JOHN DENVER - CLARKSTON 1983

March 9, 2023 – 6:17 am

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JOHN DENVER
Clarkston 1983 [JoeRay Master Series Volume 31, 2CD]
Live at the Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI; July 21, 1983. Very good audience recording.

Thanks to JoeRay, Goody and mjk5510 for sharing the show at Dime.

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We are pleased to release Volume 31 of the JoeRay Master Series, if you are looking for Volume 30, Todd Rundgren @ the 1978 World Series Of Rock Game III, you can find it elsewhere on the web.

After going through a nasty divorce in 1982, John Denver decided to return to the basics and played a series of solo shows featuring a mix of old and new. These shows feel like he was exercising the recent demons in his personal life with an intimate very personal show.

In a 1983 interview run in the Palm Springs Desert Sun newspaper Denver says, “I’ve been doing solo concerts, just me and my guitars, for a year. I performed in 15 countries last year. I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done on stage. It comes from my heart and the things going on in my life now. The show has had a few little changes, and I put in a new song whenever I have it.”

This is the last of three sold out shows at the Pine Knob Music Theatre and in reviewing the Dime archives it appears there are no 1983 shows shared and only one solo show from the era, an October 1982 performance broadcast on BBCTV. If you are any kind of John Denver fan, casual or otherwise, this should come as a nice addition to his legacy, he is certainly flawless in his execution. Joe Ray did an excellent job capturing the nights performance, he picks up the story from here.

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This was a beautiful night at Pine Knob watching John Denver perform alone with only a guitar and piano in support. Seeing a songwriter performing by themselves brings out the best of the artist.

On this night, and captured by this recording, I believe John was at his very best. His voice was crisp yet warm and rich and his guitar playing was simply amazing. His Travis picking style and his guitar runs were as tight and specific as those of the guitarist in his main band James Burton or Pete Huttlinger. When playing with his band, you don’t often get to hear his guitar playing but tonight, you heard every note.

I’ve seen John perform dozens of times and I cannot remember ever hearing him sound as strong and brilliant vocally as he did this night in Michigan. The weather was moderate, cool with low humidity. My ticket was right next to the stage, 4 rows back on the center-left of the stage. John was about 12 feet from me and it brought back memories of seeing him up at Crater Lake when we met over a campfire after climbing the Maroon Bells Mountains about 30 miles out of Aspen, Colorado in 1976. I always hike with my 0-15 Martin guitar on my backpack and John couldn’t believe I had a guitar up at 9700 feet elevation while camping. He joined us and over dinner played a few songs. Unfortunately I did not have a recorder with me.

I saw and recorded John another eight times before his untimely death on October 12, 1997. I can’t believe it’s been 25 years since that day he left us. He was so much more than just a songwriter/performer. He was a voice for wildlife and wild places but most of all, he was a voice for those people that needed a voice and always challenged the rest of us to do better.

I will forever miss him and his wonderful writing about those places that still remain wild and free. Enjoy this really special concert by a real special artist.

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It’s been 25 years since John Denver’s unfortunate death on October 12, 1997, we wanted to get this show out to pay tribute to the artist musical legacy.

We are releasing this fine show in both 24/96 and 16/44 editions, we’ve included artwork, a review of one of the Pine Knob shows and a couple of additional newspaper items.

Thanks to Goody for his continued pitch excellence and patience for all the work we send his way.

As always a big thank you to JoeRay for the excellent capture, excellent transfer, trusting me to present his work for all to enjoy and for keeping his legendary masters flowing.

mjk5510 & JoeRay
December 31, 2022

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Lineage:
AKG D1000E microphone > unknown Sony Cassette Recorder
Transfer: Master Cassettes > Nakamichi DR-01 > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity > Adobe Audition > iZotope RX / ozone > 16/44 > xACT 2.50 > FLAC
Location: 4th Row-Orchestra (left center)

Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (320 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.

