🇩🇴 🇺🇸 Coffee-fueled cardiology fellow. Mets/Penn State/Barça/Jets/Aston Villa/MMA. Contributor to @OT_Heroics Yes, I know my teams suck. Views are my own.
The song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was co-written by Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (as Fat City) with John Denver.
Danoff and Nivert began it while driving Clopper Road in Montgomery County, Maryland, heading to a family gathering. The "country roads" line came from Danoff recalling small roads from his western New England childhood. They worked on a partial version for weeks, hoping to pitch it to Johnny Cash.
On Dec 29, 1970, after Fat City opened for Denver at The Cellar Door in DC, they returned to the couple's apartment. Denver heard it, immediately claimed it, and the trio stayed up until 6 a.m. finishing the bridge and lyrics. Taffy checked an encyclopedia on West Virginia (rhododendron came up first). They chose "West Virginia" because it fit the syllables and rhythm best—Danoff felt "Massachusetts" didn't sound musical enough. Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River were added for their poetic feel.
Denver premiered it live that night to a huge ovation. Recorded in January 1971 and released that April. None of the writers had deep ties to West Virginia at the time, but the state embraced it as an anthem.
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@richmacleod It’s one of the main reasons this season has failed.
Stearns acquired injury prone starters who proceeded to get injured, along with Lindor. So he NEEDED this last wave a crucial depth. They’ve failed miserably at even being league average.