Michael Chapman (24 January 1941 – 10 September 2021) was a British singer-songwriter and virtuosic guitar player. Chapman originally began playing guitar with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bands, mainly in his home town of Leeds in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. He became well known in the

folk club A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...

s of the late 1960s, as well as on the ' progressive' music scene, and released over 50 albums. In 2016, Chapman celebrated fifty years as a professional musician. Towards the end of his life he still played professionally and regularly toured in the UK, Europe and US.

Biography

Chapman was born in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He attended art college in Leeds and then worked as an art and photography teacher at

Bolton College Bolton College (previously known as Bolton Community College) is a further education college located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The college is primarily based in Bolton, but operates a number of Community Learning Centres in the su ...

, Lancashire. At the time he was playing mostly jazz guitar standards as he was heavily influenced by American jazz performers. Listening to other English guitar players such as

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

, Chapman evolved his own distinctive style of playing incorporating jazz, folk & ragtime stylings. He first appeared on the London and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

folk music circuits in 1967, including the Piper's Folk Club in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

, alongside

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

and Roy Harper. His first album was ''Rainmaker'' in 1969. The producer was

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No ...

who also produced records by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

and many others. ''Rainmaker'' was released on the EMI progressive label

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

, and Chapman played the folk and progressive circuits during the festivals of the early 1970s, with

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...

Rick Kemp Frederick Stanley 'Rick' Kemp (born 15 November 1941) is an English bass player, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Projects In the 1960s, he shot to promi ...

and

Keef Hartley Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)
was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band ...

. While living in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, Chapman recorded a further three albums for Harvest. ''Fully Qualified Survivor'', again produced by

with lush strings arranged by Paul Buckmaster, received much critical acclaim from the likes of

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, and contained his best-known track, "Postcards of Scarborough". ''Window'' and ''Wrecked Again'' followed, the latter being Chapman's attempt at a

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

album.

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

arrangements featured on biographical tracks like "Shuffleboat River Farewell" and the title track. After a tour of the United States with Rick Kemp, Chapman signed to

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

's subsidiary, Deram, recording an increasingly rockier set of albums. Championed by

Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...

and John Peel, he retained a high profile, a lively draw on the college circuit in the UK and across mainland Europe. The record producer

Don Nix Don Nix (born September 27, 1941, Memphis, Tennessee, United States) is an American songwriter, composer, arranger, musician, and author. Although cited as being "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul and rock", he is a key figure in ...

worked on the album ''Savage Amusement'', which included several songs from the past. Chapman and Kemp used the album's title for a band in the mid 1980s. 1977 saw the end of Chapman's Decca deal, and the beginning of an association with Criminal Records in 1978 and the two labels produced versions of ''The Man Who Hated Mornings''. Chapman released a record of guitar instruction, and continued giving concerts and

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

in a variety of styles and with varying formations. Chapman then started a period of prolific recording activity, recording for numerous smaller record labels, and playing the folk and club circuits. The 1980s was a quieter time for Chapman. He continued to make recordings that straddled musical genres and pushed his guitar playing to the fore, but had neither the profile nor sales of the previous decade. The late 1990s onwards represented a period of continued rebirth for Chapman. He embraced the "elder statesman" role and enjoyed critical acclaim for albums like ''Navigation'', ''Dreaming Out Loud'' and ''Still Making Rain'' (a wry

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

title that looked back to his debut album). Chapman released albums about every two years, receiving praise but without great sales, ending with the 1997 release ''Dreaming Out Loud''. Bands like

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ( ...

acknowledged Chapman's material and playing as a formative influence. Michael Chapman - Ramblin Roots - Utrecht NL (cropped)

The new century saw Chapman exploring his guitar player roots and releasing

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

albums alongside his song-based sets. ''Americana'' and ''Words Fail Me'' feature soundscapes that recalled travels in America, and featured a dexterity and inventiveness on the guitar equal to the classic Harvest and Decca periods. In February 2008, he hosted a charity dinner/auction where a limited edition ''Vanity and Pride'' was released featuring Ursa who added her own contribution to Chapman's music. A tribute album titled ''Oh Michael, Look What You've Done: Friends Play Michael Chapman'' was released in 2012 on Tompkins Square Records. It includes contributions from

