me that the premier wanted to take some cassettes of john's music back to china. i asked how many cassettes he wanted, and they said, "500." >> ♪ i hear her voice. ♪ in the morning hours, ♪ she calls me. ♪ the radio reminds me ♪ of my home far away. ♪ driving down the road, ♪ i get a feeling ♪ that i should have ♪ been home yesterday.

>> both: ♪ yesterday. ♪ country roads, ♪ take me home ♪ to the place ♪ i belong. ♪ west virginia, ♪ mountain mama, ♪ take me home, ♪ country roads. ♪ take me home now, ♪ country roads. ♪ take me home-- >> ♪ take me home. >> both: ♪ country roads. >> years later, he said, "where can i go where i'm not known?" and he thought of china. he had always wanted to go to china anyway. so he flew off to china, assuming since he had never performed there, never sold a record there, he could be relatively incognito. he gets off the plane in shanghai, and the way he described it, dozens and dozens

of people start gathering and pointing to him, and people gather all over, "john denver. john denver." and he couldn't quite understand it. turns out that the premier had brought the cassettes and had sent them to all the radio stations in china who weren't given permission to play western music, except for this. so take me home, country roads was played all over china. >> it was christmas 1970. annie and i moved to aspen. mountain promontories had always been part of the equation for us, and when the numbers for country roads kept growing, i figured we could afford our dream house. >> we thought it was beautiful, and we could live any place. after he'd spent the whole winter out here, we decided to move, and we pulled in to aspen. it was a great time. i'll never forget. john was on the road, and i pulled in, and i thought, "oh, my gosh, we're really home." >> ♪ see the sunlight ♪ through the pine.

♪ taste the warm ♪ of winter wine. ♪ dream of softly ♪ falling snow, ♪ winter's cold aspen glow. ♪ as the winter days unfold, ♪ hearts grow warmer ♪ with the cold. ♪ peace of mind ♪ is all you know, ♪ winter's cold aspen glow. ♪ aspen is a life to live. ♪ see how much ♪ there is to give. ♪ see how strongly ♪ you believe. ♪ see how much ♪ you may receive. ♪ smiling faces all around, ♪ laughter is the only sound. ♪ memories that can't ♪ grow old, ♪ winter's cold aspen glow.

>> john denver: a song's best friend. now, that was wonderful, and that's just act one. wait till you see the rest of this program. i'm mark simone. >> i'm theresa statz-smith watching this wonderful program with you. >> he is wonderful, and what universal appeal he had, whether you're a country girl, like yourself... >> yes. >> or a city slicker like me. it was just universal, this music, you know? and appreciated around the world. >> oh, it was. i mean, in that last act, we had country roads, which i, of course, loved. and do you know the story about how the premier from china took copies of it back to china? and it was the only american song allowed to be played on the radio. >> yeah. >> that's wonderful, wonderful story. and then, of course, aspenglow, the last song we just heard, is so beautiful. >> he was an amazing singer-songwriter. he was a fine actor as well.

what a career he had. he was very active politically, great environmentalist. and, well, there's so much more coming up, and we've got some great thank-you gifts. we want you to call that number on your screen and pledge your support as you're watching. >> that's right. that's exactly how to do it, because when you call in right now, you are supporting your public television station, and you are saying, "yes, i love this song. i love that you are bringing us a program like this with john denver." i mean, such beautiful music. this was the first live concert i ever went to see, was john denver, growing up on a wisconsin farm. i mean, it's so wonderful to hear this music again. it just takes me back. if you would like to support this public television station, we have some great thank-you gifts for you. if you can make a donation of $60, we have this cd for you. and i want to tell you, there are two tracks on this that are previously unreleased. they were recorded live at the london palladium. it's fly away, what a wonderful version of fly away, and the other one is, of course, rocky tain hh. so this is really a special

treat for you and a terrific way for you to support your public television station. also if you'd like a copy of the program, because it's so wonderful to watch john denver in concert, for a $75 donation, we'd love to send that to you. and if you can make a generous gift of $100, we'll send you both, which is, of course, usually the most popular level, because everybody loves to listen to this music when you're driving in your car or when you're with your family enjoying an evening. but to be able to watch the concert is wonderful as well. and then we have a special treat level for you, and mark will be telling you all about that. >> well, we love bringing you music like this. we love bringing you new music. we love bringing you some of your favorite artists and showing you more about these artists, telling you their stories and bringing you performances by them that you've never seen before. but we need your help to do that, so it's so important that you go to the phone, call that number on your screen, or you can pledge online. at the $150 level, we've got a great package. you'll get that very special john denver: live in london compact disc. this is not available anywhere else.

