Inside the FBI file on John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr – or John Denver as he was professionally known – is among the biggest names in 20th-century country music. The beloved musician is the voice behind eternal hits such as ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, ‘Poems, Prayers & Promises’ and ‘Annie’s Song’. Denver was just about the furthest thing from a criminal but managed to get entangled in an FBI sweep in the early 1990s.
In 2000, The Oklahoman exposed an FBI report revealing that Denver’s name had been cleared in an investigation that ensued throughout the 1990s. The issues began in 1991, when Denver’s name cropped up, seemingly attached to La Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, in a computerised search of the national Organized Crime Information System.
The subsequent investigation deemed there to be no tangible connection between the Mafia and Denver, who tragically died on October 12th, 1997, in a light aeroplane crash. However, the report shed light on three encounters between Denver and the FBI. The report noted that Denver’s name was searched “subsequent to a request of the Executive Agencies Unit” in accordance with a nationwide probe.
Paul Bresson, a spokesperson for the FBI, explained that the Executive Agencies Unit frequently conducts background checks of this kind. Denver just happened to have a surprisingly manifold history with the bureau.
Another instance logged on Denver’s file occurred in December 1979, when the FBI investigated a potential murder threat. A woman made 17 calls from Germany to warn that her mother’s boyfriend had travelled to Los Angeles with the intention of murdering John Denver. While those involved in the threat remain unidentified in the public domain, the FBI alerted Denver, who lived in Aspen at the time, of the situation.
A third item on Denver’s FBI file notes the musician’s involvement in a May 1971 anti-war rally in Minneapolis where he appeared alongside former Senator Eugene McCarthy District of Minnesota, among other orators. Despite not being officially under investigation, Denver’s presence at the rally prompted a brief filing with the bureau.
“Since this affair is clearly political in nature, no coverage through established sources or informants contemplated unless positive evidence received of disruptive or destructive activity being involved herewith,” the report entry notes in conclusion.
So, fortunately, the good name of John Denver hasn’t been marred by his FBI file. On the contrary, it confirms a lack of affiliation with organised crime, virtuous involvement with anti-war campaigns and an utterly unwarranted death threat.
Listen to John Denver’s signature song, ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, below.
