CELEBRATING JOHN DENVER
Symphony joins in on tribute concert
Rick Worrall was still a teenager when he saw John Denver perform his melodic folk tunes backed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
It was in 1975 at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. Denver wasn’t exactly the hippest of artists on the charts at the time, but he was at the height of popularity in a career that would see him sell more than 60 million albums. On that night, the symphony was led by Lee Holdridge, a then-31year-old musician and band leader who conducted and arranged for Denver, among other stars.
“It always stuck with me how well that music (worked with) the symphony,” said Worrall from his home in Kelowna, B.C.
It was a year before Worrall would relocate to Calgary and embark on his own lengthy music career, which included releasing an album for Attic Records in the late 1970s and a lengthy residency at the Carriage House Inn. But even before he heard Denver apply his soothing tenor to lushly orchestrated versions of Calypso, Rocky Mountain High and other hits on the CNE grounds, Worrall had a soft spot in his heart for the wholesome singer’s canon of tunes.
“Being an acoustic guitar player, I learned John Denver as a kid in high school,” says Worrall. “Other kids were into Genesis and Led Zeppelin but I was drawn to melodic music.
“There was something about melody that was different than in the rock stuff that was happening. I really liked the melody and was always drawn to John Denver’s lyric writing.”
It’s an appreciation that’s lasted nearly half a century and, one could argue, has recently come full circle. Fast-forward 43 years and Worrall is overseeing Rocky Mountain High: An Evening of John Denver, which arrives at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Sunday. Worrall is the producer and lead singer of the production that uses local orchestras when touring.
He doesn’t try to imitate Denver’s recognizable voice as much as capture the earnest spirit of the songs. But to add another layer of authenticity, the shows are conducted by Holdridge himself. Now 74, Holdridge is still the go-to conductor and arranger for opera star Placido Domingo. For the Calgary show, Worrall will be backed by a Holdridge-conducted Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra.
Back in 2016, Worrall was brought in as a last-minute replacement for an Elton John tribute with the Okanagan Orchestra when the original singer became ill. The experience got him thinking about producing a similar show, but based on Denver’s music. On a whim, he tracked down Holdridge in hopes of acquiring the original symphony charts. The conductor liked the idea, but had some bad news: After Denver was killed in a plane crash in 1997, his manager didn’t want to pay to store the symphony charts and they were destroyed.
But Holdridge did have the handwritten originals, which would have to be painstakingly transcribed into a music program
so new charts could be printed.
“He and I spent almost two years transcribing the songs that we use into the show,” Worrall says. “We reconstructed, from his handwritten charts, these John Denver scores. It was pretty wild for me.
“Over the two years, we became friends. For the first shows we did in the Okanagan back in March, it was so surreal for me to be standing on stage singing John Denver and to turn around and look at John Denver’s conductor conducting a symphony.”
In Calgary, Denver’s tunes will be backed by a nine-piece band and the 53-piece Rocky Mountain Orchestra. Soprano Kathleen Morrison and tenor Matthew Johnson will be guest performers.
While Denver was never a critics’ favourite during his lengthy stay on the pop charts, his songs have certainly proven to be resilient since his 1997 death. He’s still a ubiquitous presence on soft-rock radio and has been covered by everyone from Carley Rae Jepsen to Chantal Kreviazuk to the Chipmunks.
“Even people who are hardcore rock and rollers would find it hard not to like Take Me Home, Country Roads or Thank God I’m a Country Boy in the right environment,” Worrall says. “They take you back to a time of fun memories.”
Being an acoustic guitar player, I learned John Denver as a kid in high school. Other kids were into Genesis and Led Zeppelin but I was drawn to melodic music.