The all-true story of the amazing John Denver sound-alike

OK, before I tell you this little story about how I got fooled by the amazing John Denver sound-alike, let me just give permission to anyone who can't stand John Denver to move on ...

So a few years ago, you may recall CBS did one of those bio-pics about the life of John Denver. To promote the film, not only did they send out a screener, they sent a CD. It had John Denver's picture on the front, and it said: Take Me Home--The John Denver Story.

In hindsight, CBS should have only sent out the CD, because the movie -- what's the literary term? -- sucked. But the music was great. OK, "great" is a relative term, dependent on one's appreciation for the folksy stylings of the former Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (What can I say? I grew up in the Mountain Time Zone. I liked John Denver. Although, I guess, not so much that I didn't find the infamous Monty Python "Farewell to John Denver" sketch hilarious. I guess the Pythons removed that song from its LPs long before Denver's death in 1997, under pain of lawsuit from the singer's legal team.)

Anyway, the CD that CBS sent sounded so ... good. The production values were first-rate. I loaded it iTunes where it remained until today -- when I learned that I wasn't listening to John Denver at all.

I was listening, instead, to this guy. Jim Curry has a voice that is a dead ringer for bears a striking resemblance to John Denver's. Well, as you may know, I also pick up stories about the Kansas City Symphony for my newspaper, and a week from Friday, it just so happens that Jim Curry is coming to town to perform John Denver's original orchestral work for the first time since it was destroyed. With the help of the original work's composer, Lee Holdridge, the score has been reconstituted and now the Kansas City Symphony, of all places, is putting it on!

Here, listen to a Denver classic from the CD and see if you don't agree:

After I write up this story about the John Denver CBS biopic singer guy and the Kansas City Symphony, I should go bet the lottery or something. That's some weird convergence.