Editing John Denver (section)

===Early career===
At age 11, Denver received an acoustic guitar from his grandmother.<ref name="bio" /> He learned to play well enough to perform at local clubs by the time he was in college. Denver decided to change his name when [[Randy Sparks]], founder of [[the New Christy Minstrels]], suggested that "Deutschendorf" would not fit comfortably on a [[Marquee (structure)|marquee]].<ref name="sparks" /> Denver attended [[Texas Tech University]] in [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]] and sang in a folk-music group, "The Alpine Trio", while studying architecture.<ref name="bio2">{{cite web|url=http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Ca-Fi/Denver-John.html |title=John Denver Biography |publisher=Notablebiographies.com |access-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Texas Tech University |year=1962 |title=La Ventana, vol. 37 |hdl=2346/48702}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Texas Tech University|year=1964 |title=La Ventana, vol. 39 |hdl=2346/48704}}</ref> He was also a member of the [[Delta Tau Delta]] fraternity. Denver dropped out of Texas Tech in 1963<ref name="bio" /> and moved to Los Angeles, where he sang in folk clubs. In 1965, Denver joined [[The Chad Mitchell Trio]], replacing founder Chad Mitchell. After more personnel changes, the trio later became known as "Denver, Boise, and Johnson" (John Denver, David Boise, and [[Michael Johnson (singer)|Michael Johnson]]).<ref name="bio" />

In 1969, Denver abandoned band life to pursue a solo career and released his first album for [[RCA Records]], ''[[Rhymes & Reasons (John Denver album)|Rhymes & Reasons]]''. Two years earlier, he had made a self-produced demo recording of some of the songs he played at his concerts. It included a song Denver had written called "Babe, I Hate to Go", later renamed "[[Leaving on a Jet Plane]]". He made several copies and gave them out as Christmas presents.<ref>[http://www.johndenver.com/current/current.html Current Events] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205131958/http://www.johndenver.com/current/current.html |date=December 5, 2010}}</ref> [[Milt Okun]], who produced records for The Chad Mitchell Trio and folk group [[Peter, Paul and Mary]], had become Denver's producer as well. Okun brought the unreleased "Jet Plane" song to Peter, Paul and Mary. Their rendition hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.<ref>{{cite web| last = Ruhlman | first = William | title = Beginnings| work=Goldmine Magazine | date = April 12, 1996 | url =http://www.peterpaulandmary.com/history/f-ruhlmann3.htm | access-date =January 24, 2010}}</ref> Denver's song also made it to No. 2 in the UK in February 1970, having also made No. 1 on the US Cash Box chart in December 1969.

RCA did not actively promote ''Rhymes & Reasons'' with a series of live appearances, but Denver embarked on an impromptu supporting tour throughout the Midwest, stopping at towns and cities, offering to play free concerts at local venues. When he was successful in persuading a school, college, American Legion hall, or coffeehouse to let him perform, Denver distributed posters in the town and usually showed up at the local radio station, guitar in hand, offering himself for an interview.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newmexicomusic.org/2015/11/25/denver-john/ |title=Denver, John |publisher=New Mexico Music Commission |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref> As the writer of "[[Leaving on a Jet Plane]]", Denver was often successful in gaining some promotional airtime, usually performing one or two songs live. Some venues let him play for the 'door'; others restricted him to selling copies of the album at intermission and after the show. After several months of this, Denver had built a solid fan base, many of whom remained loyal throughout his career.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://johndenver.com/about/biography/ |title=Biography |publisher=johndenver.com |access-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref>

Denver recorded two more albums in 1970, ''[[Take Me to Tomorrow]]'' and ''[[Whose Garden Was This]]'', including a mix of songs he had written and covers of other writers' compositions.