In 1969, Denver abandoned band life to pursue a solo career and released his first album for RCA Records, "Rhymes & Reasons". Two years earlier, he had made a self-produced demo recording of some of the songs he played at his concerts. It included a song he had written 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. Producer Milt Okun, who produced records for the Mitchell Trio and the high-profile folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, had become Denver's producer as well. Okun brought the unreleased "Jet Plane" song to Peter, Paul and Mary. Their version of the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Denver's song also made it to the U.K. No. 2 spot in February 1970, having also made No. 1 on the U.S. Cash Box chart in December 1969.