Juris Doctor (see etymology and abbreviations below) is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law. The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree (such as the ''Dottore in Giurisprudenza'' in Italy and the Juris Utriusque Doctor in Germany and Central Europe). Originating from the 19th century Harvard movement for the scientific study of law, it is a law degree that in some common law jurisdictions has a goal of being the primary professional preparation for lawyers. It is a three year program in most jurisdictions. As with other professional doctorates (M.D., D.O., etc.), a research dissertation is not required.

Etymology and abbreviations

The degree is conferred in Latin as "Juris Doctor" (abbreviated J.D.) or in English as "Doctor of Jurisprudence" or "Doctor of Law" (abbreviated J.D. or D. Jur.). This is different from the "Doctor of Laws" (abbreviated LL.D.) which is usually an honorary degree.

Historical context

Origins of the law degree

In Europe the first academic degrees were law degrees, and the law degrees were doctorates. The foundations of the first universities were the glossators of the 11th century, which were schools of law. The first university, that of Bologna, was founded as a school of law by four famous legal scholars in the 11th century who were students of the glossator school in that city. The University of Bologna served as the model for other law schools of the medieval age. While it was common for students of law to visit and study at schools in other countries, such was not the case with England because of the English rejection of Roman law (except for certain jurisdictions such as the Admiralty Court) and although the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge did teach canon law until the English Reformation, the importance of common law was always superior to civil law in those institutions.

The history of legal training in England

The nature of the J.D. can be better understood by a review of the context of the history of legal education in England. The teaching of law at Oxford University was for philosophical or scholarly purposes and not meant to prepare one to practice law. Professional training for practicing common law in England was undertaken at the Inns of Court, but over time the training functions of the Inns lessened considerably and apprenticeships with individual practitioners arose as the prominent medium of preparation. However, because of the lack of standardization of study and of objective standards for appraisal of these apprenticeships, the role of universities became subsequently of importance for the education of lawyers in the English speaking world.

In England in 1292 when Edward I first requested that lawyers be trained, students merely sat in the courts and observed, but over time the students would hire professionals to lecture them in their residences, which led to the institution of the Inns of Court system. The original method of education at the Inns of Court was a mix of moot court-like practice and lecture, as well as court proceedings observation. By the seventeenth century, the Inns obtained a status as a kind of university akin to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, though very specialized in purpose. With the frequent absence of parties to suits during the Crusades, the importance of the lawyer role grew tremendously, and the demand for lawyers grew.

Traditionally Oxford and Cambridge did not see common law as worthy of study, and included coursework in law only in the context of canon and civil law and for the purpose of the study of philosophy or history only. The apprenticeship program for solicitors thus emerged, structured and governed by the same rules as the apprenticeship programs for the trades. The training of solicitors by apprenticeship was formally established by an act of parliament in 1729. William Blackstone became the first lecturer in English common law at the University of Oxford in 1753, but the university did not establish the program for the purpose of professional study, and the lectures were very philosophical and theoretical in nature. Blackstone insisted that the study of law should be university based, where concentration on foundational principles can be had, instead of concentration on detail and procedure had through apprenticeship and the Inns of Court.

The Inns of Court continued but became less effective and admission to the bar still did not require any significant educational activity or examination, therefore in 1846 Parliament examined the education and training of prospective barristers and found the system to be inferior to the legal education provided in Europe and the United States. Therefore, formal schools of law were called for, but not finally established until later in the century, and even then the bar did not consider a university degree in admission decisions.

Legal training in colonial North America and 19th century U.S.

Initially there was much resistance to lawyers in colonial North America because of the role they had played in hierarchical England, but slowly the colonial governments started using the services of professionals trained in the Inns of Court in London, and by the end of the American Revolution there was a functional bar in each state. Due to an initial distrust of a profession open only to the elite in England, as institutions for training developed in what would become the United States they emerged as quite different from those in England.

Initially in the United States the legal professionals were trained and imported from England. A formal apprenticeship or clerkship program was established first in New York in 1730—at that time a seven-year clerkship was required, and in 1756 a four-year college degree was required in addition to five years of clerking and an examination. Later the requirements were reduced to require only two years of college education. But a system like the Inns did not develop, and a college education was not required in England until the 19th century, so this system was unique.

The clerkship program required much individual study and the mentoring lawyer was expected to carefully select materials for study and guide the clerk in his study of the law and ensure that it was being absorbed. The student was supposed to compile his notes of his reading of the law into a "commonplace book", which he would try to memorize. Although those were the ideals, in reality the clerks were often overworked and rarely were able to study the law individually as expected. They were often employed to tedious tasks, such as making handwritten copies of documents. Finding sufficient legal texts was also a seriously debilitating issue, and there was no standardization in the books assigned to the clerk trainees because they were assigned by their mentor, whose opinion of the law may have differed greatly from his peers. It was said by one famous attorney in the U.S., William Livingston, in 1745 in a New York newspaper that the clerkship program was severely flawed, and that most mentors "have no manner of concern for their clerk's future welfare... [T]is a monstrous absurdity to suppose, that the law is to be learnt by a perpetual copying of precedents." There were some few mentors that were dedicated to the service, and because of their rarity, they became so sought after that the first law schools evolved from the offices of some of these attorneys who took on many clerks and began to spend more time training than practicing law.

In time, the apprenticeship program was not considered sufficient to produce lawyers fully capable of serving their clients' needs. The apprenticeship programs often employed the trainee with menial tasks, and while they were well trained in the day to day operations of a law office, they were generally unprepared practitioners or legal reasoners. The establishment of formal faculties of law in U.S. universities did not occur until the latter part of the 18th century. With the beginning of the American Revolution, the supply of lawyers from Britain ended. The first law degree granted by a U.S. university was a Bachelor of Law in 1793 by the College of William and Mary, which was abbreviated L.B.; Harvard was the first university to use the LL.B. abbreviation in the United States.

The first university law programs in the United States, such as that of the University of Maryland established in 1812, included much theoretical and philosophical study, including works such as the Bible, Cicero, Seneca, Aristotle, Adam Smith, Montesquieu and Grotius. It has been said that the early university law schools of the early 19th century seemed to be preparing students for careers as statesmen rather than as lawyers. At the LL.B. programs in the early 1900s at Stanford University and Yale continued to include "cultural study," which included courses in languages, mathematics and economics.

In the 1850s there were many proprietary schools which originated from a practitioner taking on multiple apprentices and establishing a school and which provided a practical legal education, as opposed to the one offered in the universities which offered an education in the theory, history and philosophy of law. The universities assumed that the acquisition of skills would happen in practice, while the proprietary schools concentrated on the practical skills during education.

Revolutionary approach: Scientific study of law

In part to compete with the small professional law schools, there began a great change in U.S. university legal education. For a short time beginning in 1826 Yale began to offer a complete "practitioners' course" which lasted two years and included practical courses, such as pleading drafting. U.S. Supreme Court justice Joseph Story started the spirit of change in legal education at Harvard when he advocated a more "scientific study" of the law in the 19th century. At the time he was a lecturer at Harvard. Therefore at Harvard the education was much of a trade school type of approach to legal education, contrary to the more liberal arts education advocated by Blackstone at Oxford and Jefferson at William and Mary. Nonetheless there continued to be debate among educators over whether legal education should be more vocational, as at the private law schools, or through a rigorous scientific method, such as that developed by Story and Langdell. In the words of Dorsey Ellis, "Langdell viewed law as a science and the law library as the laboratory, with the cases providing the basis for learning those 'principles or doctrines' of which law, considered as a science, consists. Nonetheless, into the year 1900 most states did not require a university education (although an apprenticeship was often required) and most practitioners had not attended any law school or college.

Therefore, the modern legal education system in the U.S. is a combination of teaching law as a science and a practical skill, implementing elements such as clinical training, which has become an essential part of legal education in the U.S. and in the J.D. program of study. Today as a result of the development of the U.S. legal education system, law graduates receive more practical experience, but are nonetheless unprepared to practice law on their own upon graduation from law school.

