"Mr. Tanner" is a song by

Harry Chapin Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...

from his 1973 album, ''

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

''. Big John Wallace plays Mr. Tanner by singing the chorus to "

O Holy Night "O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a well-known sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that co ...

" in the background to the song's chorus.

Story

The song tells the story of Martin Tanner, a local launderer from

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, who has a gift for singing. His friends try to talk him into becoming a singer because of his beautiful voice, until he finally agrees and uses most of his savings to travel to New York City and sing in a show. He holds a concert only to get panned by

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

. He returns home and never sings again, except for only to himself when he sorts through the clothes at night.

Origin

The song is based on a review Chapin read in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The singer, Martin Tubridy, performed twice, once in 1971 and once in 1972 and his performances were panned. It is unclear which article was the basis for the song of Mr. Tanner, as it seems both reviews are used in the spoken part in Mr. Tanner. Certain details of the song were improvised by Chapin, given the facts that the real-life Martin Tubridy, about whom the reviews were written, was not in fact from Dayton, nor did he work as a launderer, but rather a baritone from

Weston, Connecticut Weston is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,354 at the 2020 census with the highest median household income in Connecticut. The town is served by Route 57 and Route 53, both of which run through the t ...

who at one point rented

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and continued to perform in theater and local venues despite the earlier lukewarm critical reception of his New York performances. Tubridy himself did not know that he was the inspiration for Chapin's song until the mid-1990s, but upon learning of it became a fan of Chapin's music. Tubridy would later perform the song that he inspired before an audience in concert for the Harry Chapin Foundation, making a subtle shift in the lyrics of the final line of the song's chorus, "He did not know how well he sang, it just made ''me'' whole."

References

External links

"Mr. Tanner" lyrics
* * Harry Chapin songs 1974 songs Songs written by Harry Chapin Song recordings produced by Paul Leka Songs about music {{1970s-song-stub

Story

Origin

References

Further reading

External links