Mary Catherine "Taffy" Nivert-Danoff (born October 25, 1944) is an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

. She is best known for being a member of the

Starland Vocal Band Starland Vocal Band was an American pop band, known for " Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest-selling singles of 1976. Career The group began as Fat City, a husband/wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. Danoff and Nivert co-wrote the s ...

Biography

Mary Catherine Nivert was born 25 October 1944 in Washington, D.C. She received her nickname Taffy from her elder brother who, unable to pronounce her middle name as a young child, would call her Mary Tafferine. Nivert began singing along with the radio in high school. She was discovered by a bartender in Georgetown after he heard her singing to a jukebox. The bartender asked if she wanted to join a vocal group, and through this, she met her future husband Bill Danoff. Nivert began performing with Danoff as Fat City in the late 1960s. Initially a folk duo, the two later married and recorded four albums, the latter two credited to Bill & Taffy. In 1970, while traveling along Clopper Road to Nivert's family reunion in

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Gai ...

, Danoff began writing what would become "

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver about West Virginia. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two ...

". The couple planned to complete the song and sell it to

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

. However, when Fat City opened for

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

The Cellar Door The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1964 through January 7, 1982. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. One of the premie ...

in December 1970, they decided to show it to him. Denver, who had injured his thumb in a car crash hours before, arrived at Danoff and Nivert's apartment in the early hours of the morning, where the trio finished the song. The next night, they performed the completed song, with Nivert holding the lyric sheet, and it went on to become a hit song for Denver on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in early 1971, and included on his album '' Poems, Prayers, and Promises'', along with "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado," which Danoff and Nivert also wrote. Additionally, Danoff and Nivert sang backup on four of the album's tracks. Danoff and Nivert married in 1972. In 1976, the couple paired with Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman to form the

. Signed to John Denver's record label Windsong Records, they were most famous for the hit song "

Afternoon Delight "Afternoon Delight" is a hit song recorded by Starland Vocal Band, known for its close harmony and sexually suggestive wordplay. It was written by Bill Danoff, one of the members of the band. "Afternoon Delight" charted well in New Zealand, pea ...

". The group released several albums before breaking up in 1981. Danoff and Nivert later divorced. Until 2011, Nivert lived in the Washington, D.C. area, where she occasionally performed with Danoff and the rest of the Starland Vocal Band. She later settled in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Discography

;Albums Fat City * ''Reincarnation'' (ABC, 1969) * ''Welcome to Fat City'' (Paramount, 1971) John Denver with Bill Danoff - Taffy Nivert * ''Victory Is Peace'' (Tomorrow Entertainment ER-7209-LP, 1972)Theme music for

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

. Limited edition (200 copies) one-sided promo LP with six tracks. Bill & Taffy * ''Pass It On'' (RCA, 1973) * ''Aces'' (RCA, 1974) Starland Vocal Band * Five albums; details at SVB page ;Singles John Denver with Fat City * "Take Me Home, Country Roads" / "Poems, Prayers And Promises" (RCA, 1971) Bill & Taffy * "Pass It On" / "Didn't I Try" (RCA UK, 1973) * " Maybe" / "How Lucky Can You Be" (RCA Germany, 1974) * "Maybe" (stereo) / "Maybe" (mono) (RCA promo, 1974) Starland Vocal Band * Ten singles; details at SVB page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nivert, Taffy 1944 births American women singer-songwriters Grammy Award winners Living people 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Washington, D.C. Starland Vocal Band members