John Denver on The John Denver Show, with Taffy Danoff, BBC (1973) - Okie From Muskogee

[BlazingFerret]

Of course it's satire! How much more obvious does it need to be?

Many thanks for preserving this great stuff. I heard the first performance of Country Roads at the Cellar Door in December 1970, and never missed a performance of either John or Ian & Sylvia there for many years. A rotten shame the Cellar Door is gone forever now.

John, Bill & Taffy ... it was never better than that.

[michaeldonegan]

@BlazingFerret Thank you for your comment.

[sardinianwestcoast]

As a european I'm not that confident with U.S. satire but here is evident... last line is "love me or I'll punch you in the mouth"... Great John and Taffy once again!

[Confederado1]

Y'all do understand biting, ripping sarcasm, don't you? The "klux" and the "punch" (definitely not in the Haggard version) have to let you know that the song is making fun of rednecks. I survived Vietnam, enjoyed the music, and always thought it was a hoot that the war protesters would sing this song with great enthusiasm. It was sarcasm y'all. John Denver's dead . Go easy on him.

[michaeldonegan]

@Confederado1 Thank you for your comment.

[Matuku35]

Her sour looks are all part of the satire. She grins at the end of it. Johns verse at the end shows what a put on it is!!!

[adamtzsch]

John wants to burn peace-freaks? I've now changed my whole opinion of him.

[GBSightings17]

@adamtzsch

No, he's making fun of rednecks. How could you miss that? Well said. That's just how they are.

[Earthlinked]

This song is about 100% of what John Denver was NOT all about - there must be a reason that he chose this song!!!

[puck57]

@Earthlinked

Its pure satire!!!! They're just having fun and that's why she has that dour look on her face as well. Like the Mitchell Trio use to do a lot of political satire.

[Masterofsweetness]

lol

[Legionaire38]

That chick Taffy from the Starland Vocal Band has a beautiful voice and she harmonizes beautifully with John.

[goldenponderbob]

I agree she looks pissed. I'd like to think it was about the song and not something odd JD said.

You'd think She & Bill would have built up a tolerance to his odd verbal propensities by then.

I dislike this song intensely, and wish he hadn't chosen to involve her in it.

This is really precious stuff for those who loved John, Bill and Taffy, which explains why I bothered to watch it - this once.

Thanks, Mr. Donegan, for the wonderful treasures you have posted here.

Bob McDonnell

[michaeldonegan]

Thanks Bob, As I wrote previously I thought this song didn't really belong in a show with anti-war material like The Box and Jimmy Newman. We know that JD himself opposed the Vietnam war so perhaps Taffy wasn't happy he was singing this song.

Thank you for your kind comments.

Michael.

[juslookin3]

Michael, thanks for posting. Maybe you're not familiar with the song so that you didn't notice that he fabricated the last verse to make the whole song ironic. He's ridiculing it.

[michaeldonegan]

Thank you for the information. You are quite correct, I am not too familiar with the song.

Have a Happy New Year 2010.

[MrKEJC]

To be precise: Taffy looks a little bit annoyed

[MrKEJC]

You're right. Taffy doesn't look happy while they're singing the song. But maybe that's part of the show?

[maryg46]

Is it my imagination or is Taffy looking daggers at John. I get the impression she is really ticked off with him. She just kinda walks on after he starts singing and she never looks at him and when she does, it is a good things looks don't kill or he'd drop right there. Kinda a weird song for JD anyway.

[michaeldonegan]

I would never have seen this as a serious version of this song. I think they were playing it for the laughs. The audience seemed to see it that way too! I also thought this song a bit strange in a show where he was showcasing anti-war material like The Box and Jimmy Newman.

As for Taffy, I'll have to look again, now you've drawn that to my attention! Maybe she didn't like him calling her Daffy!