This weekend it was exactly 38 years ago that Paul Simon played a Benefit Show for the George McGovern Election Campaign. On May 8th 1972 Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Paul Simon played in Ohio’s Cleveland.
For Paul this time it was a solo performance, without the help of Art Garfunkel. A month later, in New York City’s Madison Square Gardens, the two would play, also for George McGovern’s benefit, on June 14th.
Paul played the following songs (as far as we know now):
-Me and Julio down by the schoolyard
-Congratulations
-Mother and child reunion
-Cecilia
-The boxer
-Mrs. Robinson
-The sounds of silence
-Bridge over troubled water
This performance was extra special, as ‘ Con9ratulations’ was and is hardly performed live by Paul Simon.
Paul Simon - 'Time it was...it was' 
Good Morning Tim (Dutch time)
It really was ‘a hell of a job’. I only wanna tell you that I just succeeded by downloading the entire part of Paul Simon`s solo concert.
I am going to my bed now. The birds outside – will starting soon – beginning with their singing.
More info I was able to finding is coming to you very quickly
Kind regards form The Netherlands. Paul Simon will – always – remain!
“I am leaving I am leaving but the ‘fighter’ still remains’ ….
Really wonderful blackbird just started with his singing… in twilight zone in the city I am still living in the Netherlands…
Good night TIM
I just found the entire concert.
This concert was indeed – given – by Paul Simon on May 8th 1972.
It was – indeed – a Benefit concert for Mc.Govern running for President.
This Benefit was given together with Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
It is correctly mentioned Paul Simon performed 8 numbers.
The second number of the set list is – indeed – ‘congratulations’.
Some additional info regarding this Benefit:
‘PAUL SIMON, JONI MITCHELL, JAMES TAYLOR
Cleveland 1972 [JoeRay Master, 2CD]
George McGovern Fundraiser. Live at the Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio; April 28, 1972. Passable audience recording’.
(Note from my side: maybe the sound is not as good as it nowadays will be. For the only reason: in 1972 all Paul Simon fans around the entire world only had a cassette recorder. I know this for very sure regarding my age…. Being born at the end of 1952).
QUOTE from the site on which I found this very rare post.
Not another Paul Simon forum in the world is aware of this concert:
‘In April 1972, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor performed at a fundraiser in support of George McGovern for President. The fundraiser brought in more than $70,000 for his election campaign. This brought together three of the most influential singer-songwriters of the era.
Paul Simon kicked off the proceedings with only his second truly solo performance after the demise of Simon & Garfunkel. Besides that, Paul’s set is notable for the rarely played “Congratulations”.
Next up was Joni Mitchell performing a solo set, her masterpiece “Blue” was 10 months old by now and she was, of course, warmly embraced by the Cleveland audience. Her set features beautiful versions of songs from her previous three releases as well as three new songs that would be released seven months later on “For The Roses”. Due to some technical difficulties all but the first 20 seconds of “For Free” is missing.
James Taylor closes the musical proceedings with the longest set of the night at 13 songs. He is joined by an all-star band featuring Danny Kortchmar, Lee Sklar and Russ Kunkel. James’s set also features four songs not released at the time and would not be released for another seven months on “One Man Dog”.
Finally, the proceedings close with a short three minute speech from McGovern all captured on tape.
At least James Taylor’s set has previously circulated under the incorrect date of My 8, it is also incorrectly dated on james-taylor.com. Joni Mitchell’s website correctly dates it as April 28, we have also included newspaper ads and reviews from the time that correctly date the show as April 28, in addition, Joni was touring Europe the first week of May.
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JoeRay adds a little more flavor this his thoughts on the evening and era:
‘In the early 1970s America was divided over the War in Viet Nam. Every day there was another protest march and people were being killed standing up for their rights. Just four months after the first major benefit concert was held in NYC, NY, The Concert for Bangladesh, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor and his Band got together in Cleveland, Ohio to perform at a Fundraiser for The Election of George McGovern for President.
Warren Beatty was the organizer of this concert and was a supporter of Senator McGovern’s presidential bid. McGovern was in a Democratic Primary Challenge against Senator Eugene McCarthy who was a more progressive candidate than McGovern. Still, McGovern won the Democratic Nomination and faced Tricky Dick Nixon for the 1972 General Election which Nixon won by a landslide only to be impeached and removed from office less than two years later. McGovern’s initial VP pick was Tom Eagleton who had to withdraw for health reasons.
This was my first major political concert. I sat in the 8th row on the left side of the main floor. Tickets were $10 each and I attended with my Philips Cassette Recorder, Memorex Cassette Tape and an AKG D1000E vocal mic. It is important to note, except for long breaks to tune the guitars, the musicians said very little during the concert. I did stop the recorder a few times to save tape space, but no talk was omitted. Due to the ice under the stage, the guitars were constantly going out of tune. Intermission between sets was only about one to two minutes as I think George McGovern had to be in NYC by morning.
The Cleveland Arena was the site of Alan Freed’s “Moondog Coronation Ball” in 1952 (widely considered the world’s first rock concert). The Arena was made out of steel and concrete and was designed as a hockey arena, home of the Cleveland Baron’s Hockey Team and the first home to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. You can tell there was no damping or sound baffling to improve the sound in this hockey rink. There was a wood floor placed over the ice where I played hockey as a goalie for St Edward HS Hockey Teams a few days earlier. I did get to see the band Mountain perform the previous year at this arena and the sound was no better. Still, this recording is clear, and the words can be heard very distinctly. I transferred the cassette using a Nakamichi DR-1 cassette player > USBPre2 > Mac Pro > Adobe Audition6.0 at 24/96.
I can’t stress to you the importance of this concert for historical purposes. While each musician was fairly early in their careers, only Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel) had ever played a headlining concert in Cleveland at such a large venue. James Taylor had previously opened for The Who at Public Hall and Joni Mitchell played the La Cave Coffeehouse previously. The 14,000 ticketed audience was sold out and this concert was covered by most major newspapers and network tv stations. Enjoy this rare, historical recording.
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We cannot thank JoeRay enough for digging deep into his archives of master recordings to share with all, it is an honor to work on these historic recordings, please feel free to show you thanks with your comments’.
TIM: I will give you the link to the website.
In fact I am – of course – I was able to finding it.
But pls do not read the comments that some posted…. It`s a bloody shame to Paul SImon.
Disc 1
Paul Simon
Track 101. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard 2:36
Track 102. Congratulations 3:08
Track 103. Mother And Child Reunion/Cecelia 3:57
Track 104. The Boxer 4:21
Track 105. America 3:22
Track 106. Mrs Robinson 3:04
Track 107. The Sounds Of Silence 3:59
Track 108. Bridge Over Troubled Water 3:48
Link to the site I found this truly rare concert.
Maybe you may sent me a thanks for fulfilling your wish (and maybe the wish by all Paul Simon fans):
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=4862#comment-2950660
By the way: all tracks of the Paul Simon part of this Benefit are to be downloaded in mp3
Grab your change: these links are still alive at this moment but one day they will run out..
I just perceived a website asking a hugh amount of money fot this. Amount of money around more than U$ 76,-…
Kind regards. Enjoy your Sunday. Mine already started 2 hours ago. Corry