very special live performances by john denver. and also the dvd of the program you're watching with a lot of great bonus tracks, special performances of annie's song and rocky mountain high and leaving on a jet plane. now, this is the $150 package, and in that same package, you'll also get the essential john denver. this is a two-cd set of some of his greatest performances, some of his rarest performances. you'll get special duets with placido domingo and emmylou harris, some of his rarer songs. it's a wonderful collection of john denver. so at the $150 level, you couldn't ask for a better john denver collection: compact discs and the dvd. and it's also a great way of supporting public television. so call that number on your screen now. >> and i got the guitar out, and i let him pick around on it, and he just tried to sing up a storm. he was singing little nursery rhyme songs at the time, and i says, "john." i said, "would you practice if mom would give you music lessons?"

i said, "if you will, grandma will give you this guitar." and so he asked his mom, and she says, "if you'll practice." so i gave him the guitar, and that's where he is today. >> ♪ but the dawn is breaking. ♪ it's early morn. ♪ the taxi's waiting. ♪ he's blowing his horn. ♪ already i'm so lonesome ♪ i could die ♪ so kiss me ♪ and smile for me. >> male announcer: public television is your front-row seat to the best in performing arts. we make top-notch performances freely available for everyone to enjoy music, theater, dance, and more. the financial support of donors is vital to produce and purchase programs of this caliber. call the number on your screen or go online to learn more about these featured items and others like them. invest in the finest arts and entertainment programs you will ever find,

delivered right to your home. donate now. thank you. >> ♪ it's a long way ♪ from la to denver. ♪ it's a long time ♪ to hang in the sky. ♪ long way home, ♪ starwood in aspen, ♪ a sweet rocky mountain ♪ paradise. >> another thing i love about john denver, and this is what really kind of spoke to me when i was first hearing his music, is, i was the nature girl. i loved to be walking in the woods all the time. and he was really ahead of his time, really about the environment and nature at that time, and now, it would be so--it is so relevant still. >> yeah, and unlike a lot of artists who get involved in those things, it really meant something to him. one of the problems when you had him on the show and interview him is, you'd want to talk about music, but he'd want to tell you

all about this environmental conference he just came back from, and it really was something that consumed a lot of his time. and, you know, he was always ahead of his time. he was--when his first album came out, the record company didn't really promote him, so he organized his own tour. he went to every radio station with his guitar and knocked on the door. he was an activist for everything, including himself. >> you know, we haven't even mentioned that you knew john denver and talked-- spoke with him a lot and interviewed him. i think that's wonderful. >> yeah, and he was john denver in real life too. you know how a lot of artists aren't quite the same off camera? but he was 100% the same guy. >> ♪ so kiss me ♪ and smile for me. ♪ tell me that you'll wait ♪ for me. ♪ hold me like you'll never ♪ let me go. ♪ 'cause i'm leaving ♪ on a jet plane. ♪ well, i got me a fine wife. ♪ i got me old fiddle. >> announcer: no single contribution or revenue source can support this station. the funds we raise go directly into programming.

this is your community-owned television station, and we are as strong as you enable us to be. your financial support is vital to produce and broadcast specials like this one. call the number on your screen or go online to learn more about these featured items and others like them. donate now. thank you. >> ♪ it's the light ♪ in your eyes ♪ that makes him warm. everybody sing. ♪ hey, it's good ♪ to be back home again. ♪ sometimes this old farm ♪ feels like ♪ a long-lost friend. ♪ yes, and, hey, it's good ♪ to be back home again. >> when you're watching public television, you really are learning about the world around

