|
“Come to Colorado see it raining fire in the sky get rocky mountain high” by Donna Lynne Pinto [lemurlady@comcast.net]
Rumors about a Colorado Music Hall of Fame were discussed online for a few years, with people even being asked to vote. Nothing was heard for months. Then, this February, an announcement suddenly was made that there was going to be a special Earth Day induction concert in tribute to John Denver, hosted by Olivia Newton-John and featuring John Oates (of Daryl Hall and), Michael Martin Murphey, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band! “How wonderful” said Denver fans!
Then the gods laughed at them since the event fell over the Easter Holiday. Not only were plane fares outrageous, the trip would have to be very short to allow them to be back home again with their families for the most blessed Christian holiday.
I hesitated to book a flight but was supported by long-time dear Denver friends Lea McGuire Pierce and June Cooper who also wanted to get together to attend the show. Although I tried to find out if I needed to rent a car, plans were somewhat vague except for tickets. Upon arriving in Denver, I found out why. My brother from Key West popped up to surprise me! His employee discount for a short luxurious (and cheap) stay at the local Hyatt was quite handy!
The sold out show featured tried and true backup from members of Denver’s band including Jim Horn on flutes and sax, drummer / percussionist Richie Gajate Garcia, keyboardist extraordinaire Chris Nole (go, Mantua!), and Alan Deremo on bass. Jim Connor and Steve Weisberg also made appearances. Pete Huttlinger had to cancel about a week before the event due to illness. Unfortunately, they brought in Jim Salestrom as a substitute. I was deeply disappointed as the initial reason I was going was that it was something different, and NOT a rehash of the Wheeler events.
Upon arriving at the venue, there were lots of Denver-related memorabilia. One very special table had items on loan from the family including iconic Denver signatures like his red sneakers, cowboy hat, colorful guitar strap, gold record for Will the Circle be Unbroken III, Montana belt buckle, and “the” granny glasses we all remember so well.
Two permanent display “shadow box” cases on the wall near the lobby were filled with displays like JD’s jumbo guitar, peace guitar strap, photos of albums including Rocky Mountain Holiday, a gold record for Rocky Mountain High, stage outfits including what appeared to be an Anna Zapp original denim outfit from his ABC TV specials, a customized tour jacket, sheet music photo displays from “Oh, God!” and Sinatra Back to Back concerts and photos showing his work in opening up Russia to Western artists. There was also a special bronze bust, and a painting for auction based on Harry Langdon’s Some Days Are Diamonds photos (but with granny glasses). Red Rocks displays were upstairs.
Merchandise tables included many, many t-shirts. There was an uninspiring commemorative poster noting Rocky Mountain High. No programs whatsoever were available and I made the fan disappointment evident to all staffing the tables “That’s what his fans collect”, I said to no avail. I guess the “as they sign on” nature of the performers didn’t lend to prior planning.
Once seated, the evening started off with an Art in Action painter (Brian Olsen) working to records including Rock Mountain High and Country Roads . The piece was to be auctioned off to benefit the Hall of Fame. Longtime Denver collaborator Lee Holdridge (he wrote the scores for most of Denver’s classic songs) conducted the Boulder Philharmonic throughout most of the songs. They played version of Thank God I’m a Country Boy, The Eagle and The Hawk, Annie’s Song, and Country Roads
Next came the “commercial for Colorado” with politicians including a congressman, the former Mayor of Denver, and the Governor making a presentation to JD’s three kids as “Ambassador for Colorado”. Then mayor accepted for Red Rocks Amphitheater, mentioning that just about anyone of note played there since the Beatles in 1965. JD did the venue 17 times!
Another passion of Denver was space exploration. As a surprise, a NASA astronaut (he was identified as Mike Wood in a Steve Weisberg Facebook post) spoke briefly about the subject and a short video was shown about JD’s space interests to music from Star Wars. Wood was geared out in blue jumpsuit and looked ready to clean up the litter on the highway! That would have made JD very happy ; -) It was pretty obviously a last minute addition otherwise they would have used one of Denver’s odes to flight like The Higher We Fly or Flying For Me.
70’s icon Olivia acted as MC and clearly wasn’t feeling well. Her voice was very froggy when talking, but the event was dear to her heart so the show must go on! She talked about being invited to spend Thanksgiving with John and Annie Denver when she first came to America (in 1975) and also said she was neighbors with Cassie and Jesse Belle; their daughters frequently played together.
Richie Furay from Buffalo Springfield and Poco played the very first tribute, Wild Montana Skies. They did a fine job – but wasn’t this a salute to Colorado?!. Salutes to other states continued when Bill Danoff came onstage to talk about the first Denver chart success, Country Roads. Olivia had a country hit with the song as well and joined Bill for a nice version.
Two members of Eric Johnson’s band, the Fruit Bats, traded verses on the prophetic classic Poems Prayers and Promises. John Martin Sommers and Jim Connor with members of the Dirt Band played a wonderful Thank God I’m a Country Boy, heavy on audience participation.
|
Olivia made a joke about Al Bundy being the father of the next act (which allowed me to remember his name!). Acoustic guitarist Trace Bundy played outstanding harmonic guitar with Jim Salestrom on rhythm for the little-known Late Winter, Early Spring instrumental. Although Jim did well, one can only begin to fathom what that would have been like with a master like Mr. Huttlinger.
