“Take Me Home, Country Roads” Was Almost a Johnny Cash Hit

Country star Johnny Cash was known for a number of hit songs. One of those tracks was his 1996 recording of “I’ve Been Everywhere”. It was easy to picture the outlaw artist riding the rails going from town to town, walking the dusty trails from saloon to saloon, and causing trouble with his six-shooter while also breaking hearts with a six-string. Given this persona, it’s easy to imagine another song bouncing off his tongue—the nostalgic, homeland-loving tune, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. In fact, that’s exactly what the original songwriters of that tune were thinking after they wrote it. But then a funny thing happened—it never got to Johnny Cash, and instead, it was scooped up by another hit-making musician named John Denver.

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Denver: Hit-Maker

John Denver, a former pilot, conservationist, and beloved musician, boasts four No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. But perhaps the song that is most associated with him is “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, which hit No. 2 on the vaunted chart. His other No. 1 songs include “Sunshine On My Shoulders”, “Annie’s Song”, “Thank God I’m A Country Boy”, and “I’m Sorry”.

Cash: Hit-Maker

But while John Denver boasts a number of hits, Johnny Cash is, of course, no slouch either. He released 14 songs that hit No. 1 on the Billboard country chart, including “Ring of Fire”, “Understand Your Man”, and “Folsom Prison Blues (Live)”. With a deep voice and a mysterious persona, Cash knew how to rocket up the charts. But why didn’t “Take Me Home, Country Roads” go to him then?

Impact: “Take Me Home, Country Roads“

The iconic song’s co-writers, Bill Danoff and Taffy Niver,t wrote the song with the idea that Cash would lend his deep voice to the tune. But before that could happen, Denver heard the track and swooped in. He knew it would fit his outdoors-loving persona, and he also just loved the tune. Denver even worked into the wee hours of the night with Danoff and Nivert, perfecting it. John’s incredible energy was what made it happen,” Danoff explained to News4 Washington. “It took John, who was a ball of fire in those days, to say, ‘Well, let’s do it now, like an old Mickey Rooney movie; let’s put on a show!’”

The song became Denver’s first big hit, and it was later adopted by the state of West Virginia as its official song. It’s also been covered many times, including a great island-inspired version by Toots And The Maytals and even by Johnny Cash with John Denver!

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