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David Mitchell

Mike, 

I like David Brooks, but could you send the "Cliffs Notes" version. And in large print.

I'm old, and slow, and never could read very well. Plus I just had two cataract surgeries this past week.

Prey God there won't be a quiz. Have mercy on an old man. 

Michael McLeod

Ok Dave we're grownups now. I know you miss your classics illustrated comic books but c'mon man we can do this. 

Actually I do sympathize, lad, having had some issues with my own peepers of late. And I blame the interwebs for my attention span for book reading lagging these days.

David Mitchell

Mike,

Have some respect. We're not all English Majors you know!

When I read it's not my attention span that's a problem. It's my ability to stay awake. Whenever I sit down, my eyelids go "clunk". I promise I will break that post down into "chapters" and Itry to finnish it in a week - or so.

David Mitchell

Ladies and Gentlemen, take heart. My faith in mankind is restored.

There realy is a God !

James Hamilton, M. D.

Folks,

Getting away from politics, cataracts (I've got 'em too but not ready for plucking quite yet!) and television series it is time for another "Tribute".

This is one that I have been wanting to do for some time now and finally got to work on it over the last few weeks. It is entitled  "A Photographic Tribute to the Imagery of John Denver's Songs". 

I know that several of the contributors to this Forum have a lot more musical knowledge than do I and some, like Mark S., write, sing and cover songs. Others have tastes ranging from classical to opera to Irish Folk and many various types of compositions. It is nice to hear and view the videos that have been posted and I enjoy them immensely.

My personal favorites are Country, early 60's Rock, Folk and Easy Listening Instrumentals. But the imagery that John Denver expressed in his lyrics and his musical rhythms have always been an inspiration to me.

I have mentioned on this Forum in the past that one of my "photographic goals" has been to capture photographs of what JD was singing about. This Tribute is a sampling of that goal. 

Under each image is a title which is a verse from one of of his songs. Under the title is a brief comment from me. There are 22 pictures that I have chosen which fit with verses from 7 of my favorite JD songs. 

Can you name the song from which each verse was taken? 

Don't be surprised if you walk around for a day or two with an "ear worm" of a song he recorded!

The following link will take you directly to the gallery on my website. CAUTION: if viewed in "Slide Show" mode you will miss the words and see only the pictures. So, click on the first picture and you will see both the image, title and comment and from there you can use the arrowhead ( > ) at the top right to go to the next picture. As always, these are better seen on a desktop or laptop than a cellphone.

https://mountainmemories.zenfolio.com/p588176322

Jim

David Mitchell

Jim,

These shots and mention of John Denver strikes a memory nerve that runs deep with me. I may have a slight advantage over most of our classmates - having traveled a lot throughout those mountains.

I want to know - is photo No.1 some different view of the San Juans? It almost looks like Mount Wilson from a different angle. 

And of course, No. 10 - the Maroon Bells outside of Aspen is an obvious one. Too bad you weren't shooting slightly wider there so you could get the little lake in front of them. And how I miss those golden Aspens in the fall. 

And are any of these near the "Collegiate Peaks"?  

Speakning of John Denver, my wife and I got to see him live at Red Rocks two years in a row. Sitting up high enough you can see the lights of Denver far behind the stage. We also saw Gordan Lightfoot, Judy Collins, with the full Denver Symphony Orchesra on stage with her (and some others - forgotten?) at Red Rocks.

This isn't my favorite song and the vieo goes on a bit beyond the views of the theater, but it gives our classmates a bit of a taste of the setting at Red Rocks (owned by the City of Denver Parks system). It hosts eveything from Easter sunrise services, to classic orchestra performances, to all kinds of popular artists. 

It's simply a marvelous venue. Seats about 6,000 or 7,000 with wonderful natural accoustics.

Almost Heaven!

