Take Me Home, Country Roads is a popular folk song about West Virginia.
The song was written by Bill Danoff, Taff Nivert and John Denver. The trio received a letter from their friend John Albert Fitzgerald who was living in West Virginia at the time. The song was reportedly derived from a poem Fitzgerald wrote to them.
However, at other times Nivert said, he made up a ballad about little winding road when taking a family trip.
Danoff and Nivert originally planned to sell the song to Johnny Cash until John Denver heard the song. Denver later recalled “I flipped” upon hearing the song.
“The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and moving lines around.”
The song premiered at the end of Denver’s set on December 30, 1970. This resulted in a five-minute ovation.
John Denver included the song in his 1971 breakout album and became one of his most beloved and popular songs.
Take Me Home, Country Roads became a gold record on August 18, 1971.
In March 2014, it became one of several official state anthem of West Virginia.
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