John Denver: Mother Nature's Son Book

The popular image of John Denver is that of a safe, middle-of-the-road entertainer--albeit one who during the 1970s became the biggest-selling solo star of the decade. But in this well-researched and surprising first biography, a very different picture of Denver emerges: that of a wife-beater who was no stranger to drink or drugs. Career-wise, everything changed for Denver when he wrote "Oh Babe, I Hate To Go" and sent it to Peter, Paul & Mary, who recorded it, pausing only to change its title to Leaving On A Jet Plane. Collis also tells the less familiar stories of the easy-going singer auditioning for The Monkees, and almost joining The Byrds--revelations which open up all manner of intriguing possibilities. Shortly before Denver's untimely death in an aeroplane crash in 1997, Take Me Home, Country Roads was voted the best driving song in a magazine poll--but, despite the popular success and massive album sales, Denver was never a critics' favourite--an antipathy which is reflected here in the author's apparent ambivalence towards his subject. In his introduction Collis writes: "I have . . . taken the opportunity to use the charted facts of Denver's life simply as a scaffolding of the present book", which perhaps explains why Denver himself is so frequently marginalised. In many ways this is a curiously cursory trawl through a professional career that stretched over 30 years, and too often John Denver appears simply as a bit-player in his own life. --Patrick HumphriesRead More