Michael Jay Johnson (August 8, 1944 – July 25, 2017) was an American pop,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best remembered for his 1978 hit song "

Bluer Than Blue "Bluer Than Blue" is a 1978 song recorded by Michael Johnson. The song was written by noted pop and country songwriter Randy Goodrum. Originally recorded as a demo, "Bluer Than Blue" was taken as the first single from Johnson's subsequent LP, ' ...

". He charted four hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and nine more on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

, including two number one country hits in 1986's "

Give Me Wings "Give Me Wings" is a song written by Kye Fleming and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country pop artist Michael Johnson. It was released in September 1986 as the second single from the album ''Wings A wing is a type of fin that prod ...

" and "

The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder "The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder" is a song written by Hugh Prestwood, and recorded by American country pop artist Michael Johnson. It was released in January 1987 as the third single from the album ''Wings''. The song was Johnson's second ...

". He also co-wrote "Cain's Blood", the debut single of 1990s country group 4 Runner.

Career

Johnson was born in the small town of Alamosa, Colorado and grew up in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He started playing the guitar at 13. In 1963, he began attending Colorado State College (now the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

) in Greeley to study music but his college career was truncated when he won an international talent contest two years later. First prize included a deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. Wishing to hone his instrumental skills, in 1966 he set off for

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, to the Liceu Conservatory, studying with the eminent classical guitarists, Graciano Tarragó and

Renata Tarragó Renata Tarragó Fábregas (23 October 1927 – 2 August 2005), a Catalan guitarist and vihuelist, was a teacher and performer, both as a solo artist and an accompanist. She was the first female guitarist to record Joaquín Rodrigo's ''Concierto ...

. Upon his return to the States, he joined

Randy Sparks Randy Sparks (born July 29, 1933, Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and founder of The New Christy Minstrels and The Back Porch Majority. Biography Sparks grew up in Oakland, California, and attended the Universit ...

in a group called the New Society and did a tour of the Orient. When the band dissolved in 1967, he signed on with the

Chad Mitchell Trio The Chad Mitchell Trio, later known as The Mitchell Trio, were an American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed traditional folk songs and some of John Denver's early compositions. They were particularly notable for perf ...

for a year, spending some of that time co-writing with another member,

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 group was renamed Denver, Boise & Johnson. When the trio came to an end, Johnson made a radical departure from everything he had done previously by taking on a major supporting role in the off-Broadway production of ''

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris ''Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' is a musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel. Brel's songs were translated into English by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman, who also provided the story. The original 1968 Off-Broadway prod ...

.'' In 1971, Johnson signed with

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the comp ...

to release his first album, ''There Is A Breeze'', which was released in 1973 and produced by Johnson, Chris Dedrick,

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer and songwriter who found fame for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, " Puff, the Magic Dragon". H ...

and

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...

in New York and Toronto, Canada. Feeling this first effort was not a true reflection of his music (despite being a best seller in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area), Johnson self-produced his next LP in 1975, ''For All You Mad Musicians'', relying more on his voice and guitar for a folk feel. He followed this up with ''Ain't Dis Da Life'', where he added a rhythm section. With each new recording and his continued touring, his popularity was increasing. Teaming up with

Brent Maher Brent Maher is a producer, engineer, and songwriter currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He has produced and engineered six Grammy-winning records and received awards from the CMA, ACM, CCMA, ASCAP, SOCAN and NSAI. Maher engineered cl ...

and Steve Gibson in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, Johnson created a two-song demo consisting of "

" and " Almost Like Being in Love" (the latter song from the Broadway musical ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a ...

'').

EMI America EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s, EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which lat ...

took one listen and wasted no time in signing him, quickly getting ''The Michael Johnson Album'' out in 1978. "Bluer Than Blue" was written by Randy Goodrum. The first single, "Bluer Than Blue", became Johnson's first

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit, peaking at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1978; the song became a chart-topping single on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. "Almost Like Being in Love" went to No. 91 on the R&B chart while hitting the Top 5 on the AC chart and the Top 40 on the pop chart. Johnson recorded five albums in all for EMI and in 1985 moved over to

RCA Records 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 ...

, where he adopted a contemporary country style that stayed compatible with his soft, mellow leanings. He scored five Top Ten country hits from 1986 to 1989, including the chart-toppers "Give Me Wings" and "The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder." After two country albums on RCA (plus two greatest hits collections), Johnson moved over to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in 1991. In 1995, the country music group 4 Runner scored a minor hit with the single " Cain's Blood", for which Johnson co-wrote an updated version with Jack Sundrud of

Poco Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...

Death

Johnson died at his home in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, on July 25, 2017, 2 weeks short of his 73rd birthday.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Featured singles

Music videos

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Michael 1944 births 2017 deaths People from Alamosa, Colorado American male singer-songwriters American country guitarists American folk guitarists American male guitarists American soft rock musicians American country singer-songwriters Singers from Denver Colorado State University alumni Guitarists from Colorado 20th-century American guitarists Atco Records artists EMI Records artists RCA Records artists Vanguard Records artists Atlantic Records artists Red House Records artists 20th-century American male musicians Singer-songwriters from Colorado