Please Do Not Hammer The Links. Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. It could be that the server was very busy. The tracks should still be around. Please try again later.

Kindly email us if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files. Also email us if you have any rarities you’d like to share with our readers.

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Disc 1
Track 101. Boy From The Country 3:42
Track 102. Rocky Mountain High 4:17
Track 103. Sunshine On My Shoulders 4:49
Track 104. Saturday Night In Toledo, Ohio 2:28
Track 105. talk 2:05
Track 106. Me And My Uncle 3:10
Track 107. Leaving On A Jet Plane 3:34
Track 108. Goodbye Again 3:25
Track 109. Follow Me 3:21
Track 110. Baby, You Look Good To Me Tonight 2:53
Track 111. talk 1:28
Track 112. The Bells Of Rhymney 5:02
Track 113. talk 4:57
Track 114. Durango Mountain Caballero 3:23
Track 115. Falling Out Of Love 4:06
Track 116. I’m Sorry 3:22
Track 117. Matthew 3:31
Track 118. My Sweet Lady 6:02
66 mins

Disc 2
Track 201. Wild Montana Skies 4:03
Track 202. Take Me Home, Country Roads 2:46
Track 203. Grandma’s Feather Bed 2:06
Track 204. Thank God I’m A Country Boy 3:36
Track 205. Seasons Of The Heart (piano) 4:24
Track 206. The Wings That Fly Us Home 4:38
Track 207. Shanghai Breezes 3:12
Track 208. Poems, Prayers and Promises 4:53
Track 209. talk 3:44
Track 210. The Ambulance Down In The Valley 4:32
Track 211. I Want To Live 3:30
Track 212. talk 2:28
Track 213. Heart To Heart 3:30
Track 214. Annie’s Song 3:18
Track 215. Calypso 4:16
Track 216. talk 1:54
Track 217. The Peace Poem 1:29
Track 218. It’s About Time 3:42
Track 219. Perhaps Love 2:33
65 mins

John Denver - guitar, piano, vocals

   Click here to order John Denver releases.

  1. 50 Responses to “JOHN DENVER - CLARKSTON 1983”

  2. Who starts these rumors?

    By Jocko P on Mar 9, 2023

  3. Hey bigO fuckstains turn down the Cloudflare, I can barely get on the site assholes

    By U L E on Mar 9, 2023

  4. Pine Knob?? Flesh Knob is what I want down my throat and up my ass

    By U L E on Mar 9, 2023

  5. John Denvers’ last words: I’m flying Drunk and I’m not wearing pants~!

    By carolynthing on Mar 9, 2023

  6. Two above twernt me more fakes

    By U L E on Mar 9, 2023

  7. Rumor has it John had a Big Un

    By U L E on Mar 9, 2023

  8. John Denver was Jewish. His real last name was dutchendorff

    By T J on Mar 9, 2023

  9. Attn bigO- it’s almost impossible to connect to your site because of the Cloudflare delays. I’ve had major problems recently, if changes were made in the settings they didn’t help.

    By barth on Mar 9, 2023

  10. Yes amigos but so what if his name was Deutchendorf. Where is Mark to explain that it don’t matter? If Mark has left this site will Swappers do it?

    By Meat beater on Mar 10, 2023

  11. John Denver.s last words: I’m flying drunk. I’m not wearing pants. I got my Dic out and I’m thinking about you~!

    By carolynthing on Mar 10, 2023

  12. swappers will do anything that involves taking it up the ass

    By Confetti Bob on Mar 11, 2023

  13. What purpose do these comments serve? No one talks about music anymore. It’s just one big troll fest . Has it always been this way ? If not when did it start ? No other music blog that I visit is like this .