you, whether it's nature programs or you like the kids' programming or the science, adventure. maybe you are an antique collector, and you love antiques roadshow. public television is a place where you get a window into the world, and you really learn to care and love about your world, and that was also very important to john denver. and i think if john denver were alive and performing today, he would so be on public television and be supporting public television. he always worked for what he loved and believed in. >> yeah. now, coming up in this next act, we're gonna see some wonderful songs. calypso was a big hit in the mid '70s, but maybe you've forgotten about this beautiful song. and then sunshine on my shoulders. and do you know the story of annie's song, how that came to be? >> tell me. you know so much. i love it. >> we'll let them tell you in act two. >> okay. >> it's an amazing story. and that's coming up. but as you're watching, make sure you call that number on your screen and make that pledge now. >> ♪ but the best darn thing ♪ about grandma's house ♪ was her great big ♪ feather bed. ♪ it was 9 feet high, ♪ 6 feet wide, ♪ soft as a downy chick.

♪ it was made ♪ from the feathers ♪ of forty-eleven geese, ♪ took a whole bolt of cloth ♪ for the tick. ♪ it'd hold eight kids ♪ and four hound dogs ♪ and a piggy we stole ♪ from the shed. ♪ didn't get much sleep, ♪ but we had a lot of fun ♪ on grandma's feather bed. ♪ after supper ♪ we'd sit around the fire. ♪ the old folks ♪ would spit and chew. ♪ pa would talk ♪ about the farm and the war, ♪ and my granny'd sing ♪ a ballad or two. ♪ now, i'd sit and listen ♪ and watch the fire ♪ till the cobwebs ♪ filled my head. ♪ next thing i know ♪ i'd wake up in the morning ♪ in the middle of the old ♪ feather bed. ♪ it was 9 feet high, ♪ 6 feet wide, ♪ soft as a downy chick. ♪ it was made ♪ from the feathers ♪ of forty-eleven geese, ♪ took a whole bolt of cloth ♪ for the tick. ♪ it'd hold eight kids ♪ and four hound dogs ♪ and a piggy we stole ♪ from the shed. ♪ didn't get much sleep, ♪ but we had a lot of fun ♪ on grandma's feather bed. >> john's feeling for the earth and the environment was so strong. it really colors his music and his lyrics. >> we learn in the presence of other generations.

the old need to teach the young, and the young need to teach the old. although i'm no less distressed about the earth's needs than when i was younger, i see more clearly now what i can do about it, and i see that it needs doing as i live my life daily and reverently. this isn't the reverence of holier-than-thou. it's the reverence that says, "do thyself no harm, for we are all here together." >> john lived, breathed through nature, and that's where he found his inspiration. he spent a long time on the bow of calypso. he was so touched and taken by the experience that he had had that he spent several hours composing. he was composing in his head, and that's where calypso was born. >> ♪ to sail on a dream ♪ on a crystal clear ocean, ♪ to ride on the crest ♪ of a wild raging storm, ♪ to work in the service ♪ of life and the living

♪ in search of the answers ♪ to questions unknown, ♪ to be part of the movement ♪ and part of the growing, ♪ part of beginning ♪ to understand. ♪ aye, calypso, ♪ ♪ the places you've been to, ♪ things that you've shown us, ♪ the stories you tell. ♪ aye, calypso, ♪ ♪ i sing to your spirit, ♪ the men who have served you ♪ so long and so well. [uplifting yodeling] ♪ >> it was definitely a high point, energy-wise,

in the concert. he would just go right up into those high notes, and he just could belt them out, and i think the audience was just sitting there saying, "this is great. this is great." >> ♪ like a dolphin ♪ who guides you, ♪ you bring us beside you ♪ to light up the darkness ♪ and show us the way. >> what calypso did for the cousteau society is enormous outside of the fact that john donated all the royalties of the song to the society. he really gave people in the world an awareness of what jacques cousteau is doing. >> ♪ free as the wind swell, ♪ joyful and loving ♪ in letting it be. ♪ oh. ♪ aye, calypso, ♪ ♪ the places you've been to, ♪ the things that you've ♪ shown us, ♪ the stories you tell. ♪ aye, calypso, ♪ ♪ i sing to your spirit, ♪ the men who have served you

