Written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. Danoff and his then-wife, Mary ("Taffy") Nivert, wrote "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads," both of which were hits for John Denver. Danoff (from Springfield, Massachusetts) has stated he had never been to West Virginia before co-writing the song. Danoff got his inspiration from postcards sent to him by a friend who DID live there. Danoff told NPR in 2011: "I just thought the idea that I was hearing something so exotic to me from someplace as far away. West Virginia might as well have been in Europe, for all I knew." Inspiration for the song had come while driving to a family reunion of Nivert's relatives along Clopper Road in nearby Maryland. Clopper Road is still there. It is a four lane road from Qince Orchard Boulevard to just past Rt. 118 where it returns to a two lane road. The end of Clopper Road is in a town called Boyds. From Rt. 118 to the end, the road is much like it was in 1969 through the mid-1980s. To pass the time en route, Danoff had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. He had even briefly considered using "Massachusetts" rather than "West Virginia," as both four-syllable state names would have fit the song's meter.
Starting December 22, 1970, John Denver was heading the bill at The Cellar Door, a Washington, D.C. club. Danoff and Nivert opened for him as a duo named Fat City. After the Tuesday post-Christmas re-opening night (Cellar Door engagements ran from Tuesday to Sunday, and this booking was for two weeks,) the three headed back to their place for an impromptu jam. On the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in an automobile accident. He was taken to the hospital, where a splint was applied. By the time they got back to the house, he was, in his own words, "wired, you know." They sang the song for Denver and as he recalled, "I flipped." The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and moving lines around. When they finished, John announced that the song had to go on his next album.
Danoff and Nivert then told him about the song that they had been working on for about a month. Originally, Danoff and Nivert had planned to sell the song to popular country singer Johnny Cash, but when Denver heard the song and decided he had to have it, the duo who wrote the original lyrics decided not to make the sale.
Written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. Danoff and his then-wife, Mary ("Taffy") Nivert, wrote "[I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=iBGksGTb90c)" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads," both of which were hits for John Denver. Danoff (from Springfield, Massachusetts) has stated he had never been to West Virginia before co-writing the song. Danoff got his inspiration from postcards sent to him by a friend who DID live there. Danoff told NPR in 2011: "I just thought the idea that I was hearing something so exotic to me from someplace as far away. West Virginia might as well have been in Europe, for all I knew." Inspiration for the song had come while driving to a family reunion of Nivert's relatives along Clopper Road in nearby Maryland. Clopper Road is still there. It is a four lane road from Qince Orchard Boulevard to just past Rt. 118 where it returns to a two lane road. The end of Clopper Road is in a town called Boyds. From Rt. 118 to the end, the road is much like it was in 1969 through the mid-1980s. To pass the time en route, Danoff had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. He had even briefly considered using "Massachusetts" rather than "West Virginia," as both four-syllable state names would have fit the song's meter.
Starting December 22, 1970, John Denver was heading the bill at The Cellar Door, a Washington, D.C. club. Danoff and Nivert opened for him as a duo named Fat City. After the Tuesday post-Christmas re-opening night (Cellar Door engagements ran from Tuesday to Sunday, and this booking was for two weeks,) the three headed back to their place for an impromptu jam. On the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in an automobile accident. He was taken to the hospital, where a splint was applied. By the time they got back to the house, he was, in his own words, "wired, you know." They sang the song for Denver and as he recalled, "I flipped." The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and moving lines around. When they finished, John announced that the song had to go on his next album.
Danoff and Nivert then told him about the song that they had been working on for about a month. Originally, Danoff and Nivert had planned to sell the song to popular country singer Johnny Cash, but when Denver heard the song and decided he had to have it, the duo who wrote the original lyrics decided not to make the sale.
Written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. Danoff and his then-wife, Mary ("Taffy") Nivert, wrote "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads," both of which were hits for John Denver. Danoff (from Springfield, Massachusetts) has stated he had never been to West Virginia before co-writing the song. Danoff got his inspiration from postcards sent to him by a friend who DID live there. Danoff told NPR in 2011: "I just thought the idea that I was hearing something so exotic to me from someplace as far away. West Virginia might as well have been in Europe, for all I knew." Inspiration for the song had come while driving to a family reunion of Nivert's relatives along Clopper Road in nearby Maryland. Clopper Road is still there. It is a four lane road from Qince Orchard Boulevard to just past Rt. 118 where it returns to a two lane road. The end of Clopper Road is in a town called Boyds. From Rt. 118 to the end, the road is much like it was in 1969 through the mid-1980s. To pass the time en route, Danoff had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. He had even briefly considered using "Massachusetts" rather than "West Virginia," as both four-syllable state names would have fit the song's meter.
Starting December 22, 1970, John Denver was heading the bill at The Cellar Door, a Washington, D.C. club. Danoff and Nivert opened for him as a duo named Fat City. After the Tuesday post-Christmas re-opening night (Cellar Door engagements ran from Tuesday to Sunday, and this booking was for two weeks,) the three headed back to their place for an impromptu jam. On the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in an automobile accident. He was taken to the hospital, where a splint was applied. By the time they got back to the house, he was, in his own words, "wired, you know." They sang the song for Denver and as he recalled, "I flipped." The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and moving lines around. When they finished, John announced that the song had to go on his next album.
Danoff and Nivert then told him about the song that they had been working on for about a month. Originally, Danoff and Nivert had planned to sell the song to popular country singer Johnny Cash, but when Denver heard the song and decided he had to have it, the duo who wrote the original lyrics decided not to make the sale.