    By Justin on Mar 11, 2023

  14. I’ve asked the same question Justin . This world is going to hell in a handbasket. Mankind is in moral decay . Perverts run amok . America is especially guilty. Gays , LGBTQ , people changing their small childrens gender . Biological men who identify as women competing in womens sports . Drag queens in elementary schools entertaining small children. America is the biggest culprit. Everything is acceptable now , no moral boundaries anymore. No wonder China , Russia and the rest of the world are laughing at us . This all actually began in the sixties, hippy free love era .The moral decay has gotten steadily worse since then .

    By Thomas on Mar 11, 2023

  15. A classic example is how our government/ President moved heaven and earth to gain the release of a gay , freak anti American female basketball player Brittany Griner for a war criminal Viktor Bout , the merchant of death , who is responsible for thousands of innocent deaths. Meanwhile American marine Paul Whelan and teacher Mark Fogel continue to rot in Russian prisons .Biden had to appeal to his liberal LGBTQ base . It’s no wonder that military recruitment is at an all time low . When you’re president and government dosent have your back .

    By Thomas on Mar 11, 2023

  16. Derrick and HHH have changed their name to Thomas, it seems.

    @Confetti Bob, you’re right, I love anything up the tradesmen entrance. The bigger the better, I say.

    By Swappers on Mar 11, 2023

  17. This good ole country boy had a big ole foot long hoagie in his trousers I heard .He was super big in the britches

    By ELU on Mar 11, 2023

  18. Who starts these rumor s ?

    By Jocko P on Mar 11, 2023

  19. I agree with the moral decay opinions. America has turned into a haven for illegal immigrants, Mexicans, Muslim pieces of shit that like to cut off heads with hunting knives . , niggers who fuck white women . The white bitches are worse than the niggers. You got mixed kinky haired kids running all over the damn place . You got coc sucking faggots and trans men who say that they is women . You got parents who turn their kids from boys to girls and vice versa. I agree this society is fucked up

    By Nelson on Mar 11, 2023

  20. Hey Jocko P, rumors recently circulating that it is your very own self who keeps starting these rumors. We all know you are an attention seeking numbnut - so stopping ask stooopid questions!

    By HHH on Mar 12, 2023

  21. Hey Antichrist, Derrick, hhh don’t hear much from you guys anymore. Hope you are well . I just heard that former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant died at 95 . Anti and Derrick I know that you are sports fans . Mr Grant led the Vikings to 4 Super Bowls but never one any of them .great coach though Rest in piece a Bud Grant

    By Nelson on Mar 12, 2023

  22. Also great Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor passed at age 80 He wasn’t a nigger but a black gentleman as hhh likes to say . None of that in your face classless shit back in those days . Sort of ironic that Bud Grant and Otis Taylor died about the same time . Grants Vikings played the chief’s in super bowl 4 . Otis Taylor’s long touchdown catch put the game away for the KC Chiefs . Think it was 1970 . I was a kid watching it on tv

    By Nelson on Mar 12, 2023

  23. I couldn’t believe it when I read Otis Taylor is not in the hall of fame . Talk about an injustice. Put these guys in before they die for Christ sake . These old timers get forgotten about cause young voters never saw them play . Chuck Howley finally got in when he’s old and in bad health. His son says he’s probably going to miss the ceremony because he can’t take the travel and be on his feet that long at his age . He should have been a first ballot hall of famer . These guys need to get in when they can be alive to appreciate it . Look at Kenny Snake Stabler. He has to die before he gets in . It suck’s man

    By Nelson on Mar 12, 2023

  24. Nice to hear from you Nelson, Anti , triple h , I is am still around, just sic of all the bulkshit and name hijacker’s here along wit the motherfuckin , dic suckin, coon an ho yeller lovin queer faggots here

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  25. They should all get what Joe Pesci got in Casino

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  26. Or what Coon monkey George Floyd got in Minneapolis

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  27. A man size knee to their skinny ass necks , face down in the pavement twisting and gaspin for air , screaming in pain , cryin for mama , before they go limp

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  28. Officer Chauvin doin the honors

