Mellowing out ('Far Out!') with John Denver

Sunday morning is coming on quietly, cup of coffee, "CBS Sunday Morning."

Tracy Smith is in Central Park, Shakespeare in the Park, James Earl Jones, Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston.

The newspaper tells me Rheta Grimsley Johnson is in New Orleans. The Big Easy. Of course, she's writing about music. Sweet music.

Speaking of which, now I'm listening to John Denver ("Far out!") circa Japan, 1981.

"Starwood in Aspen." "Country Roads." "Follow Me."

And I feel free.

Glen D. and JB are in the band. They used to perform with Elvis.

Ol' Elvis. I miss him. I really do. I miss his talent, his kindness, his clothes, his cars. The world is darker and duller without The King.

They used to tour with orchestras and backup singers and horns and strings. Now we get CGI, explosions, Autotune, awful.

My music is mostly gone now, relegated to AM and 8-tracks and specialized stations on Sirius/XM. That's OK. All that really means is it's still here when I need it.

Which is often.

"Without a song," you see, "the day would never end."

Far out.