From One Trio to Another
And so, he became John Denver. Why Denver? Well, apparently, it was the capital of his favorite state Colorado. Not only was it the place his family finally settled in, but Colorado also has a strong association with mountains and nature – something he enjoyed singing about. The name clearly worked for him as a stage name that people easily remembered.
John Denver with Tom Jones. Photo By Valley Music Ltd/Shutterstock
By 1965, Denver was in New York City and won a gig competing against 250 other candidates for the Chad Mitchell Trio, but he only caught his big break in 1967 when he ended up replacing Chad Mitchell himself. The trio became “Denver, Boise, and Johnson.”