Michael Chapman - Biography
Michael Chapman is a British folk/rock singer and guitarist who has put out over thirty albums in forty appearance on the Cornwall folk scene alongside John Martyn, Ralph McTell and Roy Harper. Chapman, born January 24, 1941, is recognized for his unique and intricate guitar playing and his deep growling vocal style.
Though he played for years in many different types of bands genre-wise—his musical diversity helped him pay his way through college—Chapman admits it was mainly a tool to meet women. After working in a teaching position at an art college in Bolton, Chapman was presented an opportunity to make music his profession almost by accident one rainy night in Cornwall. Upon trying to escape a rainstorm inside a club called the Counthouse at Botallack, he offered to play a half-hour set in lieu of a cover charge, which he didn’t have. The club was impressed with his guitar virtuosity so much that they offered Chapman a nightly residency, which unexpectedly became more lucrative than his former teaching position.
In the late ’60s Chapman signed a four-record deal with Harvest label, a subsidiary of EMI known as its “underground boutique.” In 1969 Chapman would release the first of what would be many albums, Rainmaker (Harvest), and it took the UK folk world by storm. This record—which featured Aynsley Dunbar on drums, Mick Ronson on guitar, as well as Rick Kemp and Danny Thompson on electric and upright basses—established Chapman as a formidable songwriter, and one with enough noodling variation that it wasn’t easy to classify him. Chapman’s brand of folk music contained elements of jazz, rock, blues and pop, with lyrics often reflecting grimmer segues into darkness and isolation. Chapman’s ability to emote with his voice would become a focal point for critical examination.
His next album, Fully Qualified Survivor (1970 Harvest), would bring a more cohesive sound to Chapman’s rare hybrid of music. This album, due to its perfect marriage of folk and rock, gained countrywide appreciation from the press, including famed broadcaster/DJ John Peel, who claimed Fully Qualified Survivor to be his favorite record of the year. Ronson’s heavy electric guitar work intermingling with Chapman’s intricate and rhythmic acoustic created a sound which defied established barriers. With two well-received albums already out and another one in the works, Chapman’s career had a good head of steam into the early 1970s.
His third effort was the Gus Dudgeon produced Window (1971 Harvest), which continued Chapman’s saga of mesmerizing guitar work through many authorial moods. The end track—“She Came in Like the ‘6.15’ and Made a Hole in the Wall”—gained notoriety as crazy jazz-fed arcanum, but taken as a whole Window was regarded as a classic. By this time, Chapman had another adjective accompanying his name: prolific.
The final Harvest release was Wrecked Again (1972), which, given his trajectory and the times, many consider to be Chapman’s masterpiece. Chapman paid homage to the sound of Memphis on Wrecked Again, and went as far as incorporating a horn section in creating funkier rhythms.
After making name for himself on the first four records with Harvest, Chapman signed sign with Decca’s offshoot label, Deram. He began making records with more of a straight ahead rock feel while still retaining his well-honed idiosyncratic songwriting style. The first two of these records were Millstone Grit (1973 Deram) and Deal Gone Down (1974 Deram)—each of them more cheerful than the previous efforts, and less significant to his critics and fans.
In keeping with his album-per-year routine, Chapman’s Pleasures of the Street (1975 Nova) warmed to the times by carrying a classic ’70s live rock sound. This was followed by Savage Amusement (1976, Deram) and the The Man Who Hated Mornings (1977 Deram), which reunited Ronson with Chapman after six years. “Steel Bonnets” from the latter album was a memorable song in Chapman’s overall anthology, and comparisons to Eric Clapton were inevitable. The next year Chapman signed a deal with Criminal Records and recorded Play the Guitar the Easy Way (1978), Life on the Ceiling (1979 Chapman) and Looking for Eleven (1980 Criminal)—the latter which featured John Laidlaw of Lindisfarne.
In the early ’80s Chapman continued his prolific output, recording Almost Alone (1981 Black Crow) and Original Owners (1983 Konexion). Taking his longest break between releases to date, his Heartbeat (Coda) came out in 1987 and was made all the more feasible by the advent of the CD. Wanting to have a fluid, non-interrupted “suite of music,” Chapman’s nine-section work kept with his experimental nature and was again applauded critically for its innovation.
The ’90s saw Still Making Rain (1991 Self Released), Navigation (1995 Planet Records), Dreaming Out Loud (1997 Demon Records), Clack and White (1998 Rural Retreat Records) and The Twisted Road (1999 Mystik UK). Dreaming Out Loud recalled the Harvest days for the musical vagabond Chapman, with his experimental roots were still in evidence.
More recently Chapman has released Americana (2001 Blueprint), Dogs Got More Sense (2004 Secret Records) and Sweet Powder (2008 Rural Retreat Records). The self-released Time Past Time Passing was largely a solo effort. He has also released two largely experimental improvisational solo guitar albums on Blast First Petite.