♪ so long and so well. ♪ aye, calypso, ♪ ♪ the places you've been to, ♪ the things that you've ♪ shown us, ♪ the stories you tell. ♪ aye, calypso, ♪ ♪ i sing to your spirit, ♪ the men who have served you ♪ so long and so well. [uplifting yodeling] ♪ >> to me, john taught all of us great lessons on how to respect and love nature, and it was based on his curiosity, his desire to understand and know. he did it because he had to do it. >> my own urgent moral consciousness about planet earth found voice. in it, mixed into my own thought, i could hear buckminster fuller's moral vocabulary and jacques cousteau's and amory lovins' and that of a dozen others who are real stewards of the earth. my performance tours thereafter were conceived less as ends in themselves and more as an ongoing effort to celebrate

the earth as home. ♪ [cheers and applause] >> you know, i've said before that john was a real complicated guy. i think he had big mood swings. he could be totally elated and then very down in the dumps, but i think that that's kind of that artistic temperament. and yet when the music would come out of him, i think it came out of that very universal place that all of us experience. >> ♪ sunshine on my shoulders ♪ makes me happy. >> sunshine on my shoulders is a beautiful song, and when you hear him sing it, it's just pure honesty in his voice. that was probably one of his greatest gifts of all is, he could be so honest when he sang a song. >> i think it was really about his feeling of being outdoors,

colorado. "sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy," it's a simple kind of childlike verse. >> ♪ sunshine on my-- i had written the song in a fit of melancholy one wet and dismal late winter, early spring day in minnesota. on one level, it was about the virtues of love. on another more deeply felt level, it reached out for something the whole world could embrace. >> "sunshine makes me happy. sunshine almost always makes me high. if i had a day that i could give you, i'd give to you a day just like today." i mean, it's beautiful, and i think that's how we all feel. >> ♪ and if i had a day ♪ i could give you, ♪ i'd give to you

♪ a day just like today. ♪ if i had a song ♪ that i could sing for you, ♪ i'd sing a song ♪ to make you feel this way. >> i think that song can be sung either joyously or sadly. you know, he did it in that slow version which i found very, very moving. hidden inside that positive message, there's some pain in there in that song. >> ♪ sunshine in my eyes ♪ can make me cry.

♪ sunshine on the water ♪ looks so lovely. ♪ sunshine almost always ♪ makes me high. ♪ sunshine almost all the time ♪ makes me high. ♪ sunshine almost always. [applause]

>> he said, "lee, i've got this new song. you know, milt loves it. we're gonna record it. let me play it for you." so he picked up the guitar and played annie's song, played it perfectly top to bottom, and he looked at me, and he said, "what do you think we should do with this song?" and i just looked at him and said, "we should just do that, just what you just did." >> i know milt is fond of saying there are four or five songs that people use for weddings, and he says, "wagner has one, and john denver has two." >> i've heard annie's song with the strolling violins in st. mark's square in venice. i heard it in an elevator in japan. i've heard it-- i'm just struck when i hear it, and it's not--i have to tell you, i don't connect with it as me anymore. i mean, i did at one time,

but it's become so much bigger than that. but the most beautiful time i ever heard it was last summer when my daughter was married, and she married somebody that john actually had the opportunity to get to know before he died. >> i wrote annie's song riding up in a ski lift one day when suddenly i was hypersensitive to how beautiful everything was. the sky was a blue you only see from mountaintops. then i became aware of the other people skiing, the colors of their clothes, the birds singing, the sound of the lift, the sibilant sound of the skiers going down the mountain. all of these thing senses, and when i said this to myself, unbidden images came one after the other: the night in the forest, a walk in the rain, the mountains in springtime. all of the pictures merged, and then what i was left with was annie. that song was the embodiment of the love that i felt at the time.

♪ you fill up my senses ♪ like a night in a forest, ♪ like the mountains ♪ in springtime, ♪ like a walk in the rain, ♪ like a storm in the desert, ♪ like a sleepy blue ocean. ♪ you fill up my senses. ♪ come fill me again. ♪ come let me love you. ♪ let me give my life to you. ♪ let me drown ♪ in your laughter.