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

, William Tyler, Hiss Golden Messenger and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

. Chapman's back catalogue for

has been re-released by US based label

Light in the Attic ''A Light in the Attic'' is a book of poems by American poet, writer, and musician Shel Silverstein. The book consists of 135 poems accompanied by illustrations also created by Silverstein. It was first published by Harper & Row Junior Books in 1 ...

in both heavyweight vinyl and CD formats. He also recorded several instrumental albums for

Tompkins Square Records Tompkins Square Records is an independent record label producing archival releases of gospel, blues, jazz, and country music. History In 2005, Josh Rosenthal launched Tompkins Square Records in New York City after working 15 years in a variety of ...

, including ''Fish'' in 2015. His website stated: "I had an art college education and on a rainy night in 1966 I went into a pub in

, but I couldn't afford to pay to go in. So I said, I'll tell you what, I don't want to stay outside in the rain, I'll play guitar for half an hour for you. They offered me a job for the rest of the summer and I've been at it ever since." Chapman died on 10 September 2021, at the age of 80.

Select discography

Albums * ''Rainmaker'' (UK LP,

SHVL 755, Jul 1969), reissued (US LP,

Light in the Attic Records Light in the Attic Records is an independent record label that was established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan. The label is known for its roster of reissue projects and for its distribution catalog. Light in the Attic has re-rel ...

LITA 079, 2012) * ''Guitar Music'' (UK LP, Standard Music Library ESL.103, 1969) * ''Fully Qualified Survivor'' (UK LP,

SHVL 764, Mar 1970, UK No. 45), reissued (US LP,

LITA 060, 2011) * ''Window'' (UK LP,

SHVL 786, Dec 1970), reissued (US LP,

LITA 124, 2015) * ''Wrecked Again'' (UK LP,

SHVL 798, Nov 1971), reissued (US LP,

LITA 101, 2013) * ''Millstone Grit'' (UK LP, Deram SML 1105, 1973) * ''Deal Gone Down'' (UK LP, Deram SML 1114, 1974) * ''Pleasures of the Street'' (GER LP, recorded live at Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Nova 6.22321 AS, 1975) * ''Savage Amusement'' (UK LP,

SKL-R 5242, 1976) * ''Michael Chapman Lived Here 1968–1972'' (UK compilation LP, Cube Records GNAT 1, 1977) * ''The Man Who Hated Mornings'' (UK LP,

SKL-R 5290, 1977), reissued (UK LP, Criminal Records STEAL 3, 1978) * ''Play Guitar The Easy Way'' (UK LP, with instruction manual, Criminal Records STEAL 2, 1978) * ''Life on the Ceiling'' (UK LP, Criminal Records STEAL 5, 1979) * ''Looking For Eleven'' (UK LP, Criminal Records STEAL 9, 1980) * ''Almost Alone'' (UK LP, Black Crow Records CRO 202, 1981) * ''Guitar Solo'' (UK LP, April Music APR 1004, 1982) * ''Original Owners'' (BE LP, Michael Chapman and Rick Kemp, recorded live at Nettlefield Hall, London, Konexion Records KOMA 788003, 1983) * ''Heartbeat'' (NL LP, Coda/New Age 832 223-1, 1987) * ''Still Making Rain'' (1991/3) – Self Release 1991 / Making Waves 1993 * ''Navigation'' (UK CD, Planet Records PLAN CD007, 1995) * ''Dreaming Out Loud'' (1997) –

Demon Records Demon Music Group (DMG) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-issuing recordings as compilations on physical media (CDs and vinyl) via supermarkets and specialist stores. History DM ...

* ''Michael Chapman Black And White'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 1998) * ''BBC Sessions 69–75'' (1998)

Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom. The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions.Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) ''T ...

* ''The Twisted Road'' (1999) – Mystic UK * ''Growing Pains'' (UK CD, compilation of previously unreleased material recorded 1966–1980,

Mooncrest Records Mooncrest Records is a British record label that was formed in 1973 as a subsidiary of Charisma Records. They issued albums by Shirley Collins (''No Roses'') (1971), Iain Matthews (''Journeys from Gospel Oak'') (1972), Nazareth (1973–75), Sha ...

