Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. got his first guitar as a teenager, according to Biography, and by the early 1960s, had successfully auditioned for a singing role in a popular folk group. Soon he’d even written a hit song -– “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” -– that was recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary, at the time the biggest names in folk music. He was starting to get big, and his name was going to be a hindrance.
According to Biography, unspecified “record executives” encouraged the up-and-coming folk singer and songwriter to change his name — the matter of record company execs demanding singers change their name wasn’t unprecedented at the time, and still goes on today. However, Denver’s own website says it was “friends” who urged him to change his name.
Meanwhile, Randy Sparks of the New Christy Minstrels says it was he who directed Deutschendorf to take a new name, writing on his website that the artist showed up Ledbetter’s Store of Fun & Folk Music, Sparks’ West Los Angeles space for music lessons and rehearsals. Sparks said, “That’s where I discovered Henry John Deutschendorf (and named him John Denver).”
Of course, the stage surname “Denver” was fitting for Deutschendorf’s brand of environmentally-tinged, outdoorsy-themed folk music. Indeed, one of his biggest songs, “Rocky Mountain High,” is about the mountains in which Denver is located.
