We lost John Denver on this date in 1997.

[Andromeda]

I posted this on Facebook about 4 years ago. It was about my last John Denver concert in 1997 and something very disturbing my daughter said.

Here is another John Denver story....WARNING some might find it a bit odd or disturbing.

I became a big fan in 1982 but it wasn't until 1984 that I attended my first concert. The concert was at the Rochester War Memorial (now Blue Cross Arena) It was just John and his guitars on a slowly revolving stage in the center of the arena. It was where he was wearing his white suit. If you see the video on line of John in concert at London's Albert Hall, that is pretty much how my first concert went.

Flash forward 13 years later to August of 1997 which was to be my last John Denver concert. Between 1984 and 1997 I saw John many times in concert. At times he had a full band or sometimes just a trio of John and his guitars, Jerry Scheff on bass and James Burton on electric guitar. But this last concert held in my home town of Canandaigua NY was held at the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center it was just John and his guitars, just like my first concert. For this concert I had the pleasure and honor of taking my lovely daughter Danielle Foley. She was two months away from her 10th birthday. (Yikes! My daughter will turn 30 in a few days!!) That's another story!!

It was a great concert as usual. To my amazement my daughter was singing along to all the songs. I said to her that I didn't know she knew all knew all words! She looked up at me and said with slight astonishment “Dad, I've been listening to these songs all my life!” I should have known that. She was exposed to John Denver's music from the moment she was born. I even had the lyrics to “I Want to Live” printed and framed over her crib.

John took a break midway through the concert and had a short intermission. It was then Danielle looked up at me and what came out of her mouth shocked and surprised me and left me slightly horrified. She said. “He's going to die soon.” Dumfounded I asked her...”Why did you say that!?” She said she really didn't know other than she had a strong feeling that he was going to die soon.

Of course I just brushed it aside and didn't think too much about it until October 12, 1997 when indeed John did die two months later. I called her that evening after she got home from school and the first words she said was “I can't believe I was right.” I did reassure her that she didn't cause anything bad to happen but this was both astonishing and disturbing at the same time. I have had premonitions before. I knew something bad had happened to my father when he died and I was miles away from him. I knew my mother would die five years later, and she did died five years and 9 days later to the date. I guess my daughter not only inherited my ability to sing, my stunning good looks but also the ability to see into tomorrow from time to time.

[buddyhu]

Thanks for sharing.

I have friends who have a similar capacity; it can be a bit unsettling, but it just points to the fact that there are interconnections among beings that we don’t understand. There is a book, “Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home” that shares numerous anecdotes and some reasonably well-designed studies that point to the interconnectivity that some people experience with their dogs.

It’s a big mysterious world.

[Andromeda]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

Thanks for sharing.

I have friends who have a similar capacity; it can be a bit unsettling, but it just points to the fact that there are interconnections among beings that we don’t understand. There is a book, “Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home” that shares numerous anecdotes and some reasonably well-designed studies that point to the interconnectivity that some people experience with their dogs.

It’s a big mysterious world.

Thanks for the tip on the book.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

Thanks for sharing.

I have friends who have a similar capacity; it can be a bit unsettling, but it just points to the fact that there are interconnections among beings that we don’t understand. There is a book, “Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home” that shares numerous anecdotes and some reasonably well-designed studies that point to the interconnectivity that some people experience with their dogs.

It’s a big mysterious world.

For some reason, reading your post it reminded me of 30 years ago when I read Rupert Sheldrake's "Morphic Resonance" largely about inter-connectedness between living creatures. It was fascinating.

Just found this recent video...

[KenL]

The day JD died was a hard day for me, I was a big fan. He's one of the main reasons I play guitar.

The first time I saw him was in 1972, right before "Rocky Mountain High" was released and he became big-time. The concert was at the student center at the University of Nebraska/Omaha. I had to "borrow" student ID from the older brother and his girlfriend of my best friend; that, and maybe $6 got us in the door. There were maybe 200 students (mostly) there, all sitting on the floor around a small riser.

It was JD in his signature waffle-stompers, and Mike Taylor (guitar) and Dick Kniss (bass). They played for a long time, and seemed to be having a very good time. I think they played every song from "RMH" except maybe for the Suite. JD played his Guilds, while Taylor played his Martin dread all night.

It was an amazing performance. Denver was in his element as an entertainer. I saw him a couple more times in the years to come, but that first show was the one I remember. Amazing.

[Slothead56]

I got my first guitar in Summer, ‘74 when I graduated High School. My freshman college room mate had JD’s Greatest Hits on 8 track (my, how far we’ve come).

I learned every song on that tape and it set me off on this wonderful, musical journey.

I kind of moved on from Denver after a year or two but his simplistic style and easy chording help me quite a bit. I still play Take Me Home when the crowd feels right. I busted out Rocky Mountain High at a gig last month and the patrons appreciated it.

Remember the day he died well. Always sad to lose a hero….

[Cypress Knee]

I remember the way I got the news. I had just joined an Internet Listserv discussion group called the "Dead Runners Society", a place where runners would post training and race reports. Sally Smith, the race director for the Big Sur Marathon at the time, posted that she was walking along the shores of Monterey Bay and saw the rescue crews searching an area for survivors in the water where a small plane had just crashed. As the crowd along the beach gathered, the rumor began to spread that John Denver had been aboard. It wasn't until later that news reports confirmed what had happened.