♪ let me die in your arms. ♪ let me lay down beside you. ♪ let me always be with you. ♪ come let me love you. ♪ come love me again. [humming main melody] ♪ ♪ let me give my life to you. ♪ come let me love you.

♪ come love me again. sing it with me. ♪ you fill up my senses ♪ like a night in the forest, ♪ like the mountains ♪ in springtime, ♪ like a walk in the rain, ♪ like a storm in the desert, ♪ like a sleepy blue ocean. ♪ you fill up my senses. ♪ come fill me again. [cheers and applause]

>> the first song of john's that impressed me so much with his maturity for a young 22- or 23-year-old was rhymes and reasons. i just couldn't believe the lyric, "for the children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers." >> their laughter and their loveliness would clear a cloudy day. like the music of the mountains and the colors of the rainbow, they're a promise of the future and a blessing for the day. [mellow acoustic guitar music] ♪ ♪ so you speak to me ♪ of sadness, ♪ the coming of the winter. ♪ fear that is within you now ♪ seems to never end. ♪ and the dreams ♪ that have escaped you, ♪ the hope that ♪ you've forgotten, ♪ you tell me ♪ that you need me now. ♪ you want to be my friend.

♪ and you wonder where ♪ we're going. ♪ where's the rhyme? ♪ where's the reason? ♪ and it's you cannot accept ♪ it is here we must begin ♪ to seek the wisdom ♪ of the children ♪ and the graceful way ♪ of flowers in the wind. i'd learned that powerful songs are powerful not because they're pretty or bouncy or funny but because they're about the human condition and what we all aspire to. i'd learned those were the songs i loved. ♪ could clear a cloudy day. ♪ like the music ♪ of the mountains ♪ and the colors ♪ of the rainbow, ♪ they're a promise ♪ of the future ♪ and a blessing for today.

>> john denver: a song's best friend. now, you might be thinking, "it's gonna be hard to top act two." not really. wait till you see act three. i think his greatest song is coming up, rocky mountain high. oh, i love that. >> that was a fantastic song. but in this last segment, i love sunshine on my shoulders. that's a song i like to sing to my little baby girl. >> yeah, but annie's song was--what a powerful song that was, and calypso just meant a lot to a lot of people. and, well... >> absolutely. >> you're gonna see some great stuff in act three coming up. and while you're watching, we hope you go to the phone and call that number on your screen. if you love john denver, if you love public television, making that call, making that pledge right now is so important. >> it is so important. can you think of another station that would air a concert like this? this is what we do at public television. we're out there. we're looking for the next new, great act here at public television. we're also looking back in the archives to find great concerts and great songs like the ones we're bringing you today, because our cd collections are-- some of them are unheard of, unreleased music. if you can make a donation

at the $60 level, we will send you the cd, which includes all these wonderful songs that we're hearing on this program, in addition to bonus tracks fly away and rocky mountain high, previously unreleased, recorded live at the london palladium in march of 1976. that's just wonderful. and, of course, there are 13 other beloved songs on that track. if you can make a $75 donation, we'll send you a copy of the program that we're watching with you right now with all these wonderful, poignant moments, hearing from the family and friends of john denver. i think that's wonderful. they really do that so well here on public television, that kind of program. for the $100 donation, we'll send you both the cd and the dvd. and if you can make a generous donation of $150, we will give you all of the above plus the essential john denver two-cd set. wow. 36 tracks of john's most beloved songs. so these are our way of saying thank you for your support of this station.

and when you do call, you're casting a vote for this kind of program for this kind of music, and this means that we'll see more of john denver right here on your public television station. >> ♪ sunshine in my eyes ♪ can make me cry. ♪ sunshine on the water... >> announcer: public television is your front-row seat to the best in performing arts. we make top-notch performances freely available for everyone to enjoy music, theater, dance, and more. the financial support of donors is vital to produce and purchase programs of this caliber. call the number on your screen or go online to learn more about these featured items and others like them. invest in the finest arts and entertainment programs you will ever find, delivered right to your home. donate now.