Creation of the J.D. and major common law approaches to legal education

The J.D. originated in the United States during a movement to improve training of the professions. The didactic approaches which resulted were revolutionary for university education and have slowly been implemented outside the U.S., but only recently (since about 1997) and in stages. The degrees which resulted from this new approach, such as the M.D. and the J.D., are just as different from their European counterparts as the educational approaches differ.

Legal education in the United States

Professional doctorates were developed in the United States in the 19th century, the first being the Doctor of Medicine in 1807, but the professional law degree took more time. At the time the legal system in the United States was still in development as the educational institutions were developing. The status of the legal profession was at that time still ambiguous, therefore the development of the legal degree took much time. Even when some universities offered training in law, they did not offer a degree. Because in the United States there were no Inns of Court, and the English academic degrees did not provide the necessary professional training, the models from England were inapplicable, and the degree program took some time to develop. At first the degree took the form of a B.L. (such as at the College of William and Mary), but then Harvard, keen on importing legitimacy through the trappings of Oxford and Cambridge, implemented an LL.B. degree. This was somewhat controversial at the time because it was a professional training without any of the cultural or classical studies required of a bachelors degree in England. Thus, even though the name of the English LL.B. degree was implemented at Harvard, the program in the U.S. was nonetheless intended as practical or professional training, and not, as in England, merely a bachelor of arts denoting a specialization in law.

Creation of the Juris Doctor

In the mid-19th century there was much concern about the quality of legal education in the United States. Christopher Columbus Langdell, who served as dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895, dedicated his life to reforming legal education in the United States. The historian Robert Stevens wrote that "it was Langdell's goal to turn the legal profession into a university educated one—and not at the undergraduate level, but through a three-year post baccalaureate degree." This graduate level study would allow the intensive legal training that Langdell had developed, known as the case method (a method of studying landmark cases) and the Socratic method (a method of examining students on the reasoning of the court in the cases studied). Therefore, a graduate high level law degree was established, the Juris Doctor, implementing the case and Socratic methods as its didactic approach. According to professor J. H. Beale, a 1882 Harvard Law graduate, one of the main arguments for the change was uniformity. Harvard's four professional schools of Theology, Law, Medicine and Arts and Sciences were all graduate schools, and their degrees were therefore a second degree. Two of them conferred a doctorate and the other two a baccalaureate degree. The change from LL. B. to J.D. was intended to end this discriminatory practice of conferring what is normally a first degree upon persons who have already their primary degree. The J.D. was established as the equivalent of the J.U.D. in Germany to reflect the advanced study required to be an effective lawyer. Harvard was first to offer the new doctorate. The University of Chicago Law School was the first to offer it exclusively (i.e., the first to not offer both the J.D. and the LL.B.). While approval was still pending at Harvard, the degree was introduced at many other law schools in the United States.

Because of tradition, and concerns about less famous universities implementing a J.D. program, there was some reluctance by some institutions, such as Yale Law School, to implement the J.D. as the only law degree. By the 1960s every law school except Yale offered a J.D. as its sole professional law degree. Yale continued to confer the LL.B. as its professional degree in law until 1971. Nonetheless, the LL.B. at Yale retained the didactical changes of the "practitioners courses" of 1826 and was very different from the LL.B. in common law countries other than Canada.

Major common law approaches

The English legal system is the root of the systems of other common-law countries, such as the United States. Originally common lawyers in England were trained exclusively in the Inns of Court, but even though it took nearly 150 years since common law education began with Blackstone at Oxford for university education to be part of legal training in England and Wales, eventually the LL.B. became the degree usually taken before becoming a lawyer. Nonetheless, in England and Wales the LL.B. is an undergraduate scholarly program and does not provide all of the training required before becoming licensed in that jurisdiction. Both barristers and solicitors must undertake two further periods of training (the Bar Vocational Course and pupillage for barristers and the LPC and a training contract for solicitors).

The bachelor's degree originated at the University of Paris, which system was implemented at Oxford and Cambridge. The "arts" designation of the degree traditionally signifies that the student has undertaken a certain amount of study of the classics. On continental Europe the bachelor's degree was phased out in the 18th or early 19th century but it continued at Oxford and Cambridge. Today Oxford offers the bachelor's degree in law (B.C.L.) as a second entry program, contrary to the practice of all other English universities. Cambridge followed the same practice until relatively recently, renaming its LL.B. degree as LL.M. in 1982.

Because the English legal education is undergraduate and provides a general education (retaining some of the characteristics of the liberal arts degree advocated by Blackstone) a great number of the graduates have no intention of becoming solicitors or barristers. The approach of the English degree can be seen in the required curriculum, in which there is no study of civil procedure, and relatively few courses in advanced law such as business entities, bankruptcy, evidence, family law, etc. There has been a trend in the past twenty years in England to introduce more professionally relevant courses in the curriculum, particularly in "qualifying law degrees," and the law school has taken a more central role in the preparation of lawyers in England, but the degree is still more scholarly or academic than those in North America. This is also the case for other common law jurisdictions such as in Australia, India and Hong Kong.

Legal education in Canada has unique variations from other commonwealth countries. Even though the legal system of Canada is mostly a transplant of the English system (Quebec excepted), the Canadian system is unique in that there are no Inns of Court, the practical training occurs in the office of a barrister and solicitor with law society membership, and, since 1889, a university degree has been a prerequisite to initiating an articling clerkship (which requirement was not implemented until much later in England). The education in law schools in Canada was similar to that in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, but with a greater concentration on statutory drafting and interpretation, and elements of a liberal education. The bar associations in Canada were influenced by the changes at Harvard, and were sometimes quicker to nationally implement the changes proposed in the United States, such as requiring previous college education before studying law.

Modern variants and curriculum

Legal education is rooted in the history and structure of the legal system of the jurisdiction where the education is given, therefore law degrees are vastly different from country to country, making comparisons among degrees problematic. This has proven true in the context of the various forms of the J.D. which have been implemented around the world.

Until about 1997 the J.D. was unique to law schools in the U.S. But with the rise in international success of law firms from the United States, and the rise in students from outside the U.S. attending U.S. law schools, attorneys with the J.D. have become increasingly common internationally. Therefore the prestige of the J.D. has also risen, and many universities outside of the U.S. have started to offer the J.D., often for the express purpose of raising the prestige of their law school and graduates. Such institutions usually aim to appropriate the name of the degree only, and sometimes the new J.D. program of study is the same as that of their traditional law degree, which is usually more scholarly in purpose than the professional training intended with the J.D. as created in the U.S. Various characteristics can therefore be seen among J.D. degrees as implemented in universities around the world.

+ Comparisons of J.D. Variants	Jurisdiction !! Scholarly Content Required? !! Duration in Years !! Different curriculum from LL.B. in Jurisdiction? !! Sufficient Education for License?
! United States	No	3	Yes
Australia	Yes	3	No
Canada	No	3	No
Hong Kong	Yes	2–3	No
Japan	No	3	N/A
Philippines	Yes	4	Yes

Types and characteristics

Until very recently, only law schools in the United States offered the ''Juris Doctor''. Starting about 1997, universities in other countries began introducing the J.D. as a first professional degree in law, with differences appropriate to the legal systems of the countries in which these law schools are situated.

Standard Juris Doctor curriculum

As stated by James Hall and Christopher Langdell, two people who were involved in the creation of the J.D., the J.D. is a professional degree like the M.D., intended to prepare practitioners through a scientific approach of analysing and teaching the law through logic and adversarial analysis (such as the Casebook and Socratic methods). It has existed as described in the United States for over 100 years, and can therefore be termed the standard or traditional J.D. program. The J.D. program requires a bachelors degree for entry. The program of study for the degree has remained substantially unchanged since its creation, and is an intensive study of the substantive law and its professional applications (and therefore requires no thesis, although a lengthy writing project is sometimes required). As a professional training, it provides sufficient training for entry into practice (no apprenticeship is necessary to sit for the bar exam). It requires at least three academic years of full time study. Strictly defined, the United States is the only jurisdiction with this form of a J.D., but the University of Tokyo (in Japan) and the University of Melbourne (in Australia) are attempting to follow this model closely.

