A few kind words for Peter Johnson?

Subject: Kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: GUEST,Barry Finn
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:08 AM

For those of you who don't know Peter Johnson there's a thread back a ways. For those of you who do know him I'd ask of you, if you have anything good & decent to say about him please post it here & I'll pass it along to his Lawyer (who's taking Peter on Pro Bono). Peter came from the wealthy family of Johnson & Johnson, he didn't fit in, his love for folk music & musicians & his passion & desire to find ways to bring those singers & musicians together with those that he knew would love them earned him to be disowned by his family & shunned ever after. He has been bringing music to those in the New England area since the 50's & was one of the very few driving forces that kept folk music alive in Boston & I'd venture to say that Boston has now one of the finest & largest folk music communities in the country & that Peter Johnson can take the lion's share of the credit for that. The cost to Peter was his family & the fact that he was always as poor as a church mouse, what he did have he spent supporting visiting musicians that he'd bring over & trying to produce concerts that were forever emptying his pockets.
Ok, moving onward, Peter was left some money by his mother when she died, maybe it was time to share & probably the only time though that's not the way a very wealthy & very powerful cousin sees it, he's trying to take what little Peter ever got from his family by claiming that Peter is not stable enough to be able to handle this. Some might say that he was a bit eccentric & maybe a slight bit off, some might say that he was a little chemically imbalanced (not to bad in todays society, speaking here from experince)but others would say he had all the right & reason seeing as he gave his all & never asked for a morsel in return it was all for love. I'd love to be able to hand over to him (he may make it here on the 18th) posts from people the world over who knew him or was in someway affected by him in a positive way. Peter didn't & wouldn't ask of this he wouldn't ask for anything & I don't know if it's at all appropriate of me to be asking for him but I believe it would help him & if a Judge could see the scope of what Peter has done he'd be far less likely to listen to a begrudging cousin who couldn't stand in his shadow & most likely hasn't put much energy into benefiting anyone excepting himself. Thank you for your time & for any kind words that you may offer.

Barry Finn
Derry, New Hampshire

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:20 AM

Peter Johnson is one of the most decent men I ever met. He helped me and my partner at the time get a gig in Passim coffehouse in Cambridge.We were a duo called the Beggarmen, and were trying to make it out of the pub scene into the folk-club circuit, and Peter used what influence he had to enable us to perform in one of the top folk-venues at the time. He is a gem! A prince among men! And he can sing a song and hold a tune with the best of them. Ask Declan Hunt. All the best. Seamus Kennedy

P.S. Riggy, where are you?

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:21 AM

Peter, I don't know you, but I'm very moved by Barry's story. I wish you all the best in this legal battle, which must be emotionally as well as financially wrenching for you, to say the least. As a fellow folk concert presenter, I feel an automatic kinship, and sincerely hope you get a swift and just decision from the courts.

Thank you, Barry, for posting this. Everyone should have a friend like you to go to bat for them like this.

-chanteyranger

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Anglo
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:53 AM

Hardly the thing to tell a judge, but if George W. Bush was considered stable enough for people to buy oil refineries and baseball teams for him to fritter with, Peter certainly deserves the right to keep what was given him - and by his own mother, for heaven's sake. If Peter wanted to make paper aeroplanes out of hundred-dollar bills and fly them off the B.U. bridge, so well and good, and let him go ahead, and no-one should have the right to stop him. Peter was always one who would give the world to his friends, and often did. He produced concerts, produced records, and generally did all he could to promote the music he loved. I haven't seen him for a long time. I heard he had appeared again on the Cambridge/Boston music scene and was glad to hear it. I wish him the best, and nothing but the best, and a pox on those who would do him down for a few pieces of silver.

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: GUEST,Dan Milner
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 01:37 AM

Hi Barry!