thank you. [dramatic violin music] ♪ >> ♪ his spirit joined ♪ and so was formed ♪ 10,000 years ago, ♪ between the swan ♪ and hercules, ♪ where even dark clouds glow. ♪ to live in grace, ♪ to ride the swell, ♪ to yet be strong of will. >> yeah, it's our way of saying thank you by offering you these great thank-you gifts, but it's your way of saying, "please, bring us more programs like this." see the great new artists from around the world or the great american artists, and many of them, of course, you know and you've listened to for years, but maybe you don't know all the stories about the artist, and maybe you've collected john denver's cds through the years. but we've got some great thank-you gifts. as much as his cds are

wonderful, if you've ever seen him in concert-- maybe you never had a chance to see him in concert. what an amazing concert performer. and this thank-you gift at the $60 level is so special. it's john denver: live in london. it's never been released anywhere else. it's only available here on public television, an amazing live concert, and it's got all his great hits and a lot of the songs you might not know. maybe you don't know grandma's feather bed, and maybe you've never heard amsterdam, but it's wonderful, john denver live in concert. that's our thank-you gift at the $60 level, and it's only available here on public television. at the $75 level, the dvd of the program you're watching, and if you're saying to yourself, "i'd love to have both of those," at the $100 level, both of them. and it's a great way to say thank you for your important help to public television. >> right before we had a look at all those great thank-you gifts, you mentioned, you know, a lot of people might not have had a chance to see him live in concert. i'm one of the lucky few, i think. i mean, i did. >> you know how good he was. >> oh, he was terrific. but, you know, if you don't have--didn't have an opportunity, here we have

a front-row seat on public television. >> yeah, he was 12 years old. his grandmother gave him a guitar, an old guitar. in fact, when he was buried, he was buried with that guitar. >> i did not know that. oh, wow. >> and by college, he was already performing in clubs. he was just a natural on stage, very authentic in addition to being such a great singer. >> i think that's how he met annie, didn't he? he was performing at a university, and he saw her in the crowd. >> yeah. >> so touching. >> and of course, he wrote that beautiful song, and maybe you didn't know the story of annie's song until you watched the last act, and that's one of the great things about public television. it's not just the music you know but the story behind some of that music. >> i've heard annie's song with the strolling violins in st. mark's square in venice. i heard it in an elevator in japan. i've heard it-- i'm just struck when i hear it, and it's not--i have to tell you, i don't connect with it as me anymore. i mean, i did at one time, but it's become so much bigger than that. but the most beautiful time i ever heard it was last summer

when my daughter was married, and she married somebody that john actually had the opportunity to get to know before he died. >> it's more--it's the story behind the music. it's more than just hearing good music. it's learning something. we're bringing entertainment. we're bringing enlightenment and great music like this. and if this is the kind of family programming that you love to watch with your children and grandchildren, this is how you can keep it going right here on your public television station. simply make a donation at whatever level works for you. i'm sure there's a lovely basic donation level that could work. call the volunteers. ask them. go to the website. you can also always make a donation there. but i'd like to tell you about the thank-you gifts that we have for you that are special for this program. if you can make a donation of $60, we have the cd. and i have to mention these two wonderful bonus tracks that are previously unreleased. they were recorded live at the london palladium in march of '76, which is just about the time i think i saw john denver in concert: fly away

and rocky mountain high. and for a $75 donation, we have the dvd of the program that you're watching with us with all these terrific interviews, plus there's bonus tracks there that you're not seeing right now: thank god i'm a country boy at red rocks, leaving on a jet plane, rocky mountain high, and annie's song. those are two additional performances that we're giving you right here. >> ♪ you fill up my senses ♪ like a night in a forest, ♪ like the mountains ♪ in springtime, ♪ like a walk in the rain, ♪ like a storm in the desert, ♪ like a sleepy blue ocean. ♪ well, i got me a fine wife. ♪ i got me old fiddle. >> announcer: no single contribution or revenue source can support this station. the funds we raise go directly

into programming. this is your community-owned television station, and we are as strong as you enable us to be. your financial support is vital to produce and broadcast specials like this one. call the number on your screen or go online to learn more about these featured items and others like them. donate now. thank you. >> ♪ in the port of amsterdam, ♪ there's a sailor who sings ♪ of the dreams that he brings ♪ from the wide-open sea. ♪ in the port of amsterdam, ♪ there's a sailor who sleeps ♪ while the riverbank weeps ♪ to the old willow tree. ♪ in the port of amsterdam, ♪ there's a sailor who dies ♪ full of beer, full of cries ♪ in a drunken down fight.

