JOHN DENVER – "Annie's Song"

Well done Tom – that’s a football reference no-one should miss, and you’re right it’s a football chant that does pretty well what the original does, and many would say it does it better. And so it should, coming from the home of Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner (err, we’ll leave Phil Oakey’s lyrics to one side for now).

But looking back to 1974, it’s the sensory hit itself that was behind this record reaching Number 1 – think John Denver, think Rocky Mountain High, think Country Roads, think escapism for people buying into the widescreen Americana on offer. At a time when Western themes in TV programmes were being replaced by cop shows (which would benefit Kojak and Hutch in chart terms before long) we still wanted rhinestone cowboys, blankets on the ground and homespun tales from ladies in large wigs. Contrast that to the situation now where a Trisha Yearwood or Dwight Yoakam could pretty well walk down Oxford Street unmolested.

Did John Denver actually resemble his character in House Of Rock at all? Said cartoon is my main point of contact with him, having never willingly listened to or watched ‘Annie’.

HOWEVER I know how the melody goes, because this was in Kenneth Baker’s Learn To Play Keyboard Songbook 2. I seem to recall regularly spurning it in favour of ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’.

The misplaced image of the smug former home secretary that “Kenneth Baker’s Learn to Play Keyboard Songbook” gives me greater pleasure than Annie’s Song ever did. A bit bland and overproduced.

I do remember greatly enjoying John Denver’s appearance on The Muppets as a boy, though.

This pleasant little piece could have been anyone’s – I don’t know about Annie’s. It surprised me when it went to the top but I didn’t dislike it then and still don’t. A little superficial, I would say, but then most pop ballads are one way or another. The only thing we took the piss out of was Denver’s “John Boy Walton” appearance; basin haircut and ill-fitted bins. He wouldn’t have lasted five minutes at Stockwell Manor. And now he’s dead, the poor little sod.

I have quite specific memories associated with this song as well. In the late 70s or early 80s my parents became friendly with a younger married couple (possibly through the bridge club they attended) and for a couple of summers we often used to go over to their large house (which had an equally large garden). The couple had a daughter, but she must have been very young at the time. I remember nothing about her.

The mother (Joan) was an outgoing, outspoken and slightly eccentric person – not your typical stiff-upper-lipped / staid / repressed English type that I was used to. Joan thought nothing of blasting out John Denver’s greatest hits on the family hi-fi in the middle of the day while rushing around, organising the kids in some useful activity or other. “Annie’s Song” was a particular favourite of hers. Joan took an interest in everyone and spoke to children like adults. I dare say she turned my head a little.

But after a while it began to become clear that all was not well in this garden of eden. Joan and her husband were drifting apart and in private the D word started to be mentioned by my parents. Soon after that, our visits to the house had to stop too.

Many months later, one winter evening, Joan suddenly showed up at our door when only my mum and I were home. In a slightly frantic state Joan announced that she and her daughter were off to Suffolk. Now. Immediately. And she needed a good home for all her houseplants – which she’d conveniently brought over in her car. In minutes our house was festooned with potted plants of all shapes and sizes. And then she was gone. I never saw her again.

Surely the best version of “Annie’s Song” is on the track “Farewell to John Denver” from Monty Pythons Contractual Obligation Album. The track starts as normal but before ‘Denver’ finishes his first line he is suddenly throttled to death. Arf. What larfs. Its sadly no longer available as the humorless get threatened to sue and the track was removed from all future pressings.

Thios is one of those misheard lyrics to follow on from the last number one…

“You fill up my senses, kung fu me again…”

Jeff – that story about “Joan” was looking very promising until she just left you with all the houseplants. In the movie version of your life I’m sure she’d have taken you upstairs for a good rogering before saying goodbye to your startled mum, but reality doesn’t tend to be like that does it? ; )

Monitor (#6) – the last three number ones all entered in the same week, and Denver dutifully waited his turn until the toothy troupe and he with the kick-ass moves had finished. An unusually stately progress, rarely matched.

This caused problems at Top Of The Pops, as there was no video, no performance clip, and no promotional visit to the UK from Denver himself. Instead, TOTP was obliged to finish each week with tracking shots of the audience waving giant sunflowers around for three minutes, IIRC.

Donkey’s years ago, I dated a Pan Am air steward who regularly worked the international first class cabin – and it was he who told me that the supposed Wild Men Of Rock were usually the tamest passengers, whilst the supposed Clean Cut Goody Two Shoes types were the most trouble. My ex’s two wildest, most hell-raising passengers: step forward, The Late Andy Gibb and The Late John Denver, the latter of whom managed to renew his subscription to the Mile High Club on three separate occasions in the course of one flight, with three separate obliging Annie Auditionees. (Clearly, an artistic soul such as JD must have needed his senses re-filling a little more regularly than the rest of us…)

What was JD keeping from the No. 1 position?

I’m sure I remember him singing it only Pans People danced to it one week, before it got to number one.

I still hear it as ‘You fill up my senses, kung fu me again’ …

I quite like this – it’s a strong melody with a rich arrangement and JD’s voice is slightly more interesting than generic even if the lyrics aren’t.
Nevertheless it does sound like an AI’s approximation of folk/country with all of the slightly quirky signifiers like fiddles, banjos or harmonicas taken out