For graduates of other departments

There has been an increase in the popularity of entering the professions, and to meet this demand some schools offer a program for students who have already graduated from another department to return to school to earn a law degree. Many of the participants in this kind of program already have some work experience. The best example of this form are the J.D. programs in Hong Kong and some in Australia. Those programs are more or less identical to the LL.B. programs, except they are usually more intensive and thus take less time to complete. Because such programs are essentially an LL.B. program, this kind of program is academic in nature, shorter than other J.D. programs, and more training is required before a graduate is qualified to apply to the bar for admission (such as Professional Legal Training and an apprenticeship).

Replacement for the LL.B.

Canadian and Australian universities have law programs that are very similar to the J.D. programs in the United States. These include University of Victoria, Université de Moncton, University of Calgary, the Osgoode Hall Law School and University of Toronto Law School in Canada, and the University of Melbourne in Australia. Therefore, when the J.D. program was introduced at these institutions, it was a mere re-naming of their second-entry LL.B. program and entailed no significant substantive changes to their curricula. The reason given for so doing is because of the international popularity and recognizability of the J.D., and the need to recognize the demanding graduate characteristics of the program. Because these programs are in institutions heavily influenced by those in the UK, the J.D. programs often have some small scholarly element (see chart above, entitled "Comparisons of J.D. Variants"). And because the legal systems are also influenced by that of the UK, an apprenticeship is still required before being qualified to apply for a license to practice (see country sections below, under "Descriptions of the J.D. outside the U.S.").

Descriptions of the J.D. outside the U.S.

Australia

An undergraduate degree is required for admittance to all J.D. programs in Australia, though both the J.D. and LL.B. programs are often combined with an arts degree (BA/LL.B or BA/JD) and can be completed in five years. The J.D. is being offered at an increasing number of universities, and the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, Australian National University, Bond University, University of Southern Queensland, University of New England, University of Melbourne, Monash University, RMIT University, Murdoch University, University of Technology Sydney, and the University of Notre Dame Australia now offer the J.D., usually for graduates from non-law programs who wish to study law. At the University of Melbourne, the J.D. degree has completely replaced the LL.B. as the degree of law. In 2012 The University of Western Australia will follow the University of Melbourne's lead, also replacing the LL.B. with a J.D.

An Australian Juris Doctor lasts two or three years full-time and the courses, though both J.D. and LL.B. cannot be licensed to practice until after completing an articled clerkship program or practical legal training course. University of Technology Sydney offers Practical Legal Training as part of their J.D. program enabling direct admission upon graduation. Bond University offers a J.D. program that has core requirements that are identical to the LL.B. However, Bond University J.D. students are also required to complete five masters level elective subjects, making the Bond University J.D. program resemble an integrated Bachelor's and Master's degree. Even more unusual is the "LL.M. (J.D.)" at Monash University, which is the same as the Bond University program, and that institution also states that their degree is not a professional doctorate.

Canada

The J.D. degree is becoming the dominant law degree in Canada, replacing the traditional LL.B. degree prominent in Commonwealth countries. As with the second-entry LL.B., in order to be admitted to a Juris Doctor program, applicants must have completed a minimum 3-year Bachelor's study and scored high on the North American Law School Admission Test. As a practical matter, nearly all successful applicants have completed one or more degrees before admission to a Canadian law school. All Canadian Juris Doctor programs consist of three years, and have similar content in their mandatory first year courses. As with U.S. J.D. programs, such as that of the New York University Law School, the mandatory first year courses in Canadian law schools outside Quebec include "public" "constitutional" or "state" law, tort law, contract law, criminal law, and some sort of "professional practice" course. Beyond first year and the minimum requirements for graduation, course selection is elective with various concentrations such as business law, international law, natural resources law, criminal law, Aboriginal law, etc. After graduation from an accredited law school, each Province's law society requires completion of a bar examination, and a period of supervised "articling" prior to independent practice.

Use of the "J.D." designation by Canadian law schools is not intended to indicate an emphasis on American law, but rather to distinguish Canadian law degrees from English law degrees, which do not require prior undergraduate study nor offer practical legal training. The Canadian J.D. is a degree in Canadian Law. Accordingly, United States jurisdictions other than New York and Massachusetts, do not recognize Canadian Juris Doctor degrees automatically. This is equivalent to the manner in which United States J.D. graduates are treated in Canadian jurisdictions such as Ontario. To prepare graduates to practise in jurisdictions on both sides of the border, some pairs of law schools, such as the New York University (NYU) Law School and Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Ottawa Law School and the Michigan State University Law School or American University, and the University of Windsor Law School and the University of Detroit Mercy Law School, have developed joint American-Canadian J.D programs.

Quebec

The Juris Doctor (J.D.) of North American Common Law offered by the University of Montreal is no more a unique program in Quebec and Canada. In addition to University of Sherbrooke's one one, they are graduate programs that offers to Quebec's Civil Law jurists training in Canadian and American Common Law based on the comparison between the three systems of law. Therefore, the courses offered are not oriented towards the simple acquisition of basic knowledge of Canadian Common Law (often delivered during the first year of the Civil Law degree).

The J.D. has 11 courses (32 credits). Nine courses are required (26 credits of Block A), some of which are prerequisites to other courses the student wishes to enroll. In this sense, it is essential to follow the path established by the faculty. The choice of electives (6 credits Blocks B and C) is based on the student's personal goals: (1) if the student wants to enroll in the Bar of another province of Canada (for holders of a Quebec's LL.B. only); (2) if the student wants to enroll in a U.S. State Bar (for holders of a Quebec's LL.B. only); or (3) if the student wishes to acquire basic knowledge in all systems of law from a comparative approach.

Hong Kong (S.A.R. of China)

The J.D. degree is currently offered at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the City University of Hong Kong, and the University of Hong Kong. The degree is known as the 法律博士 in Chinese, and in Cantonese it is pronounced as ''Faat Leot Bok Si''. The J.D. in Hong Kong is almost identical to the LL.B. and is reserved for graduates of non-law disciplines, but the J.D. is considered to be a graduate-level degree and requires a thesis or dissertation. Like the LL.B. there is much scholarly content in the required coursework. Although the universities offering the degree claim that the J.D. is a two-year program, completing the degree in two years would require study during the summer term. There seems to be much confusion of the role or status of the J.D. in Hong Kong, as the City University website states that their J.D. is not a research doctorate. Neither the LL.B. nor the J.D. provides the education sufficient for a license to practice, as graduates of both are also required to undertake the PCLL course and a solicitor traineeship or a barrister pupillage.

Japan

In Japan the J.D. is known as ''Homu Hakushi'' (法務博士) and has replaced the bachelor of law as the first entry law degree. The program generally lasts three years. This curriculum is professionally oriented, but does not provide the education sufficient for a license, as all candidates for a license must attend the Legal Training and Research Institute.

Philippines

In the Philippines, the J.D. exists alongside the more common LL.B. Like the standard LL.B, it requires four years of study, is considered as a graduate degree and requires prior undergraduate study as a prerequisite for admission, and covers the core subjects required for the bar examinations. However, the J.D. requires students to finish the core bar subjects in just 2½ years; take elective courses (such as legal theory, philosophy, and sometimes even theology); undergo an apprenticeship; and write and defend a thesis. Notwithstanding these differences, both the J.D. and the LL.B. are considered the equivalent of a master's degree by the Philippines' Commission on Higher Education.