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  29. Nelson , I is glad my old cowboy hero Chuck Howley finally got in the hall of fame , but shit man it should have happened decades ago . The guy was one of the greatest linebackers of all time . Coach Landry said he was the best linebacker he ever saw . And this was a era of Dic Butkus , Ray Nitchke , Willie Lanier , Jack Lambert Jack Ham , all them guys Landry said Howley was the best

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  30. Poor Chuck is old and feeble now , 86 years old , in bad health . I teared up watching the video of Roger Staubach , Cliff Harris and Charlie Waters coming to his house and telling him congratulations you finally made it . Sad that he’s too weak and fragile to attend the ceremony

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  31. Yup Snake Stabler should have got in too on the first ballot, his grandsons had to accept it for him John Madden RIP was in tears presenting him to the hall . John knew he should have got in while still alive

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  32. Mad dog Mike Curtis RIP is another one who is a first ballot hall of famer . He still ain’t in one of the hardest hitting great linebackers ever for the Baltimore Colts . Now if he does ever get in he won’t be here to accept it . It’s a fuckin disgrace

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  33. I could go on and on Lee Roy Jordan of my cowboys who played wit Chuck Howley for years in the 60s and 70s deserves to go in too . You mentioned Otis Taylor. Can’t believe he’s not in . The dude was a game changer . All them bombs he caught from Lenny Dawson

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  34. Also the great Lenny Dawson. R. I . P, died this year too , so did Mad bomber Daryle Lamonica of the raiders

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  35. Still remember all them great Raiders Chefs games , rivalry from the late 60s early 70s Dawson , Lamonica, Fred Biletnikoff , Warren Wells , Pete Banazak George Atkinson, Jack Tatum , Cliff Branch , Otis Taylor , Bobby Bell , Buck Buchanan, Mike Garrett ,coaches John Madden and Hank Stram . Thems was the days

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  36. Also I mostly like to suck nigger сock .

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  37. Coon monkey George Floyd’s diсk tasted so good .

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  38. Wait Derrick - you said you liked my сock best. Especially when I stuck the Pine Knob up your ass.

    By HHH on Mar 12, 2023

  39. I LOVE dudes, I can’t stop talking about them! Big muscled dudes in the shower with soapy water running all down their chests and diks n balls and butts n ass cracks oh god I wanna suck them all off so bad and have them gang fuck my ass in the shower and bukkake all over me and shove their coc ks down my throat and up my ass oh fuck yeah don’t ever stop guys!!!!!

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  40. Triple I say that to every guy who fucks my ass and shits on my chest.

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  41. Derrick, the phony name stealers should all get what Joe PESCHIE got in Casino

    By T J on Mar 12, 2023

  42. I’d give them what Ned Beatty got in deliverance. Squeal piggy wheeeee

    By T J on Mar 12, 2023

  43. Or what Marcelles Wallace got in pulp fiction

    By T J on Mar 12, 2023

  44. Or what Linda Lovelace got in deep throat

    By T J on Mar 12, 2023

  45. Or what Marilyn Chambers got in behind the green door

    By T J on Mar 12, 2023

  46. Or what Derek Chauvin is getting in the prison shower by the big black inmates

    By T J on Mar 12, 2023

  47. They should all get what Christopher Plummer got in my all time favorite movie ever, The Sound Of Music.

    By HHH on Mar 12, 2023

  48. Oh dear, I thought that we had got rid of Derrick, Nelson and HHH but it looks like they might be making a comeback - which is very sad.

    By Rightup Dias on Mar 12, 2023

  49. TJ I’ve been getting that every day for a long time, and it’s FABULOUS!

    By Derrick on Mar 12, 2023

  50. Hey Derrick did you ever get to see Stablers snake? I knows you like lickin on meat.

    By Walter on Mar 13, 2023

  51. Walter you is a lying perve.

    But not so much of a sicko as swappers. He needs spiroastin by the BigO boys then a permanent ban from this site

    By Derrick on Mar 14, 2023

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