Take Me Home, Country Roads
| "Take Me Home, Country Roads" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
One of earliest U.S. vinyl releases (A-side)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single by John Denver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Poems, Prayers & Promises | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | April 1971 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, maxi, CD, digital download, cassette single, DataPlay single | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1971 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Country | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:08 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | RCA Records | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Milton Okun, Susan Ruskin | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Denver singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver that was derived from a poem written in a letter to them by their friend, John Albert Fitzgerald who was residing in West Virginia at the time. It was first recorded by John Denver and included on his 1971 breakout album, Poems, Prayers & Promises.
The song was a success on its initial release and was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1971. The song became one of John Denver's most popular and beloved songs, and is still very popular around the world. It has continued to sell, with over a million digital copies sold in the United States. It is considered to be Denver's signature song.
The song also has a prominent status as an iconic symbol of West Virginia, which it describes as "almost Heaven"; for example, it was played at the funeral memorial for U.S. Senator Robert Byrd in July 2010. In March 2014, it became the official state anthem of West Virginia.
Danoff and his then-wife, Mary ("Taffy") Nivert, wrote "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads," both of which were hits for John Denver. Danoff (from Springfield, Massachusetts) has stated he had never been to West Virginia before co-writing the song. Inspiration for the song had come while driving to a family reunion of Nivert's relatives in nearby Maryland. To pass the time en route, Danoff had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. Later, he changed the story to fit that of an artist friend (John Albert Firzgerald), who used to write to him about the splendors of the West Virginia countryside. He had even briefly considered using "Massachusetts" rather than "West Virginia", as both four-syllable state names would have fitted the song's meter.
Starting December 22, 1970, John Denver was heading the bill at The Cellar Door, a Washington, D.C. club. Danoff and Nivert opened for him as a duo named Fat City. After the Tuesday post-Christmas re-opening night (Cellar Door engagements ran from Tuesday to Sunday, and this booking was for two weeks), the three headed back to their place for an impromptu jam. On the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in an automobile accident. He was taken to the hospital, where a splint was applied. By the time they got back to the house, he was, in his own words, "wired, you know".
...
Wikipedia