The degree was first conferred in the Philippines by the Ateneo de Manila Law School, which first developed the model program later adopted by most schools now offering the J.D.. After the Ateneo, schools such as the University of Batangas College of Law began offering the J.D., with schools such as the Far Eastern University Institute of Law offering a joint degree program leading to a J.D. and an MBA. In 2008, the University of the Philippines College of Law began conferring the J.D. on its graduates, the school choosing rename its LL.B. program into a J.D. because to accurately reflect the nature of education the university provides as "nomenclature does not accurately reflect the fact that the LL.B. is a professional as well as a post baccalaureate degree." In 2009, the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and the Silliman University College of Law also shifted their respective LL.B Programs to Juris Doctor -applying the change to incoming freshmen students for School Year 2009–2010. The newly established De La Salle University College of Law will likewise offer the J.D., although it will offer the program using a trimestral calendar, unlike the model curriculum that uses a semestral calendar.

Others

China

J.D.'s are not generally awarded in the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) as the government does not authorize professional doctorates. The primary law degree in the P.R.C. is the bachelor of law. In the fall of 2008 the Shenzhen campus of Peking University started the School of Transnational Law, which offers a U.S.-style education and awards both a Chinese masters degree and, by special authorization of the government, a J.D.

India

At this time the Juris Doctor does not exist in India; no official entity in India authorizes the award of such a degree. A new venture Jindal Global Law School sought to start an academic program with a recognized Juris Doctor degree, however that plan was withdrawn, and the school now only offers the more traditional LL.B. and LL.M. degrees.

Italy

No university in Italy awards a Juris Doctor degree, nor are there any plans to implement the degree. However, because the law degree in Italy is more advanced than a standard undergraduate program, and lawyers in Italy often use the title of "doctor" (Italian law authorizes all university graduates, including undergraduates, to use the title of doctor) lawyers in Italy believe that the best translation of their degree is "J.D." which commonly appears on their resumes and profiles.

The Juris Doctor in Academia

As a professional doctorate, the Juris Doctor is a degree that prepares the recipient to enter the profession (as does the M.D. in the medical profession). While the J.D. is the sole degree necessary to become a professor of law or to obtain a license to practice law, it (like the M.D.) is not a "research degree". Research degrees in the study of law include the Master of Laws (LL.M.), which ordinarily requires the J.D. or LL.B. as a prerequisite, and the Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D./J.S.D.), which ordinarily requires the LL.M. as a prerequisite. However, the American Bar Association has issued a Council Statement advising that the J.D. be considered as being equivalent to the Ph.D. for employment and educational purposes. Accordingly, while most law professors are required to conduct original writing and research in order to be awarded tenure, most only have a J.D. The United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation do not include the J.D. or other professional doctorates among the degrees that are equivalent to research doctorates.

See also

Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L) or (LL.L)

Bachelor of Laws (LL.B)

Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D.)

Legum Doctor (LL.D)

Master of Laws (LL.M)

Legal education

Admission to practice law

Accelerated JD program

Law degree

Law school in the United States - describes general characteristics of the J.D. curriculum in the U.S.

Lawyer

Notes and references

Law degrees Category:Law degrees

ca:Juris Doctor de:Juris Doctor es:Juris Doctor lt:Juris Doctor ja:法務博士 (専門職) no:Doctor juris nn:Doctor juris simple:Juris Doctor sv:Juris doktor zh:法律博士

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	J. D. Crowe
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	James Dee Crowe
Born	August 27, 1937Lexington, Kentucky
Instrument	banjo, vocals
Genre	Bluegrass, Progressive bluegrass
Occupation	Musician
Years active	1956–present
Label	Rounder, Starday, Rebel, Lemco
Associated acts	New South
Website	http://www.jdcrowe.net/ }}

James Dee Crowe (August 27, 1937 in Lexington, Kentucky) is an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s.

Biography

Crowe began playing the banjo early on and was offered a job with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys in mid 1950s. He cut his first recordings with Jimmy Martin on December 1, 1956 and his last on August 17, 1960, recording a total of 33 songs on Decca Records. In the late 1960s, Crowe formed the Kentucky Mountain Boys, principally performing in the Lexington, Kentucky region. By the early 1970s, Crowe changed the band's name to The New South and included material from rock and country music sources. Crowe's New South band is widely considered one of the most influential bluegrass groups since the 1970s. Many influential musicians have been a part of the band over the years, including Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and Doyle Lawson.

Discography

1968: ''Bluegrass Holiday'' (Lemco)

1969: ''The Model Church'' (Lemco)

1971: ''Ramblin' Boy'' (Lemco) - reissued as ''Blackjack'' (Rebel)

1973: ''Bluegrass Evolution'' (Starday)

1975: ''J.D. Crowe & The New South'' (Rounder)

1977: ''You Can Share My Blanket'' (Rounder)

1978: ''My Home Ain't in the Hall of Fame'' (Rounder)

1981: ''Somewhere Between'' (Rounder)

1982: ''Live in Japan'' (Rounder)

1986: ''Straight Ahead'' (Rounder)

1994: ''Flashback'' (Rounder)

1999: ''Come on Down to My World'' (Rounder)

2006: ''Lefty's Old Guitar'' (Rounder)

Notes

Some banjo bridges have "Crowe" spacing. The strings remain equally spaced, but the outside strings are then, at the bridge, 1/8" farther apart. Thus, each string is 1/32" farther apart than for standard spacing.

Some players say this improves tone by reducing overtones. The wider spacing is usually chosen, however, because it is slightly easier to play. Some players claim it is not easier, however, and slows them down. Some banjos are made with a slightly wider neck to keep the strings solidly over the fretboard with Crowe spacing.

External links

J.D. Crowe and the New South

Feature story on J.D. Crowe at Country Standard Time

Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:People from Lexington, Kentucky Category:American folk musicians Category:American banjoists Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductees Category:Musicians from Kentucky Category:Rounder Records artists

de:J. D. Crowe

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	John Denver
background	solo_singer
birth name	Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.
born	December 31, 1943Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.
died	October 12, 1997Pacific Grove, California, U.S.
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, fiddle
genre	Country, folk, pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, actor, writer, poet, activist
years active	1962–1997
first album	''Rhymes & Reasons''
latest album	''Essential''
notable songs	"Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Sunshine On My Shoulders", "Rocky Mountain High" (Colorado State Song since 2007), "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", "Annie's Song", "Perhaps Love", "Calypso"
label	Mercury, RCA, BMG, Windstar, Sony Wonder
associated acts	The John Denver Band, The Back Porch Majority, The New Christy Minstrels, Chad Mitchell Trio, The Muppets, Olivia Newton-John, Plácido Domingo, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash Tina TurnerGlen Campbell
website	http://www.johndenver.com/}}

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. Throughout his life Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed. He performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts including country & western, the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning him 12 gold and 4 platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Rocky Mountain High", "Annie's Song" and "Calypso".

Denver further starred in films and several notable television specials in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following decades he continued to record, but also focused on calling attention to environmental issues, lent his vocal support to space exploration, and testified in front of Congress to protest censorship in music. His renown in the state of Colorado, which he sang about numerous times and where he lived in Aspen, influenced the governor to name him Poet Laureate of the state in 1974, and for the state legislature to adopt "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its state songs in 2007. He was an avid pilot, and died while flying his personal aircraft at the age of 53. Denver was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the 1970s.

Biography

Early years

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., was born in Roswell, New Mexico, to Erma Louise Swope and Lt. Col. Henry John Deutschendorf, Sr., an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (who set three speed records in the B-58 Hustler bomber and earned a place in the Air Force Hall of Fame), was of German ancestry, and met and married his "Oklahoma Sweetheart". Denver's Irish Catholic and German mother's mother, his beloved Grandmother, was the one who imbued Denver with his love of music. In his autobiography, ''Take Me Home'', Denver described his life as the eldest son of a family shaped by a stern father who couldn't show his love for his children.

Because Denver's father was in the military, the family moved often, making it difficult for young John to make friends and fit in with people of his own age. Constantly being the new kid was agony for the introverted child, and he grew up always feeling as if he should be somewhere else, but never knowing where that "right" place was. While living in Tucson, Arizona, Denver was a member of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus for two years. Denver was happy living in Tucson, but his father was transferred to Montgomery, Alabama, then in the midst of the Montgomery boycotts. The family later moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Denver graduated from Arlington Heights High School. Attending high school in Fort Worth was a distressing experience for the disenfranchised Denver. In his third year of high school, he borrowed his father's car and ran away to California to visit family friends and begin his music career. His father flew to California to bring him back, and Denver unhappily returned to finish high school.

