Rocky Mountain Memories

"A John Denver Tribute Concert"

The Music         The Memories          The Show

-Behind the songs-

I guess if anyone would ask where I got my idea for the lyrics on this CD, I would have to say that it came from the hard knocks of living.

Under the Moon was written after the cover was thought of.

A friend of mine asked me to write a song about him and his wife. I put together his life my life and the way love should be, and came up with the song that seems to say it all.

Lilacs was written for my now ex-wife, who loved lilacs, I remember when a friend of mine and I dug up an enormous lilac bush far out in the woods and replanted it at my farm. I believe the plant is still there, but the wife and marriage is long gone.

Broken Heart, Broken Home was the day the furniture and her belongings were loaded up into the u-haul and the kids were put into her van to venture onto a new life style a thousand miles away.

It took a short while to write the song, and a lot longer to sing it all the way through without breaking down. Songs written from the heart have that tendency to lift you up or drop you so hard you never think your going to recover.

Sad Songwriter was written when I was hanging around Nashville. Those lonely motel rooms can bring out some great lyrics.

Songs written on the road gives someone a whole new perspective on how others see them. Sure there was a lot of good-bys before leaving for the road, but I'm sure there was a lot of [I love you] to. I think.

Nashville Connection was written about all of the artist who get off the bus to make their mark on the world. Sometimes it's not with music, but finding someone special to share the rest of your life with. That could be harder to find then an honest manager or major label contract.

Heartbroken Cowboy, was written for the rest of us guys who find themselves out in left field long after the game is over and the lights have been turned off. Where do we go from here?

Ride on Sweet Cowgirl was written about my daughter Sara. She road barrel ponies at the shows for many years. To say I was proud of her would be an understatement. To say she knew it, would be a guess.

Your Driving Me Crazy was written to pitch to Conway Twitty when I haunted Nashville. I don't know if he ever listen to it, but I was told by his sister that he had taken the tape with him on his bus. He died shortly after that. Enough said about bad luck.

Take down the picture was about a girl I dated for tooooo long . Enough said about that too.

The Devils Hop Yard was written on a cold winters night in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I was up in my room after the show, reading a book and listening to the wind howl out side the window. For some odd reason the pencil on the night stand rolled onto the floor. I went to pick it up and the words started coming to me like static from a wool sweater. The song was written in fifteen minutes, and the lyrics were never changed from day one. Strange but true.

The CD was sold at many stores across the country. It was mostly played on the AM stations.

I don't think it got as much exposure that I wanted it to, but what songwriter doesn't think that?

I hope you enjoy listening to it.

Thank you, Ron Rich