Michael Martin Murphey is an old Texas fiend of JD’s. He talked about being privileged to have JD cover two of his songs. Although he wrote Boy form the Country about St. Francis of Assisi, Murphey said JD is the only other person who is as synonymous to nature and animal advocacy. 1970’s Denver band member Steve Weisberg joined Murphey for Boy From the Country with a special salute to Denver with the coda of the spiritual I’ll Fly Away.
Mark Ross of the Rock The Earth organization gave a brief talk about JD’s environmental activism. Regarding the renown path of people like Paul McCartney and Sting, Ross said “They walk the trail John Denver made”.
After talking about seeing John playing the song at a small inn in Aspen in the 60’s just as it was turning number one, John Oates did a strong jazzy version of Leaving, On a Jet Plane.
The Dirt Band talked about playing Farm Aid with John, and then played Back Home Again to close out the first part of the production. Fans took the opportunity to check out the displays and reunite with long-lost friends during the rather long intermission.
Part two of the program started off with a presentation of a check from tonight’s benefit to the Colorado American Music School.
Lee Ann Womack sang Sunshine on My Shoulders, reminding everyone of just how country John was (but only to the cool folks). Former Kingston Trio member Jim Conner played a slapping good Grandma’s Feather Bed
Olivia then introduced “The Jims”, Jim Curry and Jim Salestrom, for Perhaps Love. Mr. Curry looked a little strangely at “the other Jim” during the song but fortunately he had the primary part. Olivia bent over backwards congratulating the two Jims on their version. Nick Foster made an environmental speech
Jesse Bell introduced her mother but ran off stage before Cassie was ready. Olivia filled in with a lovely story about being neighbors. Cassie talked about being with John in the Woods Lake mountain cabin when he dreamed the classic Whispering Jesse. John went out of the cabin in his pajamas and polished off the song in his beloved great outdoors. Initially clearly overcome with emotion, she proceeded to do a lovely job on Whispering Jesse.
John Oates and Olivia Newton John dueted next on Fly Away. Then came the most touching part of the evening. First ex-wife Annie was heart-felt in her speech and received a standing ovation. The orchestra played along with video from the WildLife Concert for Annie’s Song. Critics called this the best performance of the evening but my brother was more overwhelmed to see himself repeatedly in the audience on the screen!
The encore consisted of all of the evening’s artists and guests playing and singing Rocky Mountain High with the entire audience. Due to overwhelming ovations, they played a bit of the last chorus again and the chorus of Country Roads. So the evening started and ended with Denver’s two most popular songs.
Then it was out into the howling winds and rain for most of the crowd.
Production notes: apparently as artists signed on, they got first choice of songs. Several wanted to do Country Roads but it was “first come, first served”. In a Facebook post, drummer Richie Garcia said that there would be a DVD and TV special. This was supported by the nine video cameras used for the event. We suspect it may be but a local PBS special in Colorado. Get ready to make your pledge! If you ever plan on going to see the displays please here’s a warning: Broomfield has HOWLING winds! They are the strongest I’ve ever experienced.
Many fans took off for Rocky Mountain National Park the next day! So not only did we experience howling winds and rain, we also had two foot of snow just an hour away ; -)
All in all, I was glad to have been three. Richie Garcia, Jim Horn and Chris Nole were all outstanding as was the orchestra. Bundy was amazing. I enjoyed John Oates’ performance as he was working with the song. I was so relieved that Cassie didn’t get booed by the fans. Most of the performances were very low key and did not really “get to me”, even Liv. But it was pretty obvious to me that she appeared to be ill with her froggy speaking voice. Murphey came closest with his comments about St. Francis and the I’ll Fly Away coda. I don’t think most of the performers really loved the man and his music like Mack Bailey, Tim Dabbs, Chris Westfall, Kevin Yeargin, or Charlie Zahm do. Otherwise how much WE love it. My brother was most impressed with seeing the back of his bald head on the WildLife video!
Until the next adventure….
Donna
[Thanks for sharing your detailed memories of the evening, Donna – you made us feel like we were there too! – AS]
|
*****
Musician, River Guardian Reflects (by Carole Romanowski - whispjesse@aol.com)
In anticipation of Earth Day, my daily Journal Newspaper tells of Pete Seeger reporting on this event. According to him, the Hudson River here in NY state is a symbol of the importance of protectiing the environment. Pete Seeger sat down to talk about Earth Day in Beacon, NY. Seeger founded the NY Clearwater environmental group more than 40 years ago to spur cleanup of the Hudson.
According to Earth Day Network, "The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.The passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed."
Seeger talked about the impact of population growth on the planet.
According to the UN, the global population was 7 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach 8 billion by 2025.
"It's one of the problems the human race is going to have to solve, or there won't be any human race on Earth," Seeger said of population growth. "On the other hand, it will be fascinating solving these problems - problems of growth, problems of water under us being poisoned by fracking; and the air above being poisoned by nuclear things and so on."
