By Conor Knighton, CBS Sunday Morning News | The first line of John Denver’s song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” calls West Virginia “Almost Heaven,” and when you’re up in the mountains, that description can feel pretty accurate.
Almost Heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads
But these winding country roads were immortalized by someone who had never driven them.
Correspondent Conor Knighton asked, “Had you ever been to West Virginia before you wrote the song?”
“No,” said Bill Danoff. “Well, in my dreams!”
Danoff, along with his then-girlfriend and bandmate Taffy Nivert, played a rough draft of “Country Roads” for their pal John Denver after a gig one night in Washington, D.C.
“John’s biggest contribution to anything at that point was just his enthusiasm: ‘Well, let’s finish it!'” Danoff laughed. “You know, at 1:00 in the morning, 1:30, you know? ‘Let’s get it!'”
The three stayed up late collaborating on the version that hit the airwaves 55 years ago.
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Read more and watch the videos about what happened since. . .
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/take-me-home-country-roads/
An earlier version of this story was originally broadcast on December 26, 2021.
Photo: Take Me Home cover