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave M.,

Picture #1 is a wide angle view (looking southwest) of Garden of the Gods with a snow covered Pikes Peak on the right side. I made it from a place and angle that is less used in other photos.This is about a 12 minute drive from our home. Mt. Wilson is 175 miles (as the crow flies) away.

I have many pictures of the Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake but wanted to use a close up of the Bells for that Tribute gallery. Here is a good shot of the Bells and the lake:

The last image, #22, is looking west off Weston Pass and you can barely see one of the Collegiate Peaks in the distance..

Jim

Janie Albright (Blank)

Jim, magnificent! Looks like a painting. Love the wide angle. 

Sheila McCarthy (Gardner)

Jim: What a masterpiece! Let me know if you want to bring your considerable skills to the Sierra Nevada ... thank you for a lovely journey.... 

Mark Schweickart

Jim – Thanks for sharing the link to your recent photo collection. Truly spectacular images! Great job, although I must admit that, aside from "Take Me Home, Country Roads," I could not associate the songs you hinted at with the various pictures. From some odd reason, I never paid much attention to John Denver. I have to ask how you did that movement effect shot (no,13, I think it was)? 

Oh, and speaking of the one Denver song I do always recognize, "Take Me Home, Country Roads," it reminds me of a time I was in Munich, Germany on a business trip. It was the fall, so Octoberfest was in full swing. It was a fairgrounds-size spectacular, with amusement park rides and huge tents where one could listen to live music and, needless to say, drink beer voluminously. I was surprised to hear the music was not some sort of German beerhall oom-pa-pa, as I was expecting, but rather was almost exclusively live cover versions of Amierican music. I was standing next to a couple of people I didn't know, but who were conversing in English as "TakeMe Home, Country Roads" started up. After the opening line, "Almost heaven, West Virginia," was sung out, the girl standing next to me turned to her partner and asked, "Where is West Virginia?" Her partner replied, "I think it's next to Texas." I thought maybe I should butt in to offer that actually it is next to Ohio, but then figured that this info would not really clarify anything for them, so I just smiled and enjoyed the music... and my beer, of course.  So what is the point of this ramble, you may ask? Just that for some (well, me in this case) John Denver's music doesn't actually conjur up images of the beautiful Colorado mountains, as it does for you, Jim, but rather, it brings to mind, of all places – German Octoberfest and Ohio. Sorry about that. Nevertheless, I loved your photos. Keep up the great work.

Michael McLeod

Just want to make sure you know I'm just kidding you Dave.

I just get charged up about certain things and I figure there's no quiz so people who don't want to read it don't even have to turn the page, just skip it.

The gist of that essay was summed up in the one paragraph that I mentioned, and it had to do with something that intrigues me, which is how we get imprinted with certain basic points of view in the first place. 

John Maxwell

James Hamilton, M. D.

SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES??

Thanks to Janie, Sheila, Mark and Jack for the comments.

Mark, I'll get back to you soon on your question about #13.

In the meantime I have some work to do. Last nite through now (and still happening) we had a VERY wet, heavy spring snowfall in our city and our area got hit hard - about 14+ inches. We lost these two pinon pine trees in our front yard due to the weight of the snow (see picture below). Fortunately they did not fall on the street lamp post! I've spent a lot of the morning digging out and will deal with dismantling the trees after some melting. These were mature, 50 y.o. pines. 

This is probably the latest spring snowstorm we have seen since moving here.  

Jim

David Mitchell

Jim,

Too bad about your trees, I recall back about 1984 when we got a nice 24 inches on Christmas Eve. And Mayor McNichls decided not to call out the snowplow crews on Christmas day - it always melted the next day in Denver anyway - and the city workers could have Chrismas at home. But it did not melt the next day, but instead took about 5 days with frozen streets and deep frozen ruts of snow. It was a disaster for his P.R. Come electon day that spring (about a week from now), we had an 18 incher on voting day and it reminded everybody of his Chritmas blunder. So we had a record turnout (even in the snow) to vote him out of office .Thus began the Freddie Pena era. Remeber Freddie? Kind of a do nothing guy who bacame Bill Clinton's transportation Secretary - and has never been heard of since.