Thanks for going to bat for Peter. I have known him for more than 25 years and have been the beneficiary of both his dedication to art and his personal kindness. More importantly, I have seen Peter work his wonders on behalf of others. It is one thing to be an impressario, to be accepted by the community and to make a living as a proponet of art; it is entirely something else to devote your energy and share your resources with no thought of reward for your effort. Peter is unique, offbeat and brilliant. He is no threat to himself, others or, I suspect least of all, his family. If you are in touch with Peter's attorney, ask him to get in touch with me. I'm most pleased to speak in support of him.

All the best,
Dan

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 01:42 AM

I'm sorry I don't know the man, but I truly wish I did. I HAVE known a few who were probably LIKE Peter. They operate on the basis that giving is simply fun. No more no less. I can see how that might infuriate many. Not me. Eccentric giving humans are worth more than gold to me.

Rick Fielding

Toronto Ontario

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: KathWestra
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 03:15 PM

Thanks, Barry, for posting this. I never knew Peter well, and I haven't seen Peter for years, but he is everything you say. Passionately devoted to presenting the best of traditional music, and willing to use his own resources to bring a financially "risky" performer to the stage to give people a chance to hear their music. A wonderfully generous host who went out of his way to make sure his guests were comfortable and well fed. (When Peter arranged a concert for my then-husband, Joe Hickerson, he took Joe, me, and numerous friends out for one of the most convivial and memorable meals I can remember -- a chance for Joe to meet the "locals," and everyone to meet us. We felt truly welcomed.)

Eccentric? Sure, but delightfully so. A worthy and deserving human being? Absolutely.

And, by the way, since when is being "stable" (a subjective judgement, to be sure) a legal requirement for being allowed to accept a bequest?

My good wishes are with Peter all the way!

Kathy Westra
Silver Spring, Maryland

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Songster Bob
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 03:44 PM

Just a "ditto" from me. Peter heard me sing a song at a sing-around at Fox Hollow, and asked me to come to Boston and record it for one of the volumes of his sampler series, "Pleasant and Delightful." I think it would have been Vol. 4 -- the series ended at Vol. 3, if I recall. So I came up and did the recording (recorded a half-dozen songs or tunes, as I recall, since I didn't figure it was "worth it" to come all that way for one song).

No pay, of course, but a chance to be heard, and good surroundings for folk music there in Boston, a trip to a couple of coffee-houses and pubs as well, and no BS about making anyone a star. He did those recordings, those coffee-houses, the promoting of concerts, all of it, for the love of the music. The Folk Boom made a lot of people rich, but left the traditional side of the music, its well-spring, behind. Peter was one of the ones who tried to counter the mass media approach, to make the world better, one song at a time.

There are literally thousands of folks out there with the same passion for their music, and no one considers them "unstable." Maybe if he'd had the money all along, his "instability" would be considered "eccentricity." Society makes judgements like that, you know.

Bob Clayton

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Cobble
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 03:55 PM

All I can say not knowing Peter is, may he get justice. And what the hell has money from his mother got to do with a greedy grasping Cousin. Good luck Peter.

Cobble.

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: DebC
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 04:55 PM

I have only known Peter a short time, having met him a year ago when he surprised everyone at The Boston Singer's Club. That night, he and I had a wonderful conversation and exchanged phone numbers. I get a call from Peter every so often and we talk about folk music and sing songs to each other over the phone.

Peter's passion for folk music is evident in his singing and the productions that he has put on in the last year.

Oh yes, I do know that the two productions that Peter produced in the last year were done for charity, and I believe the one this weekend is for charity as well. Peter doesn't take a single cent!

I can't think of a more decent human being than Peter. His generosity and his belief in the music is a shining light in the folk world, especially here in Boston. I am proud to know Peter and to call him a friend.