I saw him twice when I was in college and a third time after I graduated. My mother was born in Denver and even though she lived most of her life in other places, she always loved to go back and visit the mountains. She really took a liking to the RMH album. I took her to see John Denver "In the Round" at the LSU Assembly Center sometime in the early '80's. However, the JD historical sites have no record of that concert. In fact, it only lists six concerts in Louisiana over the entire course of his career - 2 Baton Rouge, 2 in Shreveport, 1 in Monroe, and 1 in Lake Charles. Three were in 1978 and three were in 1980.

[FrankHudson]

I saw him live once, in a small room at a little college was attending in The Sixties. When I say small room, it was not one of two larger halls on campus, but a room that'd hold maybe 50 SRO, but probably had somewhat over half that. Let me say again, we had classrooms bigger than the room he played. I don't believe he used any microphones, but old memory can't be sure.

He was basically known* (to the degree he was known, which he wasn't) as the writer of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" which Peter Paul and Mary had just put on a big selling LP.

Honestly, I remember it as a fine show. He was professional without being slick (which wouldn't have worked in the small room). In my recollection he wasn't yet showing a lot of that friendly "Oh Gosh" kind of persona that later endeared him to many on TV and film. I was probably sitting ten or 12 feet from him, and I mostly remember the sound of his Guild 12-string, which did impact me. Besides records, I had heard a 12-string live once before that, and to me the highlight of his set was his performance of "The Bells of Rhymey," where he really let that jumbo Guild go to town.

Over the years as his career blossomed I enjoyed the memories of "I saw him when...." He's not the only reason I own and play a 12-string, but that concert is one of the legs of that table.


*Yes, he was also known to few as the guy who had replaced Chad Mitchell in The Chad Mitchell Trio" which always seemed like a line in a joke.

[Wellington]

I really like Denvers stuff, I've really only listened to a greatest hits and one of his albums I have on vinyl. I love his Guild and Yamaha he'd play. This thread has taught me that he died way later than I realized, I thought he died in the 80's, also apparently he died on my 7th birthday, I was 31 on the 12th of this month.

That's interesting about the OP's daughter, it's a little unnerving but I believe that stuff can happen, very strange. In religious settings that would be considered prophecy.
Also, if she was almost 10 in 97' she wouldn't be 30 now, did you mean she was turning 7?

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

Thanks for sharing.

I have friends who have a similar capacity; it can be a bit unsettling, but it just points to the fact that there are interconnections among beings that we don’t understand. There is a book, “Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home” that shares numerous anecdotes and some reasonably well-designed studies that point to the interconnectivity that some people experience with their dogs.

It’s a big mysterious world.

Someone studied that and discovered that the dog's timing was linked to smell. Organic scents on an item have a half-life, that is, they decay at a known rate. Dogs, with their sensitive sense of smell, are able to keep track of the curve of the decay of their master's scent on something in the house. They apply that to the routine of the work day and know within a reasonable limit when their master will come home. The researchers discovered that if they had the master sneak back at lunchtime and handle the key item, say a shirt or the sofa or whatever, reestablishing the scent, the dog's sense of timing was totally thrown off and he couldn't predict the master's return.

Our dog does this. He knows when my wife comes back from work and will go and sit at the front door waiting for her.

Bob

[ewalling]

Good story!

I find mysterious events like that very interesting.

[Andromeda]

Originally Posted by Wellington

I really like Denvers stuff, I've really only listened to a greatest hits and one of his albums I have on vinyl. I love his Guild and Yamaha he'd play. This thread has taught me that he died way later than I realized, I thought he died in the 80's, also apparently he died on my 7th birthday, I was 31 on the 12th of this month.

That's interesting about the OP's daughter, it's a little unnerving but I believe that stuff can happen, very strange. In religious settings that would be considered prophecy.
Also, if she was almost 10 in 97' she wouldn't be 30 now, did you mean she was turning 7?

She just turned 34 yesterday. I had written this and posted on Facebook years ago and forgot to edit it when I posted it here.

Happy belated birthday. Mine is on the 22nd. I was just about to turn 34 when John died.

[Wadcutter]

I always thought JD’s 1995 Wildlife Concert was one of his greatest performances ever. I’ve got the DVD of it and play it several times a year. It’s JD at his best imho. Pete Huttlinger was awesome as well, and Pat Hawk on backup vocals was just outstanding.

[Photojeep]

I had the chance to attend his concert at my alma mater (SIU) in 1979or 1980 - can't remember which, but thought, nah I'll see him some other time. Needless to say, that day never came.

He had flown in to the Carbondale, IL airport in his own plane to perform and a good friend of mine who attended aviation classes at the airport walked over to his plane to admire it. He heard a voice behind him asking if he like the plane. My friend said he did and began to ask questions about the aircraft and have about a 30 minute conversation before he realized he was talking to John Denver.

My friend really didn't know who he was but said JD really knew about airplanes.

I should have gone to that concert!!!

Best,
PJ