>> well, it's hard to believe that if you have hundreds of cable channels, that you're not gonna see john denver on any of the other channels, or with all those radio stations, you really don't hear john denver's music anymore, and that's where public television comes in, bringing you the unique programming, programs you won't see or hear anywhere else, not just music from around the world but the best in drama, the best in comedy, the best news coverage, children's programming that's so superior to anything else on the air and so important for your kids, and programs that your whole family can watch, the sort of stuff television should be doing but doesn't seem to do on all those other channels. so that's why you need to support public television. we don't depend on advertisers. we just depend on you, and that's why you've got to make that call. the number's right there on your screen. you can call that number. you can pledge online. but show your support for public television. even with the thank-you gifts, we try to find very special ones, like the john denver: live in london cd. you can't get that anywhere else, so... it's so important to keep this station here. it's an important part of your community, and i'm sure it's been an important part

of your life. how many times a week or a month or a year do you tune to this station and see a very special program? so there's the number on your screen. go to the phone. make that call. and show your support right now. >> absolutely right now, 'cause we're going back to the third act, and one of my favorite songs--it's kind of below the radar-- is perhaps love. >> love is great, but thank god i'm a country boy became almost his signature song. >> yeah, well, it absolutely did. >> and i still think his greatest song was rocky mountain high, and you're gonna see that coming up right now in the final act. >> ♪ almost heaven, ♪ west virginia, ♪ blue ridge mountains, ♪ shenandoah river. ♪ life is old there, ♪ older than the trees, ♪ younger than the mountains, ♪ growing like a breeze. ♪ country roads, ♪ take me home

♪ to the place ♪ i belong. ♪ west virginia, ♪ mountain mama, ♪ take me home, ♪ country roads. ♪ all my memories ♪ gather round her, ♪ miner's lady, ♪ stranger to blue water. [cheers and applause] [soft guitar solo] >> one of my favorite singers was jacques brel, and i introduced jacques brel's records to john, who immediately caught on to how good and how important a writer brel was. and it was interesting.

one of the french critics said, "seems to me that john denver is to america what jacques brel is to us." but he had a very big success and performance with port of amsterdam. >> ♪ in the port of amsterdam, ♪ there's a sailor who sings ♪ of the dreams that he brings ♪ from the wide-open sea. ♪ in the port of amsterdam, ♪ there's a sailor who sleeps ♪ while the riverbank weeps ♪ to the old willow tree. >> john was definitely a showman. and he loved to put on a good concert, and he knew that he could sing his ballads, but he also needed to do his lighthearted, funny songs as well, and he had to have a good mix of them, and the audiences just seemed to just love that. >> bands are like nothing else in life. where singer-songwriters are

concerned, the bonding takes the form of breathing together. the people who are out there with you in front of an audience breathing with you while you are putting your life on the line are like none other. >> my first gig with john was actually the tonight show in about february of 1974, and it was the first time that he had been invited to guest host the tonight show. and that was a big shot for him. we'd be onstage in front of 30,000, 35,000 people. i mean, i couldn't believe it, and he realized right then and there, and we all realized that we had a huge tiger by the tail, and john was on his way to becoming a huge, huge star. john would always start off country boy with, "all right, everybody, clap your hands." >> clap your hands for me now, everybody. ♪ well, life on the farm ♪ is kind of laid-back.