Debra Cowan

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:48 PM

I don't know Peter either, but Hamish Imlach loved him, that's enough. (Also, I HATE scroungers and mean-spirited people!) All the best to you, Peter! - Susanne

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: GUEST,Barry Finn
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:35 PM

Thanks to you all & please keep it all coming & thanks Susanne for the reminder about Hamish & if anyone has a copy of Hamish's comments towards or about Peter could they at all post them here Thanks again. Barry

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 04 Nov 00 - 01:04 PM

From: Hamish Imlach/Ewan McVicar: Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice. Reminiscences of a Fat Folk Singer (1992), p. 141f:
"Among the characters of Boston was Mad Peter Johnson, an oddball who was part of the Johnson and Johnson family of Baby Powder fame. The family had had several US admirals and vice-admirals, so when Peter went into the navy to do his National Service he was treated with kid gloves. They put him on a little minesweeper where they could confine him and keep an eye on him.
There was only one mop, brush and bucket on this tiny boat. Mad Peter Johnson discovered that if he flung them overboard it took two or three weeks for them to requisition a new mop, brush and bucket. A battle of wits developed between him and the two petty officers who had the job of keeping him scrubbing, and he would get up in the middle of the night to defeat them.
Eventually the ship's morale went to hell, and he still had fifteen months of service to go. They sent him off to the mothball fleet, to a battleship in a dock in Massachusetts with an adjacent shed of grey paint, and thought, 'That'll take him fifteen months, he can't fuck up on that.' They forgot that there is a red lead undercoat. He started with trestles on the side of the battleship away from the pier, and painted polka dots and candy stripes all down the side of the battleship. He covered about fifty square yards before anyone noticed.
That was when he was certified, and became Mad Peter. His family cut him off without a penny, but didn't think to cut off his accounts with various Savile Row tailors. So for a year until the bill was sent in anyone who wanted a suit could order it on Peter's account. He bought about fifty suits and lived for a while by selling them.
Then he got into advertising and became the Marlboro Cowboy, the one with his foot on the corral rail and a scar on his cheek. After that he got a job dressing in a chicken suit [there's a photo of him in it], and going around to where people would come up to him and say, 'You are Schwartz's Chicken,' and he would give them a frozen chicken. He lost that job when a farmer discovered him chasing his bull in a country field, pelting the bull with frozen chickens.
Peter has made a couple of albums, and organises ceilidhs. The Irish singer Margaret Barry, a wonderful singer but nobody's chicken, was coming to Boston for a concert organised by Mad Peter, and he went to meet her at the airport and put on his proudest clothing, the chicken outfit. When he approached her she ran shrieking to the police. She eventually realised he was one of the real people, and when she was going to be deported because she had no work permit Mad Peter Johnson married her. She was in her seventies, he was in his twenties."
There may be other mentions of Peter, but without an index I can't find them just now. Still, this gives you an idea of what kind of person he is.

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: GUEST,Barry Finn
Date: 13 Nov 00 - 09:09 PM

Thanks to you all for your kind words of Peter, it's not often a body is lucky enough to come across a soul like him & probably less often that a kindness can be repaid to those those that do so much & ask for nothing.
Susanne, thanks for your posting of Hamish Imlach's mention of Peter. Barry

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 00 - 09:36 PM

The beauty of our society lies in its eccentrics and their ability to make things better for the world as a whole and their friends in particular by living in that free and unencumbered way which makes the shallow climbers uncomfortable. I don't know Peter except through the words of those he has touched and when the likes of Dan Milner, Seamus Kennedy, Kath Westra, and Barry Finn say he is a fine man.........that's good enough for me.

Pat Patterson (Spaw)

Subject: RE: A few kind words for Peter Johnson?
From: Jacob B
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 10:30 AM

As one whose life was touched by Peter, I can say this: Peter put on concert after concert, always showing wonderful taste and judgement in choices of performers and his pairings of main and opening acts. He developed a following of people who came to trust his judgement, and who would go to hear a performer they had never heard of because Peter gave the performer his recommendation. Because of him, many people came to know and love types of music they would otherwise never have heard. As audience members came to meet each other, both at the concerts and at the after-concert music parties that Peter organized, the concert following became a community, and this folk community remains strong today, enabling Boston to support a quantity of folk music that is unmatched anywhere else in the country, and enriching the lives of thousands.

I can picture Peter now, standing at one of those music parties, hand on his ear, eyes closed, leading the singing of "Roll, Alabama, Roll." I wish him all the best.

Jacob Bloom