How Peter, Paul And Mary’s Last Huge Hit Coincided With John Denver’s Introduction to the Music World

When one of the most successful interpretive groups ever teams up with the material of a beloved songwriter, the results can be breathtaking. Certainly, that was the case when Peter, Paul And Mary recorded John Denver’s “Leaving On A Jet Plane”.

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We can clearly understand how it all worked so well based on what we now know about the careers of those artists. But the song’s success was by no means a fait accompli, as the singers and the songwriter were not exactly at their peaks at the time they came together.

Traveling Blues

John Denver was only in the very first stages of his musical career when he penned “Leaving On A Jet Plane”. As a matter of fact, it was in the initial batch of songs that he ever wrote. Before he ever reached that point, he had lived a peripatetic life as a child due to his father’s time in the Air Force.

As a result, Denver acutely felt the sting of comings and goings, which would also be part of his life as a touring musician. While sitting in an airport near Washington, D.C., in 1966, Denver quickly sketched out the basics of a song he originally called “Babe I Hate To Go”.

Denver thought well enough of the song that he made demos of it and passed those around to friends. Meanwhile, Milt Okun, who was producing the earliest of Denver’s recordings, suggested a title change. And Okun also happened to produce Peter, Paul And Mary, the group that would take the song to the heights.

Loving “Leaving”

Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers were the collective face of the folk music boom that carried quite a lot of commercial cachet in the early 60s. The trio put their harmony-drenched spin on traditional folk songs. And they also spotlighted the work of up-and-coming writers, most notably the young Bob Dylan.

As rock flourished in the middle of the decade, Peter, Paul And Mary’s brand of folk lost some steam. Their 1967 LP titled Album 1700 found them adjusting, singing “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” and scoring a Top 10 hit with it. Their version of “Leaving On A Jet Plane”, forlorn and pretty, also appeared on that album.

The group didn’t release it as a single until two years later. It took off, giving the trio their first-ever No. 1 hit. Meanwhile, it also shone the spotlight on Denver, who had spent the previous few years as a member of the Chad Mitchell Trio. The success of “Leaving On A Jet Plane” helped him launch his massively successful solo career.

Behind the Lyrics of “Leaving On A Jet Plane”

We begin the song on the precipice of a farewell. The narrator speaks to his sleeping lover from their bedside, afraid to wake her, feeling the familiar sadness enveloping him. “Already, I’m so lonesome I could cry,” he sighs. He admits that he’s been untrue at times, but he promises changes when he returns. “When I come back, I’ll wear your wedding ring,” he says.

In the final verse, he tries to leave her on a positive note. “Dream about the days to come,” he beckons. “When I won’t have to be alone.” The refrain finds him begging for one last embrace before he leaves: “Hold me like you’ll never let me go.” When he admits, “I don’t know when I’ll be back again,” we know that a happy reunion isn’t a sure thing.

Although the song gave a huge boost to its writer, it proved to be a commercial last gasp for the performers. Peter, Paul And Mary never again hit the top 40 after the song topped the charts in 1969. Somehow, it was all fitting for “Leaving On A Jet Plane”, as touching a song about arrivals and departures as ever written and recorded.

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