♪ ain't much ♪ an old country boy ♪ like me can't hack. ♪ early to rise, ♪ early in the sack, ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ well, a simple kind of life ♪ never did me no harm, ♪ a-raising me a family ♪ and working on the farm. ♪ days are all filled ♪ with an easy country charm. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ well, i got me a fine wife. ♪ i got me old fiddle. ♪ when the sun's coming up, ♪ i got cakes on the griddle. ♪ life ain't nothing ♪ but a funny, funny riddle. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ when the work's all done, ♪ and the sun's setting low, ♪ i pull out my fiddle, ♪ and i rosin up the bow. ♪ kids are all asleep, ♪ so i keep it kind of low. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ i'd play sally goodin ♪ ♪ all day if i could, ♪ but the lord and my wife ♪ wouldn't take it very good, ♪ so i fiddle when i can, ♪ work when i should. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ well, i got me a fine wife. ♪ i got me old fiddle. ♪ when the sun's coming up, ♪ i got cakes on the griddle. ♪ life ain't nothing ♪ but a funny, funny riddle. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. whoo-hoo! ♪

♪ well, i wouldn't ♪ trade my life ♪ for diamonds or jewels. ♪ i never was one ♪ of them money-hungry fools. ♪ i'd rather have my fiddle ♪ and my farming tools. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ you got city folk driving ♪ in a black limousine. ♪ a lot of sad people ♪ thinking, ♪ "that's a-mighty keen." ♪ son, let me tell you now ♪ exactly what i mean. ♪ i thank god ♪ i'm a country boy. ♪ well, i got me a fine wife. ♪ i got me old fiddle. ♪ when the sun's coming up, ♪ i got cakes on the griddle. ♪ life ain't nothing ♪ but a funny, funny riddle. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. whoo-hoo! ♪ ♪ well, my fiddle ♪ was my daddy's ♪ till the day he died, ♪ and he took me by the hand ♪ and held me close

♪ to his side. ♪ said, "live a good life. ♪ play my fiddle with pride, ♪ and thank god ♪ you're a country boy." ♪ well, my daddy ♪ taught me young ♪ how to hunt ♪ and how to whittle. ♪ taught me how to work ♪ and play a tune ♪ on the fiddle. ♪ taught me how to love ♪ and how to give ♪ just a little. ♪ thank god i'm a country boy. ♪ well, i got me a fine wife. ♪ i got me old fiddle. ♪ when the sun's coming up, ♪ i got cakes on the griddle. ♪ life ain't nothing ♪ but a funny, funny riddle. whoo-hoo! thank god i'm a country boy! yes, i am! ♪

>> ♪ perhaps love is like ♪ a resting place, ♪ a shelter from the storm. >> john was very proud of his duet with placido domingo on perhaps love. i took it over to placido domingo's apartment, played it for him, and then i got the idea of doing a duet, even though no one said they could get radio play. the cbs--i think they call them detail men, who bring the records around--brought it to fil in philadelphia when the program director was out. and the owner said, "oh, my wife is in love with him, and she makes me go up to new york to hear him whenever he's at the met. i'd love to hear that." he takes the lp--in those days-- and puts it on, and he can't play it. the owner of one of the biggest stations in the country can't play a record. he said to his secretary, "play it on the so-and-so."

she can't get it played. he says, "ah, give it to the dj. let him play it, and i'll hear it over the air." so he put on this duet. song is half over, the lights on the telephone switchboard light up, and ka-boom. >> ♪ perhaps love ♪ is like a resting place, ♪ a shelter from the storm. ♪ it exists ♪ to give you comfort. ♪ it is there ♪ to keep you warm. >> of all of john's songs, it's probably my favorite. it was written when john and i had decided to get a separation and then a divorce. and so it was a difficult time in his life, my life, the lives of our friends, our family members, but john was on the road, and he wrote this song, and he sent it to me in an overnight letter. that last summer that he lived, and he was being inducted into

the songwriter's hall of fame, it's the song he sang. >> ♪ oh, love, for some, ♪ is like a cloud, ♪ to some as strong as steel, ♪ for some, a way of living, ♪ for some, a way to feel. i felt so much turmoil, and i started to let it come out. i started thinking about all the ways i've experienced love, not that i was feeling very loved right then or that i had a love in my life anymore, but it was good to remember. i started remembering love and certain expressions of love, and i tried to describe that. i tried to describe all the ways that people think of love and how love is really all of those things, and these beautiful lines came pouring out of me. ♪ if i should live forever, ♪ and all my dreams come true, ♪ my memories of love ♪ will be of you. >> last time i heard john sing was at a concert in the san fernando valley, and he sang so beautifully that on the way back