West Virginia tourism gets “almost heaven” rights

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Tourism Office says it has obtained rights to use the song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in marketing and will begin this week.

Made famous by John Denver, it calls the mountain state “almost heaven,” has been an unofficial West Virginia anthem almost since its 1971 release and was named an official state song in 2014.

Fans sing it at West Virginia University home football games.

The tourism office says it will make it a centerpiece of a major ad campaign next year.

According to National Public Radio, Denver first heard the incomplete song in the Washington, D.C., apartment of songwriter Bill Danoff and his girlfriend and writing partner, Taffy Nivert.

They finished it and recorded it together months later in New York City.