At the age of 11, Denver received an acoustic guitar from his grandmother. He learned to play well enough to perform at local clubs by the time he was in college. He adopted the surname "Denver" after the capital of his favorite state, Colorado, when Randy Sparks, founder of The New Christy Minstrels, suggested that "Deutschendorf" wouldn't fit comfortably on a marquee. Denver attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock and sang in a folk-music group called "The Alpine Trio" while pursuing architecture studies.. He was also a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. Denver dropped out of the Texas Tech School of Engineering in 1963, and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he sang in the smoky underground folk clubs. In 1965, Denver joined the Chad Mitchell Trio, a folk group that had been renamed "The Mitchell Trio" prior to Chad Mitchell's departure and before Denver's arrival, and then "Denver, Boise, and Johnson" (John Denver, David Boise, and Michael Johnson).

Solo career

In 1969, John Denver abandoned the band life to pursue a solo career and John released his first album for RCA Records: ''Rhymes & Reasons''. Two years prior Denver had made a self-produced demo recording of some of the songs he played at his concerts. He included in the demo a song called "Babe I Hate to Go," later renamed "Leaving on A Jet Plane." Denver made several copies and gave them out as presents for Christmas. Mitchell Trio manager Milt Okun brought the unreleased "Jet Plane" song to the high-profile folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. Their version of the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although RCA did not actively promote ''Rhymes & Reasons'' with a tour, Denver himself embarked on an impromptu supporting tour throughout the Midwest, stopping at towns and cities as the fashion took him, offering to play free concerts at local venues. When he was successful in convincing a school, college, American Legion Hall, or local coffee-house to let him play, he would spend a day or so postering the town and could usually be counted upon to show up at the local radio station, guitar in hand, offering himself for an interview. With his foot-in-the-door of having authored "Leaving on a Jet Plane", he was often successful in gaining some valuable promotional airtime, usually featuring one or two songs performed live. Some venues would let him play for the "door"; others restricted him to selling copies of the album at intermission and after the show. After several months of this constant low-key touring schedule, however, he had sold enough albums to convince RCA to take a chance on extending his recording contract. He had also built a sizable and solid fan base, many of whom remained loyal throughout his career.

Denver recorded two more albums in 1970, ''Take Me to Tomorrow'' and ''Whose Garden Was This?'', featuring songs he had composed while driving the roads of the American Midwest. Although these albums were not as successful as those that followed, they would all be certified gold by the RIAA and would generally be considered some of his best work.

Career peak

His next album, ''Poems, Prayers, and Promises'' (released in 1971), was a breakthrough for him in the U.S., thanks in part to the single "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which went to No.2 on the ''Billboard'' charts despite the first pressings of the track being distorted. Its success was due in part to the efforts of his new manager, future Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub, who signed Denver in 1970. Weintraub insisted on a re-issue of the track and began a radio-airplay campaign that started in Denver, Colorado. Denver's career flourished from then on, and he had a series of hits over the next four years. In 1972, Denver scored his first Top Ten album with ''Rocky Mountain High'', with its title track reaching the Top Ten in 1973. Between 1974 and 1975, Denver experienced an impressive chart dominance, with a string of four No.1 songs ("Sunshine on My Shoulders", "Annie's Song", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "I'm Sorry") and three No.1 albums (''John Denver's Greatest Hits'', ''Back Home Again'', and ''Windsong'').

In the 1970s, Denver's onstage appearance included long blond hair, embroidered shirts emblazoned with images commonly associated with the American West (created by designer & appliqué artist Anna Zapp), and "granny" glasses. His manager, Jerry Weintraub, insisted on a significant number of television appearances, including a series of half-hour shows in England, despite Denver's protests at the time, "I've had no success in Britain...I mean ''none''." Weintraub explained to Maureen Orth of ''Newsweek'' in December 1976, "I knew the critics would never go for John. I had to get him to the people."

After appearing as a guest on many shows, Denver went on to host his own variety/music specials, including several concerts from Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver. His seasonal special, ''Rocky Mountain Christmas,'' was watched by more than 60 million people and was the highest-rated show for the ABC network at that time. His live concert special, ''An Evening with John Denver,'' won the 1974–1975 Emmy for Outstanding Special, Comedy-Variety or Music. When Denver ended his business relationship because of Weintraub's focus on other projects, Weintraub threw Denver out of his office and called him a Nazi. Denver would later tell Arthur Tobier, when the latter transcribed his autobiography, "...I'd bend my principles to support something he wanted of me. And of course every time you bend your principles – whether because you don't want to worry about it, or because you're afraid to stand up for fear of what you might lose – you sell your soul to the devil."

Denver was also a guest star on ''The Muppet Show,'' the beginning of the lifelong friendship between Denver and Jim Henson that spawned two television specials with The Muppets. He also tried his hand at acting, appearing in the ''The Colorado Cattle Caper'' episode of the ''McCloud'' television movie on February 24, 1974, and starring in the 1977 film ''Oh, God!'' opposite George Burns. Denver hosted the Grammy Awards five times in the 1970s and 1980s and guest-hosted ''The Tonight Show'' on multiple occasions. In 1975, Denver was awarded the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award. At the ceremony, the outgoing Entertainer of the Year Charlie Rich presented the award to his successor, but in protest of what he considered the inappropriateness of Denver's selection, Rich set fire to the envelope containing the official notification of the award. However, Denver's music was defended by country singer Kathy Mattea, who told Alanna Nash of ''Entertainment Weekly,'' "A lot of people write him off as lightweight, but he articulated a kind of optimism, and he brought acoustic music to the forefront, bridging folk, pop, and country in a fresh way.... People forget how huge he was worldwide."

In 1977, Denver cofounded The Hunger Project with Werner Erhard and Robert W. Fuller. He served for many years and supported the organization until his death. Denver was also appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve on the President's Commission on World Hunger, writing the song "I Want to Live" as its theme song. In 1979, Denver performed "Rhymes & Reasons" at the Music for UNICEF Concert. Royalties from the concert performances were donated to UNICEF. His father taught him to fly in the mid-1970s, which led to a reconciliation between father and son. In 1980, Denver and his father, Lt. Col. “Dutch” Deutschendorf, co-hosted an award winning television special, "The Higher We Fly: the History of Flight." It won the Osborn Award from the Aviation/Space Writers’ Association, and was honored by the Houston Film Festival.

Political activism

Denver became outspoken in politics in the mid-1970s. In 1976, he campaigned for Jimmy Carter, who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the Democratic Party and of a number of charitable causes for the environmental movement, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, and the African AIDS crisis. He founded the charitable Windstar Foundation in 1976, to promote sustainable living. His dismay at the Chernobyl disaster led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of communist Asia and Europe.

During the 1980s, Denver was critical of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Administration, but he remained active in his campaign against hunger, for which Reagan awarded Denver the Presidential World Without Hunger Award in 1985. Denver's criticism of the conservative politics of the 1980s was expressed in his autobiographical folk-rock ballad "Let Us Begin (What Are We Making Weapons For)." Denver was also critical of the Republican-dominated Congress and American Conservatism of the 1990s. He denounced the National Rifle Association (NRA) as a corrupt political machine that could buy off politicians, and in an open letter to the media, he wrote that he opposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Denver had battled to expand the refuge in the 1980s, and he praised President Bill Clinton for his opposition to the proposed drilling. The letter, which he wrote in the midst of the 1996 presidential election, was one of the last he ever wrote. Denver was also on the Board of Governors of the National Space Society for many years.