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, utilizes water and various additives to fracture rock during the exploration for natural gas. The proposed exploration of the Marcellus Shale formation across NY state's southern tier is being scrutinized by officials and the public because of the large amount of water likely to be used and the wastewater that will result.
The Hudson River has remained a strong presence in Seeger's life for nearly a century. He lived in Nyack from ages 3 to 8. And his family regularly took the 20-minute ferry ride to Tarrytown.
Seeger was ahead of the curve regarding protection of the environment. He founded the Clearwater group in 1966, four years before the first Earth Day. The group's symbol for four decades, the sloop Clearwater, was launched in 1969.
The first Earth Day, eight months after the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Sullivan County, was founded by US Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, who tapped the political power of the baby boomers. Nelson, according to the Earth Day Network website, www.earthday.org., was "inspired by the student anti-war movement" and "realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national agenda."
But more than a month after a magnitude 9 earthquake in Japan triggered a nuclear crisis and a year after the BP oil rig explosion, the world's environmental challenges still remain.
*****
Earth Hour 2011 from Rich Romanowski [wrangellmtns@aol.com]
On March 26, 2011 the world observed Earth Hour. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), Earth Hour asks individuals, businesses and communities worldwide to show their commitment to the environment by turning off all non-essential lights for one hour. Beyond that, we are all asked to perform actions that contribute to a more sustainable earth throughout the entire year, such as encouraging political leaders and others to support conservation and curb climate change, encourage companies to
switch to more sustainable production practices and sell more environmentally friendly products, and buying the most energy efficient products on the market from dishwashers to automobiles.
For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The world's leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.
WWF's mission is the conservation of nature. Using the best available scientific knowledge and advancing that knowledge where they can, they work to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth and the health of ecological systems by
- protecting natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species;
- promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources; and
- promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution.
They are committed to reversing the degradation of our planet's natural environment and to building a future in which human needs are met in harmony with nature. They recognize the critical relevance of human numbers, poverty and consumption patterns to meet these goals.
WWF's goal is by 2020 to conserve 19 of the world's most important natural places and significantly change global markets to protect the future of nature.
To learn more, visit WWF's website at www.worldwildlife.org.
*****
PepsiCo Goes Environmental from Rich Romanowski [wrangellmtns@aol.com]
PepsiCo Inc. unveiled a new bottle made entirely of plant material, which it says reduces bottles' carbon footprint.
The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other natural materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans also to use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.
"The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles," said Rocco Papalia, senior vice president of advanced research at Purchase, NY based PepsiCo.
PepsiCo said it is the world's first bottle of a common type of plastic called PET, made entirely of plant materials, and plans to test the product in 2012 in a few hundred thousand bottles. Once it is sure it can successfully produce the bottle at that scale, it will begin converting all its products over.
"This is the beginning of the end of petroleum-based plastics," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council and director of its waste management project.
PET plastic is lightweight and shatter-resistant, its safety is well-researched, and it doesn't affect flavors. It is not biodegradable or compostable but is recyclable.
Traditional PET plastic is made using fossil fuels, including petroleum, a limited resource that's rising in price. By using plant material instead, companies reduce their environmental impact.
What an innovative idea!
*****
An Earth Cleansing Plan (by Carole Romanowski - whispjesse@aol.com)
In Michigan, redwoods and sequoias tower majestically over California's northern coast, plus oaks that are up to 1,000 years old.
They are among the most sacred trees on Earth, remnants of once vast populations decimated by logging, development, pollution and disease. A nonprofit organization called Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is rushing to collect their genetic material and replant clones in a plan to restore the world's ancient forests and put them to work cleansing the environment and absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas largely responsible for global warming.
"We've destroyed 98 percent of the old growth forests that kept nature in balance for thousands of years," said David Milarch, the group's co-founder. Their mission - clone the oldest and largest individuals within the world's most ecologically valuable tree species, and persuade people to buy and plant millions of copies - on factory grounds and college campuses, along riverbanks and city streets, in forests, farms, parks and back yards.
The plan is to eventually produce copies of 200 varieties that are considered crucial. The trees preserve ecosystem diversity, soak up toxins from the ground and atmosphere, store carbon while emitting precious oxygen, and provide ingredients for medicines.
Rebuilding forests with clones could "buy time for humanity" by mitigating centuries of environmental abuse, said one Ontario scientist who studies the roles of trees in protecting the environment.
California's coastal redwoods and giant sequoias, the world's largest trees, are best suited for storing carbon because of their size, rapid growth and durability. The longer a tree lives, the longer its carbon remains bottled up instead of reaching the atmosphere.
Archangel Archive crew members have taken cuttings from redwoods and sequoias between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. The group also has successfully cloned sprouts from stumps of a dozen redwoods felled years ago.
Branch tips less than an inch long are planted for weeks in baby food jars containing gel-like mixtures of vitamins, fertilizers and hormones and placed on shelves, under artificial lights. Eventually they are moved to pots of soil.
A very interesting concept which, perhaps, can join John Denver's "Plant It 20ll+".!
|
