Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., was born in Roswell, New Mexico, to Erma Louise Swope and LTC Henry John Deutschendorf, Sr.,an Air Force officer and flight instructor of German ancestry. In his autobiography, Take Me Home, Denver described his life as the eldest son of a family shaped by a stern father who could never show his love for his children. Denver's mother's family was Irish and German Catholic, and it was they who imbued Denver with a love of music. At the age of 12, Denver received a 1910 Gibson acoustic jazz guitar from his grandmother. He learned to play well enough to perform at local clubs by the time he was in college. He adopted the surname "Denver" after the capital of his favorite state, Colorado, when Randy Sparks suggested that "Deutschendorf" wouldn't fit comfortably on a marquee. Denver attended Texas Technological College in Lubbock and sang in a folk-music group called "The Alpine Trio" while pursuing architecture studies.Denver dropped out of the Texas Tech School of Engineering in 1963, and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he sang in the smoky underground folk clubs. In 1969, Denver abandoned the band life to pursue a solo career and released his first album for RCA Records, Rhymes and Reasons. Two years prior Denver had made a self-produced demo recording of some of the songs he played at his concerts. He included in the demo a song called "Babe I Hate to Go," later renamed "Leaving on A Jet Plane." Denver made several copies and gave ...
Tags: Americana, americanmusic
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