1972 Charlotte's Web concert - audio

[Cindy M]

Michael Johnson - In Concert
Charlotte's Web,  Rockford IL 9/14/1972

Thanks to Gil for recording it and sharing it with me.

https://youtu.be/_N2r5BRqi20

Song list:
You've Got to Be Carefully Taught (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
My Opening Farewell (Jackson Browne)
Ugly Woman (Jerry Reed)
The Number and the Name (Steve Gillette)
Garbage Can (Ted Anderson)
See You Soon (Paul Johnson)
Rooty Toot Toot for the Moon (Greg Brown)
Study in E Minor (H. Villa Lobos)
Gimmie That Wine (Jon Hendricks)
In the Name of Love (Estelle Levitt, Kenny Rankin)
In Your Eyes (Crow Johnson)
Got You Covered (Biff Rose & Michael Johnson
For Free (Joni Mitchell)
Waitin Around to Die (Townes Van Zandt)
Little Paper Ball (Jon Hendricks)
Take Five (Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck, Iola Brubeck)
Song of Old Lovers (Jacques Brel)
Bouree in E Minor (J.S Bach)
Gravy Waltz (Ray Brown, Steve Allen)
Wilson Girl (Michael Johnson, Ted Sherman, Mark Henley)

[Cindy M]

YouTube comment thread:
This made for pleasant "background" listening for an evening of work, though the performances were too compelling  to ignore (even with the slightly muffled audio) and I ended up taking lots of listening breaks! I think I haven't heard "Gimme that wine" in over 25 years, yet I still recalled some of the lyrics; I suppose the topic may not have aged well, but the lyrics are funny and Michael's performance is engaging. "Waitin around to die" was new to me. The performance of "Take five" is one of the best I've heard (by anyone, possibly excepting Al Jarreau's classic live version). I'd never heard "Wilson Girl" before; from the intro, we learn he (co)wrote it just two days prior! Warning to listeners that the end is cut off here.

Your song list reminded me that "In your eyes" was written by Crow Johnson. I wasn't familiar with her otherwise, and I'd wondered if there was a relation, so I did some digging, and evidently there's no relation (at least, not close). I found an excerpt of her version of the tune on CDBaby—a very different arrangement, with more of a bluegrass or country feel. I prefer Michael's version, but it was fun to hear Crow's version (and she has a nice voice).

Thanks for sharing this!  —Tom

My reply:
Crow Johnson is AKA Amy Johnson. Former wife of MJ's brother, Paul. She also wrote MJ's Ridin' in the Sky, The Glory and Gypsy in the Photograph.

Tom:
Wow, thanks for that info! When looking at a bio on her, it didn't occur to me that "Johnson" was her married name. I just saw that she grew up somewhere other than Colorado, and figured they weren't brother & sister. Cool to learn of the connection. Also, "Ridin' in the sky" is one of my favorite MJ tunes; I didn't know she wrote it!

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