Later years and humanitarian work

He had a few more U.S. Top 30 hits as the 1970s ended, but nothing to match his earlier success. He began to focus more on humanitarian and sustainability causes, focusing extensively on conservation projects. He made public expression of his acquaintances and friendships with ecological-design researchers such as Richard Buckminster Fuller and Amory Lovins, from whom he said he learned much. He also founded two environmental groups; the Windstar Foundation and Plant-It 2020 (originally Plant-It 2000). Denver had a keen interest in solutions to world hunger. He visited Africa during the 1980s to witness first-hand the suffering caused by starvation and to work with African leaders toward solutions. In 1983 and 1984, Denver hosted the annual Grammy Awards. In the 1983 finale, Denver was joined on stage by folk-music legend Joan Baez with whom he led an all-star version of "Blowin' in the Wind" and Let The Sunshine In, joined by such diverse musical icons as Jennifer Warnes, Donna Summer, and Rick James. In 1984, Roone Arlidge, president of ABC Sports, asked Denver to compose and sing the theme song for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarejevo. Denver worked as both a performer and a skiing commentator (skiing was another avocation of Denver's). He had written "The Gold and Beyond", and sang it for the Olympic Games athletes, as well as local venues including many schools. In 1985, Denver asked to participate in the singing of "We Are the World" but was turned down. According to Ken Kragen (who helped to produce the song), the reason that John Denver was turned down was that many people felt his image would hurt the credibility of the song as a pop-rock anthem. "I didn't agree" with this assessment, Kragen said, but reluctantly turned Denver down anyway. For Earth Day 1990, Denver was the on-camera narrator of a well-received environmental TV program, "In Partnership With Earth," with then–EPA Administrator William K. Reilly.

With Denver's innate love of flying he was naturally attracted to NASA and became dedicated to America’s work in outer space. He conscientiously worked to help bring into being the “Citizens in Space” program. Denver received the NASA Public Service Medal, in 1985 for “helping to increase awareness of space exploration by the peoples of the world,” an award usually restricted to spaceflight engineers and designers. Also in 1985, Denver passed NASA’s rigorous physical exam and was in line for a space flight, a finalist for the first citizen’s trip on the Space Shuttle in 1986. He was not chosen. After the Challenger disaster with teacher Christa McAuliffe aboard, John dedicated his song “Flying for Me”, to all astronauts, and he continued to support NASA.

Denver testified on the topic of censorship during a Parents Music Resource Center hearing in 1985. Denver also toured Russia in 1985. His 11 Soviet Union concerts were the first by any American artist in more than 10 years, and they marked a very important cultural exchange that culminated in an agreement to allow other western artists to perform there. He returned two years later to perform at a benefit concert for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. In October 1992, John undertook a multiple-city tour of the People's Republic of China. He also released a greatest-hits CD, "Homegrown," to raise money for homeless charities. In 1994, he published his autobiography, ''Take Me Home''. In 1996, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In early 1997, Denver filmed an episode for the ''Nature'' series, centering on the natural wonders that inspired many of his best-loved songs. The episode contains his last song, "Yellowstone, Coming Home," which he composed while rafting along the Colorado River with his son and young daughter.

In the summer of 1997, Denver recorded a children's train album for Sony Wonder, entitled ''All Aboard!'', produced by long-time friend Roger Nichols. The album consisted of old-fashioned swing, big band, folk, bluegrass, and gospel styles of music woven into a theme of railroad songs. This album won a posthumous Best Musical Album For Children Grammy for Denver, which was his only Grammy.

Personal life

Denver's first marriage was to Annie Martell of St. Peter, Minnesota. Their wedding was held at the Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College. Annie was the subject of his hit ''Annie's Song'', which he composed in only ten minutes while on a ski lift in 1974. The couple lived in Edina, Minnesota from 1968 to 1971. Following the success of "Rocky Mountain High," Denver purchased a residence in Colorado and owned one home in Colorado continuously until his death. He and Annie adopted a son, Zachary, and daughter, Anna Kate, who John would say were “meant to be” theirs. John once said, "I'll tell you the best thing about me. I'm some guy's dad; I'm some little gal's dad. When I die, Zachary John and Anna Kate's father, boy, that's enough for me to be remembered by. That's more than enough." Zachary was the subject of "A Baby Just Like You," a song that included the line "Merry Christmas, little Zachary" and which he wrote for Frank Sinatra. Denver and Martell divorced in 1982. She continues to live in Aspen, Colorado.

John Denver married Australian actress Cassandra Delaney in 1988. They had a daughter, Jesse Belle. They separated in 1991 and divorced in 1993.

Denver's talent extended beyond music. He was a painter as well but because of his limiting schedule, he pursued photography. He once said that "photography is a way to communicate a feeling." Denver was an avid skier and golfer. His love of flying was secondary only to his love for music. He collected vintage biplanes and in 1974, he bought a Learjet, which he used to fly himself to concerts. He also bought a Christen Eagle aerobatic plane, two Cessna 210s, gliders and in 1997, the ill-fated Rutan Long-EZ.

Death

On October 12, 1997, Denver was killed at the age of 53 when his Experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane, aircraft registration number N555JD, crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Pacific Grove, California. The NTSB accident ID is LAX98FA008

A pilot with over 2,700 hours of experience, Denver had single-engine land and sea, multi-engine land, glider, and instrument ratings. He also held a type rating in his Learjet. He had recently purchased the Long-EZ aircraft, and had taken a half-hour checkout flight with the aircraft the day before the accident. The NTSB cited Denver's unfamiliarity with the aircraft and his failure to have the aircraft refueled as causal factors in the accident. Denver was the sole occupant of the aircraft. Before the accident, the FAA had learned of his failure to abstain entirely from alcohol subsequent to drunk driving arrests, and since his medical certification was conditional on this, a determination was made that due to his drinking problem, he was not qualified for any class of medical certification at the time. At least a third-class medical certification was required to exercise the privileges of his pilot certificate. However, there was no trace of alcohol or any other drug in Denver's body at autopsy.

Human-interface designer and pilot Bruce Tognazzini analyzed Denver's fatal crash on his webzine, AskTog, in June 1999.

This particular aircraft had an unusual reconfiguration of the fuel selector valve handle, which had been moved from the instrument panel to behind the left shoulder of the pilot. Apparently it also had a sticky O-ring and was hard to move. Both factors may have led to Denver pushing the right rudder pedal when he turned to switch fuel tanks by moving the handle. The aircraft then entered an uncontrolled turning descent: a spiral dive or a spin. Flying at an estimated altitude of , he did not have time to recover. As the wreck badly disfigured Denver's head and body, making identification by dental records impossible, records of his fingerprints taken from his arrests for intoxicated driving were used to confirm that the fallen pilot was indeed the singer.

Upon announcement of Denver's death, Colorado governor Roy Romer ordered all state flags to be lowered to half staff in his honor. Denver was cremated with the 1910 Gibson guitar given to him by his grandmother which had inspired much of his career. Funeral services were held at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colorado, on October 17, 1997, being officiated by Pastor Les Felker, a retired Air Force chaplain. Later, Denver's ashes were scattered in the Rocky Mountains. Further tributes were made at the following Grammys and Country Music Association Awards. Nearly ten years after his death on September 23, 2007, his brother Ron witnessed the dedication of a plaque placed near the crash-site in Pacific Grove, California, commemorating the singer.

Posthumous recognition

In 2000, CBS presented the television movie ''Take Me Home: The John Denver Story'' loosely based on his memoirs, starring Chad Lowe. Denver's brother, Ron Deutschendorf, voiced the feelings of many of the singer's fans when he wrote a letter to the ''Los Angeles Times'' criticizing the film's many inaccuracies: multiple chronological errors, exaggerated difficulties in his relationship with his father, and a completely superficial treatment of Denver's commitment to his various causes. As the ''New York Post'' observed, "An overachiever like John Denver couldn't have been this boring."

Denver's music remains extremely popular around the world. Previously unreleased and unnoticed recordings are now sought-after collectibles in pop, folk and country genres. Also in demand are copies of Denver's many television appearances, especially his one-hour specials from the 1970s and his six-part series for Britain's BBC, ''The John Denver Show''. Despite strong interest in these programs, no sign of "official" release is evident for the vast majority of this material. An anthology musical featuring John Denver's music, ''Back Home Again: A John Denver Holiday'', premiered at the Rubicon Theatre Company in November 2006.

