Colin’s Harry Chapin pages
BRAND NEW POLL OF TOP HARRY CHAPIN SONGS POLL
My pages are dedicated to Harry Chapin - the late, great singer songwriter who died in a car crash in July 1981. Harry was not a major chartbuster in the UK. His only British big seller was the much played W.O.L.D - the story of an ageing morning DJ but he gained a cult following with many loyal British fans. He toured the UK in 1977 and made two further tours here before his untimely death. He was a tireless supporter of charitable causes, putting his money where his mouth was and doing every other concert for "the other guy". His other most familiar songs - the family parable Cats in the cradle and his debut single the 6 minute 44 seconds Taxi - serve as tasters for his albums and live shows.Over twenty years after his death, there is still a worldwide interest in Harry, which has gained a new energy with the advent of e-mail and websites.
There is currently quite a bit of activity in re-releasing Chapin material with Sniper and other love songs getting a long awaited release on CD thanks to the Wounded Bird Record Company. Meanwhile the Chapin family has recently issued a remastered and extended CD version of Sequel, with the promise of Last Protest Singer to follow. In 2000 there was also a limited release by the Harry Chapin Foundation of a CD entitled Onwards and Upwards, with some excellent reworkings of some of Harry's later material.
I have recently set up a bibliography of articles about, interviews with and reviews of Harry and his work. An official project of this kind is currently being worked on by the Harry Chapin Foundation that will presumably be very authoritative when it eventually appears. My aim is to build relatively quickly a list of references that can be accessible and of interest to Harry fans. As many of the articles may be available on the web I have put in links to the full text. This is an initial list up in January 2002. If you are able to provide additional references of this kind, it would be very helpful, so please Drop me a line if you are interested in this project.
To view the current version select Bibliography
Flying high in my taxi is an appreciation of Harry Chapin to which I have now added a new section entitled "Life after Harry"
Album analysis A detailed look at Harry's albums beginning with Verities & Balderdash and Sequel
Album list
Links to other Harry Chapin Sites