Chapman’s Beginnings
Folk-rock singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman was born in 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio. She began playing guitar and writing songs when she was eleven years old. TM In 1984, when she was a twenty-year-old student at Tufts University, she started playing at clubs around the Boston area.
Producer David Kershenbaum and a Record Deal
A friend introduced her to producer David Kershenbaum. TB Her acoustic-based music was a turn-off to many producers because of the popularity of snyth-driven, dance-pop music at the time but he embraced her musical direction. WK He was struck by her “plaintive songs and vocal range, which bore a strong resemblance to Joan Armatrading.” TB He recognized that, as he said, “there was a sense in the industry of a slight boredom with everything out there and that people might be willing to listen again to lyrics and to someone who made statements.” WK
By the end of 1986, Chapman signed a deal with Elektra Records. Kershenbaum set about producing her debut album at his studio in Los Angeles. He’d recorded Joe Jackson’s Look Sharp! for less than $10,000 and with minimal overdubs. He used a similar approach for Chapman’s album. Her vocals and acoustic guitar “were recorded over a spare rhythm section consisting of drummer Denny Fongheiser and bassist Larry Klein.” TB
Nelson Mandela Birthday Tribute
Chapman’s career received a major boost via her performance at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday tribute. The event, held at Wembley Stadium in London on June 11, 1988, was broadcast to 67 countries and more than 600 million viewers. Chapman’s appearance at the concert shot her to stardom. W-N “The global TV audience was won over by her bluesey folk ballads and stirring statements.” RD Prior to the concert, her album had sold about a quarter million copies. In the two weeks after the concert, she reportedly accrued sales of two million. W-N
By August, the album “pushed its way through a sea of hair bands and hip-hop acts on its way to the #1 position” TB on the Billboard album chart. It “became one of the key records of the Bush era, providing a touchstone for the entire PC movement while reviving the singer/songwriter tradition” AM of the early 1970s.
Reviving the Singer/Songwriter Era with Contemporary Themes
Critics praised Chapman’s politically and socially-minded lyrics, as well as her vocal ability and the simplicity of the music. WK The subject matters “are clearly a result of the Reagan revolution.” AM “At a time when most African American women in music set out to be R&B divas” TM Chapman “sang quietly and thoughtfully about the lives of the disadvantaged. Her songs portrayed poverty in human terms, telling about dignified people pushed to the breaking point.” TM
“The juxtaposition of contemporary themes and classic production precisely is what makes the album distinctive.” AM “The record continues to sound fresh because Chapman’s writing is so keenly observed and her strong, gutsy singing makes each song sound intimate and immediate.” AM
“Fast Car”
“Even the love songs and laments are underscored by a realized vision of trickle-down modern life – listen to the lyrical details of Fast Car for proof.” AM The song “belongs alongside ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’ and ‘Born to Run’ on the short list of great escape songs.” TM Chapman takes on the voice of a convenience store worker who “songs to get away from the mundane and actually begin living.” TM
Kershenbaum said of the song, “It took a while to get to the chorus, which worried some people. It broke rules of great song construction, and I wouldn’t advise people to try it, but for some reason…when it hit…the large chorus, it blew you over.” TB
Other Songs
While “Fast Car” got the lion’s share of attention, the album also included Mountains o’ Things, “an inventory of a poor girl’s materialistic dreams.” TM On Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution, Chapman “envisions a time in the near future when the long oppressed seize a moment to change the world.” TM Meanwhile, “ballads such as Baby, Can I Hold You are so achingly tender, it is no wonder that millions were won over.” RD
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