On March 12, 2007, Colorado's Senate passed a resolution to make Denver's trademark 1972 hit "Rocky Mountain High" one of the state's two official state songs, sharing duties with its predecessor, "Where the Columbines Grow." The resolution passed 50–11 in the House, defeating an objection by Rep. Debbie Stafford (R-Aurora) that the song reflected drug use, most specifically the line, "Friends around the campfire and everybody's high." Sen. Bob Hagedorn, the Aurora Democrat who sponsored the proposal, defended the song as nothing to do with drugs, but everything to do with sharing with friends the euphoria of experiencing the beauty of Colorado's mountain vistas. Nancy Todd (D-Aurora) said that "John Denver to me is an icon of what Colorado is." Similar proposals have also been made to the West Virginia House of Delegates to make "Take Me Home Country Roads" the official song of that particular state, so far without success. On September 24, 2007, the California Friends of John Denver and The Windstar Foundation unveiled a bronze plaque near the spot where his plane went down near Pacific Grove. The site had been marked by a driftwood log carved (by Jeffrey Pine of Colorado) with the singer's name, but fears that the memorial could be washed out to sea sparked the campaign for a more permanent memorial. Initially the Pacific Grove Council denied permission for the memorial, fearing the place would attract ghoulish curiosity from extreme fans. Permission was finally granted in 1999, but the project was put on hold at the request of the singer's family. Eventually, over 100 friends and family attended the dedication of the plaque, which features a bas-relief of the singer's face and lines from his song "Windsong": "So welcome the wind and the wisdom she offers. Follow her summons when she calls again."

To mark the 10th anniversary of Denver's death, his family released a set of previously unreleased recordings of Denver's 1985 concert performances in the Soviet Union. This two-CD set, ''John Denver – Live in the USSR'', was produced by Denver's friend Roger Nichols, and released by AAO Music. These digital recordings were made during 11 concerts, and then rediscovered in 2002. Included in this set is a previously unpublished rendition of "Annie's Song" in Russian. The collection was released November 6, 2007.

On October 13, 2009, a DVD box set of previously unreleased concerts recorded throughout Denver's career was released by Eagle Rock Entertainment. "Around the World Live" is a 5-disc DVD set featuring three complete live performances with full band from Australia in 1977, Japan in 1981, and England in 1986. These are complemented by a solo acoustic performance from Japan in 1984, and performances at Farm Aid from 1985, 1987 and 1990. The final disc has two hour-long documentaries made by Denver.

On April 21, 2011, John Denver became the first inductee into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. A benefit concert was held at Broomfield's 1STBANK Center and hosted by Olivia Newton-John. Other performers participating in the event included Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Lee Ann Womack and John Oates. Both of his ex-wives were in attendance, and the award was presented to his three children.

Related artists

Denver began his recording career with a group that had started as the Chad Mitchell Trio; his distinctive voice can be heard where he sings solo on ''Violets of Dawn'', among other songs. He recorded three albums with the Mitchell Trio, replacing Chad Mitchell himself as high tenor. The group Denver, Boise and Johnson, which had evolved from the Mitchell Trio, released a single before he moved on to a solo career.

Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, credited as co-writers of Denver's song "Take Me Home, Country Roads", were close friends of Denver and his family, appearing as singers and songwriters on many of Denver's albums until they formed the Starland Vocal Band in 1976. The band's albums were released on Denver's Windsong Records (later known as Windstar Records) label. Denver's solo recording contract resulted in part from the recording by Peter, Paul and Mary of his song "Leaving on a Jet Plane", which became the sole number 1 hit single for the group. Denver recorded songs by Tom Paxton, Eric Andersen, John Prine, David Mallett, and many others in the folk scene. His record company, Windstar, is still an active record label today. Country singer John Berry considers Denver the greatest influence on his own music and has recorded Denver's hit "Annie's Song" with the original arrangement.

Olivia Newton-John, an Australian singer whose across-the-board appeal to pop, MOR, and country audiences in the mid-1970s was similar to Denver's, lent her distinctive backup vocals to Denver's 1975 single "Fly Away"; she performed the song with Denver on his 1975 ''Rocky Mountain Christmas'' special. She also covered his "Take Me Home, Country Roads", and had a hit in the United Kingdom (#15 in 1973) and Japan (#6 in a belated 1976 release) with it. In 1976, John Denver appeared as a guest star, along with Olivia Newton-John, who made a cameo appearance, on The Carpenters Very First Special, a one-hour TV special broadcast on the ABC television network. A highlight of the program was John singing a duet with Karen Carpenter of a medley of "Through the Rye" and "Good Vibrations", although the medley was never released commercially as a single or on an album.

September 2008 saw the premiere of the musical ''Whisper the Wind'' in New Zealand, a tribute presentation covering highlights of Denver's life and career, with the younger Denver played by 21-year-old Dunedin musician Bevan Gardiner, whose vocal impersonation of the late singer was considered so accurate Denver's business manager Harold Thau could not tell them apart.

Awards and recognition

Academy of Country Music

1974 Album of the Year for "Back Home Again"

American Music Awards

1975 Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist

1976 Favorite Country Album for "Back Home Again"

1976 Favorite Country Male Artist

Country Music Association

1975 Entertainer of the Year

1975 Song of the Year for "Back Home Again"

Emmy Awards 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special for "An Evening With John Denver"

Grammy Awards

1997 Best Musical Album For Children for "All Aboard!"

1998 Grammy Hall of Fame Award for "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Songwriters Hall of Fame

Inducted in 1996

Other recognition

Poet Laureate of Colorado, 1977 People's Choice Awards, 1977 Ten Outstanding Young Men of America, 1979

Carl Sandburg’s People’s Poet Award, 1982

NASA Public Service Medal, 1985

Albert Schweitzer Music Award, 1993

"Rocky Mountain High" declared state song of Colorado, 2007

Discography

Filmography

Selected writings

''Alfie the Christmas Tree'' (1990) ISBN 0-945051-25-5

''Take Me Home: An Autobiography'' (1994) ISBN 0-517-59537-0

''Poems, Prayers and Promises: The Art and Soul of John Denver'' (2004) ISBN 1-57560-617-8

References

Sources

Flippo, Chet (1998) "John Denver," ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music,'' Paul Kingsbury, Editor, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 143.

Martin, James M. (1977) "John Denver: Rocky Mountain Wonderboy," Pinnacle Books. (Out of print) Biography of Denver with insight into Denver's impact of the 1970s music industry.

Orth, Maureen, "Voice of America," ''Newsweek,'' December 1976. Includes information on the role of Weintraub in shaping Denver's career, which has since been edited out of later versions of his biography.

External links

Official website

Windstar Foundation, cofounded by Denver

Clips of his songs from the Songwriters Hall of Fame website

Category:American country singers Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:Songwriters from New Mexico Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:American environmentalists Category:The Hunger Project Category:People from Roswell, New Mexico Category:Musicians from New Mexico Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:Musicians from Colorado Category:Roaring Fork Valley Category:Texas Tech University alumni Category:Military brats Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People associated with the Human Potential Movement Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:1943 births Category:1997 deaths Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	10 Years
background	group_or_band
origin	Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
genre	Alternative metal, post-grunge
years active	1999–present
label	Universal Records
website	www.10yearsmusic.com
current members	Jesse HasekRyan "Tater" JohnsonLewis "Big Lew" CosbyBrian Vodinh
past members	Mike UnderdownAndy ParksMatt Wantland }}

10 Years is an American alternative metal band, formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999.

History

Early Years, ''Into the Half Moon'' (1999–2001)

10 Years was initially formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999 with singer Mike Underdown, drummer Brian Vodinh, bassist Lewis Cosby, and guitarists Ryan "Tater" Johnson (also of The American Plague) and Matt Wantland. In 2001, Cosby left and the band recruited Andy Parks on bass. They independently recorded ''Into the Half Moon'' the same year.

