Perhaps best known for his 1971 hit “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” John Denver penned nearly 200 songs about delighting in nature, despising cities, and the overall trials and tribulations of being a human. Surprisingly, however, the country-folk legend only sent four of those songs to the top of the charts, and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” wasn’t among them. All of Denver’s #1 Billboard Hot 100 singles came between 1973 and 1975. On this day in 1975, John Denver scored his second #1 hit of the year with “I’m Sorry.”
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John Denver Topped Multiple Charts With This One
“I’m Sorry,” off John Denver’s ninth studio album Windsong, is fairly straightforward in its messaging. The narrator is lamenting the loss of a romantic partner: I’m sorry for all the lies I told you / I’m sorry for the things I didn’t say / But more than anything else / I’m sorry for myself / I can’t believe you went away.
“I’m Sorry” marked the final pop chart-topper of Denver’s career. A crossover hit, it also ascended Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles chart, his third song to do so. Perhaps more impressively, “I’m Sorry” was Denver’s second time atop Billboard‘s Hot 100 and country charts in 1975 alone. Earlier that year, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” held the same spots for one week each.
[RELATED: The 1975 John Denver Classic About Flying, Featuring Olivia Newton-John]
The 1975 CMA Controversy
John Denver ruled the country and pop charts equally, making music that transcended genre lines. However, not everyone considered this a good thing. In fact, Denver’s Entertainer of the Year victory at the 1975 Country Music Association Awards sparked one of the most memorable controversies in the awards show’s nearly six-decade history.
During the ceremony, defending Entertainer of the Year Charlie Rich took the stage to present the trophy. After announcing the nominees—Denver, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Ronnie Milsap, and Conway Twitty—the “Behind Closed Doors” singer rips open the envelope. Before announcing the winner, he inexplicably produces a lighter, setting the slip of paper aflame.
“My friend, Mr. John Denver!” Rich announced.
Many interpreted the stunt as a form of protest against what Rich saw as the intrusion of pop crossover acts into country music. However, the musician’s son had a much simpler explanatio. Charlie Rich, Jr. blamed prescription pain medication mixed with several gin and tonics.
“Anybody that knows anything at all about the history of my father will know that it simply wasn’t in his mind set to judge someone for not being ‘country enough,’ ‘blues enough,’ rock enough’ or ‘anything enough,’” he said.
Featured image by American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images
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