Chapin Singer of Stories
by Cliff Lee, The Post-Star, June 30, 1976
Harry Chapin is a singer of stories and the epitome of the modern traveling minstrel.
Chapin, who won the hearts and applause of more than 3,000 people Saturday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, performed with the audience rather than before it.
The mellow voice and mellower tunes of Chapin drew the SPAC crowd onto the stage and into the stories he sang. The audience was overwhelmed by the flawless music of Chapin and the five-piece band backing him up, which included his brother Steve on piano. In return, Chapin was rewarded with cheers and applause, which sometimes lasted longer than his songs.
Unlike most performers, Chapin, a former Cornell University student, approached the audience with his music, rather than remaining aloof.
His songs, such as “A Better Place To Be,” “Mailorder Annie” and “Greasy Spoon,” were new, but the same as his earlier hits in that each told a story.
“All of my songs tell a story,” he said, “and all the stories are ones most people can relate to.”
Chapin music does not limit itself to one particular theme, however, and the songs touch on the lighter side of life, as in his song “Bananas,” which plays on the currently popular theme of truck drivers.
Unlike most truck-driving songs, however, “Bananas” relates the tale of one unfortunate trucker “hauling 30,000 pounds of bananas,” who loses his load just outside of Philadelphia and forces that city to sing a familiar tune – “Yes, we have no bananas.”
Chapin then makes a complete turnaround and relates the tale of a father and his failure to communicate with his son, until it is too late. The song, “Cat’s In The Cradle,” is one of Chapin’s more recent hits and understandable so.
Before each song, Chapin introduced the audience to the circumstances surrounding its writing. Each prologue explains some facet of Chapin’s life, which inspired the song.
During the intermission, Chapin continued his one-to-one approach to the audience by walking out to the lawn section of SPAC and talking with the people who had just been cheering for him.
Chapin’s music could best be explained as effectively putting most people’s daydreams into music. His final song Saturday night, “Sniper,” was perhaps the most haunting and told the story of one young man’s struggle with the pressures of modern life and what happens when his mind is no longer able to cope with the coldness and cruelty of humanity.
Recent Comments