''Killing All That Holds You'', ''The Autumn Effect'' (2002–2006)

Lead vocalist Mike Underdown left the band to pursue a career in acting. 10 Years soon recruited current vocalist Jesse Hasek from another local band. In 2002, Parks decided to leave the band and Cosby returned. The band then released their independent album ''Killing All That Holds You'' in 2004.

10 Years was then signed to Universal Records in 2005 and released their major label debut, ''The Autumn Effect'' on August 16, 2005 with the songs "Wasteland" and "Through the Iris" picking up regional radio play. Their first single, "Wasteland" spent over 12 months on the rock charts, finally reaching #1 at active rock radio in December 2005.

That same summer, the band toured with Disturbed and Ill Niño. In the fall of 2005, they toured with Breaking Benjamin and Smile Empty Soul, then followed up with the Masters of Horror tour with Mudvayne and Sevendust. They opened for Korn and Mudvayne on Korn's ''See You on the Other Side'' tour. They also toured with Korn and Deftones on the Family Values Tour, which started in late July 2006.

In mid February 2006, "Wasteland" reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart. "Wasteland" has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

In mid-2006, the band toured Australia in a lineup which included Hatebreed, Disturbed and Korn.

Their first music video, "Wasteland", addresses the social problem of human rights as well as addiction around the world. The video received a nomination for Best Direction and Best Art Direction at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, but did not win either.

On March 27, 2006, an EP was released on iTunes containing acoustic versions of "Wasteland" and other tracks from ''The Autumn Effect''.

''Division'' (2006–2008)

On November 19, 2006, 10 Years unveiled and confirmed the title "Division" for their second album. The band would begin recording Division in late June 2007 after spending the better part of a year writing.

Lewis told in an interview that the album is "so different from the first one [The Autumn Effect], but it's still 10 Years," and, "It just sounds like [the songs] would be from a totally different album, which was, you know, the goal." It was also revealed that the track titled "Focus" was co-written with Stone Temple Pilots and former Army of Anyone guitarist Dean DeLeo.

On May 21, 2007 a demo song titled "All Your Lies" from Division was released onto their MySpace along with a post stating the band had chosen producer Rick Parasher to produce the new album. On September 7, the band announced on their MySpace that the album was finished and would be released in 2008, following a tour with Dir En Grey, Sevendust, Operator, Thousand Foot Krutch and Chevelle.

On January 29, 2008, "Beautiful," the new single from Division, was released to iTunes and a snippet was also posted on the band's MySpace page. ''Division'' was released on May 13, 2008 after being pushed back due to finalization of the album's artwork.

10 Years was featured on the Revolution Stage of Linkin Park's Summer Projekt Revolution 2008 tour with Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights and Armor For Sleep.

They went on tour with Mudvayne until mid December 2008.

''Feeding the Wolves'' (2009–present)

10 Years announced that their upcoming third major label album would be entitled ''Feeding the Wolves''. The album was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson and mixed by Chris "Lord" Alge. The band has mentioned the album is of their heaviest material to date and "very similar to some of their early songs."

Throughout the first half of 2010, the band went back and forth between putting on live shows and working in the studio. Before the album was released, the band debuted new songs at live performances such as "Dead in the Water", "Now is the Time", and the new album's first single "Shoot It Out".

On June 12, 2010, "Shoot It Out" was featured on Sirius/XM Radio. The track was released to radio later that month, and was made available for download on iTunes July 6. ''Feeding the Wolves'' was released on August 31, 2010.

To promote the album's release, the band opened Shinedown's 2010 Carnival of Madness summer tour alongside Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, and Sevendust. In the fall they joined Sevendust again on the Hard Drive Live tour with support from Since October and Anew Revolution.

In December, the band went on a mini-headline tour, where they played some older songs that they had not played in some time. February 2011, their new single "Fix Me" releases to radio while they headline a spring tour with Hollywood Undead.

On June 17 and 18 the band shot a music video for "Fix Me" in Columbus, Ohio with production company Thunder Down Country. The video was released via YouTube on August 9, 2011.

Band members

Current

Jesse Hasek – Vocals (2002–present)

Ryan "Tater" Johnson – Guitar, Backing Vocals (1999–present)

Lewis Cosby – Bass (1999–present)

Brian Vodinh – Guitar, Backing Vocals (2009–present); Drums (1999–2009)

Matt Brown – Drums (2010–present)

Live

Sam Anderson – Drums (2010)

Kyle Mayer – Drums (2010)

Former

Mike Underdown – Vocals (1999–2001)

Matt Wantland – Guitar (1999–2009)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"
2001	''Into the Half Moon''	* Released: 2001	Compact Disc>CD
2004	''Killing All That Holds You''	* Released: 2004	Universal Records>Universal	* Format: CD
2005	''The Autumn Effect''	* Released: August 16, 2005	* Label: Universal Republic	* Format: CD
2008		* Released: May 13, 2008	* Label: Universal Republic	* Format: CD
2010		* Released: August 31, 2010	* Label: Universal Republic	* Format: CD

Extended plays

2006: ''Acoustic EP''

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions	Album
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"
2005
	"Through the Iris"
"Waking Up"
2009	"Actions & Motives"
2010	"Shoot It Out"
2011	"Fix Me"

References

External links

Official Site

Category:American post-grunge musical groups Category:Musical groups from Knoxville, Tennessee Category:Musical groups established in 1999 Category:Rock music groups from Tennessee Category:Musical quartets

de:10 Years es:10 Years fr:10 Years (groupe) it:10 Years lt:10 Years pl:10 Years pt:10 Years ru:10 Years

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Brann Dailor
background	solo_singer
birth name	Brann Dailor
born	March 19, 1975
instrument	Drums, vocals, percussion
genre	Heavy metal, sludge metal, grindcore, death metal, progressive metal
occupation	Musician
years active	1989–present
associated acts	MastodonLethargyToday is the DayDiscordance AxisFiend Without A FaceGaylord
website	http://www.mastodonrocks.com/ }}

Brann Dailor (born March 19, 1975 in Rochester, NY) is a drummer, best known as a member of Mastodon, a progressive metal band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Dailor was also a founding member of mathcore band Lethargy, and played with grindcore bands Discordance Axis and Today is the Day.

Personal life

Dailor was born into a musical family. His grandparents were members of a 1950's bluegrass band based in Tennessee; his mother and stepfather played in a Rush cover band.

"My parents were hippies, but they were Frank Zappa hippies, you know? They were putting Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'' on my headphones when I was two years old. I grew up listening to ''The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'', ''Close to the Edge'' by Yes, King Crimson's ''Red''. All that stuff was jamming at my house at full volume all the time when I was a baby, along with Coltrane's ''Love Supreme'', Stevie Wonder--''Innervisions''-- stuff like that. Constantly."

His sister Skye committed suicide at age 14. After her death, Dailor spent time in a mental hospital and fell heavily into drugs. Her death served as an inspiration for Mastodon's fourth studio album, ''Crack the Skye''. Although the album's story line involves the adventures of a paraplegic boy in Tsarist Russia, Dailor told ''Metal Hammer'' that many of the songs are fantasy narratives involving him saving his sister from death.

“My sister Skye’s suicide is something I’ve been dealing with for 20 years. I wanted to lift her up and put her name out there forever. It was the most deeply emotional moment of my life, and always with suicide there’s a lot of guilt that comes with it. The whole story is my metaphor for if I’d been able to come in and pick her up and save her from that situation...everybody experiences loss. At some point in your life you will lose someone near and dear to you and I’m lucky enough to have some kind of artistic platform to immortalise it, to have some kind of tribute. We owe it as artists to come from the deepest place possible; that’s art."

On limited edition box sets of ''Crack the Skye'', a photo of Dailor's sister can be seen through a tunnel lithogram in the album art.

References

Category:Living people Category:1975 births American heavy metal drummers Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Rochester, New York Category:Musicians from New York

da:Brann Dailor es:Brann Dailor it:Brann Dailor pl:Brann Dailor ru:Брэнн Дэйлор