CRESTCD 046, 2000) * ''Growing Pains 2'' (2001) –

* ''Americana'' (2001) – Apropos / reissued on Blueprint * ''Live And Unhinged'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2001) * ''Kule 2 B Blue with Alamo Leal'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2001) * ''Americana 2'' (UK CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2002) * ''Dogs Got More Sense'' (2004) –

Secret Records ''Secret Records limited '' is a British independent record label based in London founded in 1980. The label specialize in a number of genres including blues, reggae, rock, rock 'n' roll, psychedelic, soul and punk. The label's roster includes ...

* ''Journeyman Live DVD'' (2004) –

* ''27 06 05 Live in Brighton'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2005) * ''Plaindealer'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2005) * ''Lost'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2005) * ''Words Fail Me'' (2007) * ''Vanity and Pride'' (2008) – self release –

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

– Michael Chapman and Ursa * ''Sweet Powder'' (UK CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2008) * ''Time Past & Time Passing'' (2008) – Electric Ragtime * ''And Then There Were Three Live in Nottingham 1977'' (2010) –

Market Square Records Market Square Records was a music promotion and record label company, which operated between 1999 and 2020 based in Buckingham, England. It released the back catalogues of British folk artists and expanded into other genres such as rock, blu ...

* ''Wrytree Drift'' (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2010) * ''Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967–2010'' (CD,

TSQ 2530, 2011) * ''The Resurrection and Revenge of The Clayton Peacock'' (UK CD, Blastfirst Petite PTYT 068, Feb 2012) * ''Pachyderm'' (LP, Blastfirst Petite PTYT 070LP, 2013) * ''The Polar Bear'' (LP, Blastfirst Petite PTYT 078LP, Nov 2014) * ''Live At Folk Cottage, Cornwall 1967'' (UK DLP, TreeHouse44 TH44LP0201, 2014) * ''Fish'' (LP, Tompkins Square Records TSQ 5203, Oct 2015) * ''50'' (US/UK LP, Paradise of Bachelors PoB-29, Jan 2017) * ''EB=MC2'' (2017) (Ehud Banai & Michael Chapman) – Nana Disc * ''

True North True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward the ...

'' (US/UK LP, Paradise of Bachelors PoB-044, Feb 2019) * ''Another Story'' (UK, Record Store Day Limited Edition compilation LP, Secret Records SECLP 210, Apr 2019) * ''Plaindealer + Twisted Road'' (2020) Double album –

* ''Americana'' (LP, Secret Records CRESTLP 108, Apr 2020) * ''Michael Chapman – Sweet Powder & Wrytree Drift'' Double CD (2020)

* ''Michael Chapman – The Decca Years 1974–77'' – 8 Panel Digipack (2021)

Singles * "It Didn't Work Out" b/w "Mozart Lives Upstairs" (UK 7" Harvest HAR 5002, 1969) * "The Banjo Song" b/w "Dumplings" (UK 7" Deram DM 407, 1974) * "Lovin' Dove" b/w "Steel Bonnets" (UK 7" Decca FR 13658, 1976) * "While Dancing the Pride of Erin" b/w "The Man Who Hated Mornings" (UK 7" Criminal Records SWAG 1, 1978) * "Blue Season" b/w "Theme from the Movie of the Same Name" (UK 7" Criminal Records SWAG 6, 1979) * "Lescudjack" b/w "Wrecked Again" and "Deal Gone Down" (recorded live in Hamburg) (UK 12" Criminal Records D SWAG 7, 1979) * "East Coast" b/w "White Night Starlight" (UK 7" Criminal Records SWAG 13, 1980) * "That Time of Night" b/w Lucinda Williams, "That Time of Night" (UK Limited Edition 10" Tompkins Square Records 12653, Nov 2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Michael 1941 births 2021 deaths English folk singers English folk guitarists English male guitarists English male singer-songwriters People from Hunslet Decca Records artists Deram Records artists Harvest Records artists Blast First artists