For you non-Colorado natives, the "Mile-HIgh City always gets a whopper or two (12 to 24 inches - and a 3 footer once) - often quite early or quite late, and it makes the news. But most of the winters down in the city are so mild you can play golf or tennis much of the time. But climb a few thusand feet to the West on I-70 and you are in real winter weather.

------------------------

Mark,

Ain't Octoberfest a kick in the rear? Those beer tents are amazing. But we got genuine "Umpah" music in the two tents that my wife and I went into. What's not so much fun is trying to drive in Munich traffic at rush hour - in the early seventies, while the city was building it's new subway system for the '72 Olympics and streets were torn up and blockaded everywhere - what a nightmare! 

David Mitchell

Now das whut I'm talkin' 'bout!

 

 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mark,

Getting back to you regarding the "movement" in image #13:

Over the years I have learned some tricks that, although rarely used or needed, can add a bit of interest and pizazz to photograph. I guess it falls into the category of "abstract photos". This one at first was to give the feeling of a Star Trek warp speed type of motion. However, it also seemed to fit that line in JD's song, Looking for Space".

It's a fairly easy effect to create. With a camera equipped with a zoom lens mounted on a stable tripod, use the shutter speed mode set it to about 2-3 seconds. Press the shutter release button and smoothly twist the zoom from shorest to longest focal length while the shutter is open. Try it at a few different shutter speeds and you will likely find a good shot in the group.

Janie,

I am also a big fan of wide angle shots for "grandscapes". Often I try to get down low to the ground (hard to get back up these days!) and use the CUWA technique. That means "Close Up, Wide Angle". Then, with a very narrow aperture (f18-22) just about everything from close up to infinity will be in sharp focus. It is good to have a strong "anchor" object in the foreground and something in the mid ground so that the main objects in the distance do not totally appear isolated.

Sheila,

I would love to photograph the Sierra Nevada's! 

The bucket list is long but age is creeping up on me.

Jim

Jim

Mary Ann Nolan (Thomas)

Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos and how you so clevery aligned them with John Denver's lyrics.

I knew the the Rocky Moutain High ones in #s 6,12,19,22, 25 and I think 26.

My husband and  I skiied Denver for many years until our knees gave out at about 55! (about the same time we retired from tennis after 30 years as well).

I have a funny story about meeting John Denver back in the 70"s when some girlfriends and I were visiting  Aspen in the summertime, We went into a store and while we were looking around in walked John Denver and of course we had to say hello etc. He was so nice and we were 4 giddy 20 something year olds falling all over ourselves.

You should do some more pictures with some of his other songs.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mary Ann,

Thanks for your comments and the story about meeting John Denver. That must have been at the height of his success and been a very pleasant and memorable encounter!

You are correct in that images 6, 12 and 19 were from his trademark hit, Rocky Mountain High. Picture #22 was not from that song and there were no pictures #25 and #26 in that gallery. 

Most people probably are unaware that Colorado has two official state songs, Where the Columbines Grow (1915) and Rocky Mountain High (added in 2007).  Several states have more than one state song. West Virginia (attention Mark S.) has four and one of those is Take Me Home, Country Roads.

I also appreciate your suggestion that I do another volume of pictures correlated with so many other songs he wrote. I shall definitly consider doing that!

Have a great week,

Jim

David Mitchell

Marry Ann,

John Denver's mom and dad (Mr. and Mrs. Dutchendorf) lived next door to a couple of our friends when we lived in Denver. We had kids in the same Catholic grade school, and dined together a few times at each other's homes. They told us that they would introduce us to the neigbors sometime, but that never happened. The closest we got was one night when Mr. Dutchedorf came to their door while we were sitting at dinner. He didn't stay but a moment, and did not come inside.    Close - but no cigar.

