Denver, Boise & Johnson - The Bistro Inn, Columbus, OH, 6-1968

One can find such interesting music on YouTube these days. I was searching for more concerts from the Ebbets Field venue in Denver, Colorado, and the use of the search term "Denver" helped me find this concert. I checked, and it wasn't available anywhere else. It's nearly two hours of the folk trio Denver, Boise and Johnson, with excellent sound quality. If you're a fan of John Denver then you'll want this, because he was the "Denver" in "Denver, Boise and Johnson."

I should start by explaining who this trio were. I've actually posted half an album of their music on this blog before. I say half, because I posted an album that contained a John Denver solo set he did at the Philadelphia Folk Festival as well as a Denver, Boise and Johnson set from that same festival. The latter set lasted about 25 minutes. Here's the link to that one, in case you're curious:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2026/01/john-denver-plus-denver-boise-johnson.html

Anyway, when I posted that, I explained the background of the trio. Here's that same explanation:

The group was originally a popular folk group called the "Chad Mitchell Trio." But in 1965, Chad Mitchell left for a solo career, and was replaced by John Denver. It was his first big break into the music industry. The group changed its name to just the "Mitchell Trio." Then, by 1968, the last original member had left, so they were legally required to change their name again, to "Denver, Boise and Johnson." At this point, they consisted of John Denver, David Boise, and Michael Johnson. This version didn't last long, breaking up in 1969 without releasing any albums. 

Now, let me get back to how I found this concert on YouTube. It turns out that Michael Johnson posted it there in 2022. I mention that name, because this was the Michael Johnson who was a member of Denver, Boise and Johnson. Actually, it must be a family member who posted that, because Johnson died in 2017. But whoever posted it posted a handful of concert bootlegs from this trio, so if you're interested in more, go check out that person's YouTube page. I picked this one because it was the longest and most coherent, coming from a single concert. 

At the time of this concert, this trio mostly performed cover songs. But occasionally they played John Denver originals. You can find a few sprinkled in here, like "Take Me to Tomorrow," "Like to Deal with the Ladies," "For Baby (For Bobbie)," "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Catch Another Butterfly," and "Sticky Summer Weather." I think those are all of his originals, but I might have missed one or two. A year after this concert, Peter, Paul and Mary would have a big hit single with "Leaving on a Jet Plane," turning it into a folk classic.

If you're wondering why Denver, Boise and Johnson didn't have a hit with "Leaving on a Jet Plane" before Peter, Paul and Mary did, it's because they basically couldn't get a record contract. By 1968, folk music was considered passe, especially if it was still acoustic and not folk-rock. The trio released a couple of singles that didn't make the charts. They broke up in 1969, having never released a studio album in the year or so that these three people made up the trio. John Denver, of course, went on to superstardom only a couple of years after that. Michael Johnson also went on to have a successful, long music career, including having a couple of Number One hits on the U.S. country singles chart in the 1980s.

This appears to be a soundboard recording. There were a few problems, mostly where songs got cut off. That happened three times. For "Let's Get Together," only the very end of the song was missing, literally the last sung note, plus the applause. So that was an easy fix. For "Coal Tattoo," nearly the entire song was missing. But Michael Johnson's YouTube page has some other Denver, Boise and Johnson live recordings, as I mentioned above, so I used one of those to fill in most of the song. It was a similar situation with "Both Sides Now" near the end of the concert. That was missing about the first minute, so I also filled that in with a different live version taken from that YouTube page.

It appears the band played three sets in this concert. I think this includes all of the first and second sets. But there may have been additional songs before "Coal Tattoo" at the start of the third set. There are very few repeats. Only the last three songs were played earlier. 

Oh, one last thing. I don't know the exact date of this concert, and I'm not even sure of the month. Michael Johnson's YouTube page merely says it took place in the summer of 1968. But I found another reference that said June 1968, so I'm going with that unless I hear something different. 

This album is an hour and 56 minutes long.

01 That's the Way It's Gonna Be (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
02 What This Country Really Needs Is Another Movie Star (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
03 We Didn't Know (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
04 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
05 Take Me to Tomorrow (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
06 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
07 Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
08 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
09 Red Velvet (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
10 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
11 Like to Deal with the Ladies (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
12 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
13 Bending the Strings [Instrumental] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
14 Everybody's Talkin' (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
15 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
16 Draft Dodger Rag (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
17 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
18 Both Sides Now (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
19 Love of the Common People (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
20 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
21 I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
22 If You Had Me in Shackles (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
23 The John Birch Society (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
24 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
25 For Baby [For Bobbie] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
26 You Certainly Have Got a Pretty Fantastic Bod (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
27 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
28 Victoria Dines Alone (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
29 Your Friendly, Liberal, Neighborhood Ku Klux Klan (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
30 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
31 Leaving on a Jet Plane (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
32 Yellow Cat (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
33 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
34 The '68 Nixon [This Year's Model] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
35 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
36 Turning Point (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
37 Blowin' in the Wind (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
38 Let's Get Together [Edit] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
39 Coal Tattoo [Edit] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
40 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
41 Asturias [Leyenda] [Instrumental] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
42 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
43 Business Goes On as Usual (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
44 Catch Another Butterfly (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
45 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
46 Foggy Mountain Breakdown [Instrumental] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
47 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
48 Cripple Creek [Instrumental] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
49 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
50 Sticky Summer Weather (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
51 Love of the Common People (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
52 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
53 Both Sides Now [Edit] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
54 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
55 I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Denver, Boise & Johnson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/uGr1HA5x

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/a75hEoNov5OCOmm/file

I found the photo of this trio at Michael Johnson's website. From left to right: Michael Johnson, David Boise, and John Denver.