Before John Denver became a household name with “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” he was a struggling folk singer trying to make his mark as a songwriter.
In 1969, he recorded a quiet, deeply personal love song called “Follow Me” for his debut album, Rhymes & Reasons. While Denver’s original version flew under the radar, the song caught the ear of folk music icon Mary Travers, who was stepping out on her own following the split of Peter, Paul and Mary.
Travers chose “Follow Me” as a lead single for her 1971 solo album Mary. Her version transformed Denver’s delicate acoustic ballad into an emotional 1970s radio classic.
Her version peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1971. It remained on the charts for 11 weeks.
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Grunge reported that Travers specifically sought out Denver to provide content for her first solo release. In 1966, as part of Peter, Paul and Mary, he wrote their hit “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” which the group recorded for their 1967 LP, Album 1700. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only hit to reach the top spot.
Denver contributed three of his compositions to Travers’ LP. These included “Follow Me,” “Rhymes and Reasons” (from his 1969 debut LP), and “Circus,” penned by Denver with Joe Kuehn and Laurie Johnson.
In an interview with The New York Times, Denver explained the inspiration behind the lyrics to “Follow Me.”
“I couldn’t afford to take (ex-wife) Annie with me on tour,” Denver said. “And I had been on the road for two and a half months.”
He continued, “I wrote the chorus somewhere in Iowa, but I couldn’t do anything with it. Then one afternoon in Washington, D.C., I wrote the rest of it. Paul Stookey [Peter, Paul and Mary] told me once that you’re not so much the writer of a song as you are the instrument of what wants to be written.”
Denver added, “You can make going on the road a hassle or not. I have a road manager, a bass player, and myself. We buy tickets to carry our instruments on board. Now we can afford to rent a sound system at the show.”
He concluded, “None of it is a hassle, because I love being up onstage and singing to people, even more than living in the Rocky Mountains, because onstage I can go back to the Rockies and take people with me.”
When John Denver re-recorded “Follow Me” in 1974 for his smash Greatest Hits album, the vintage song finally reached his millions of fans worldwide. But it was Mary Travers who first took a chance on a rising songwriter and gave the tender ballad the early spotlight it truly deserved.
Related: 1975 Country Masterpiece Made Unforgettable by John Denver, Still Ranks Among the Absolute Best
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