Those days of John Denver's music were special. Even more special was seeing him live at Red Rocks. He always perforned with a large entourage of backup musicians and vocal group, plus threee big screens with multi media shots of mountain scenery. And he has such a fun way with the crowd. The audiences were all ages - whole families. He always had the audiience in the palm of his hand. It was one of my favorite memories of Denver.

--------------------

While on that subject - Red Rocks - my all-time favorite artist from those days was Gordon Lightfoot ("the Canadian Mumbler"). We saw him once at Red Rocks and he was the opposite of John Denver. He and his 3 backup guitarist walked out on stage carrying 4 folding chairs. No multi media screens - no orchestra - no backup singers. They sat down and he said "Don't wanna keep you out long in a cold stamp" (it was a cool evening). They began to play and hardly ever stopped but for a couple of song introductions.

About a year later, he had a bad experience. The crowds at Red Rocks used to be no resereved seating, just first come first served. So people would go out hours in advance and take their picknick and their drinks, and get seats close to the stage. Some would have been drinking for hours before the show started. On this particular night some people right down in front were quite drunk by showtime and threw some of their food at him. He got a tomato square in the face. If I recall correcly he got up and walked off and promised never to return to Red Rocks. 

David Mitchell

While I'm on a Lightfoot tangent; here is his most famous song, and one of my all-time favorites - recorded long ago. If you see him today he looks like a schrivled old man. He had a serious disease and almost died. But he's stil performng.

I first heard this song in a most unusaul way. I was in the cockpit of a Huey (on my second tour - not in a Loach), heading back to a refueling base in the far western corner of the Delta, which gave us a temporary break from the mission. We would often quickly swicth one of our two "Fox Mikes" (FM radios, used to transmit conversation in the air - but also able to tune in the military radio station in Saigon ("AFVN" = Armed Forces Viet Nam - you remember Robin Willimas and "Good Morning Vietnam"). We switched over and were hearing this song over the air. I had never heard of this guy, but I became an instant fan. 

John Jackson

Dave,  as an an old folkie (or is it fogey?) I was (and still am) a huge fan of Gordon Lightfoot.   Over his long career, bluegrass musician Tony Rice did a great job of dusting off many of Lightfoot’s songs and keeping them alive:      

Mary Ann Nolan (Thomas)

Dave and John,

I just saw a wonderful piece on Kenny Loggins on the CBS Sunday morning show. What an incredible artist he still is. I had forgotten about all his top hits and Grammies over the years and he is still going strong.

David Mitchell

Brings back memories of Loggins and Messina, who I always liked.  Kenny Logins is still out there - he was always the better half I thought. But haven't heard a word of Messsina since they broke up.

* (update: just looked them up on Wiki and I guess they are doing some stuff together again)

Come to think of it, we really did have a wide range of good music to grow up with; Rock, R&B, Folk, Pop, Country, Gospel, Classic, Easy Listening, and all sorts of mixes and  "crossovers".

(Even "disco"- - - well, maybe not)

One of my favorite types was what we called Rockabilly. That included Elvis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Buddy Holly, and my all-time favorites, Phil and Don - the Everly Brothers. (Oops, how could I forget Brenda Lee?)

But in my humble opinion, this was the best "single" ever recorded;

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

I could never pick a favorite song...there are way too many of all genres & from every decade, but this song from The Seekers & some from the 60's Classics always transport me to my teen years & all the many fun memories.

Michael McLeod

We've mentioned music before but it's good to see a full fledged nostagia hootenanny break out.

The immortal Roy Orbison deserves a mention. Sue me, but I consider "Cryin'" his masterpiece rather than "Pretty Woman" or  even "Only the Lonely" his masterpiece. But that may be in part because it's the one I remember enough to get through at a karaoke bar even if I've had a few.

Also hats off to all the really bad dancing we sat through via American Bandstand. I don't mean for the dancers. I mean for us for sitting through it.