Michael Chapman (24 January 1941 – 10 September 2021)[2][3] was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who released 58 albums, displaying a "fusion of jazz, rock, Indian and ragtime styles [that] made him a cult hero".[4] He began playing with jazz bands, mainly in his home town of Leeds, and became well known in the folk clubs of the late 1960s, as well as on the progressive music scene. Having celebrated fifty years as a professional musician in 2016, he continued to regularly tour the UK, Europe and US.
The significance of Chapman's work underwent several favourable reappraisals, particularly in the 1990s and 2010s.[5]Thurston Moore, with whom Chapman collaborated, cited him as an inspiration in the formation of Sonic Youth.
Biography
Early life
Michael Chapman was born in Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of James Chapman, a steelworker, and Jane (nee Wheelan), who worked for a mail-order company. While at Cockburn grammar school he played in a skiffle group, before attending Leeds College of Art.[4] A move to Bolton College followed, where he taught in the photography department. At this time, Chapman "started a relationship with one of his students, Andru Makin", who was to remain with him for the rest of his life. He played jazz guitar standards, and was heavily influenced by American performers. Listening to other English guitar players such as Ralph McTell, Chapman evolved his own distinctive style of playing incorporating jazz, folk and ragtime stylings.
While living in Kingston upon Hull, Chapman recorded a further three albums for Harvest. Fully Qualified Survivor (1970), again produced by Dudgeon and with lush strings arranged by Paul Buckmaster, received much critical acclaim from the likes of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and contained his best-known track, "Postcards of Scarborough".[2] It "included some of his finest and most varied songs" and featured Mick Ronson on guitar, who collaborated with David Bowie immediately afterwards, with some critics noticing similarities in Bowie's Hunky Dory (1971).[4][5][6]Rick Kemp played bass and Barry Morgan was on drums and congas.[7]Keef Hartley was a frequent collaborator during this period.
Window (also 1970) and Wrecked Again (1971) quickly followed, the latter having a Memphis flavour and featuring brass arrangements on the title track and "Shuffleboat River Farewell". After a tour of the United States with Kemp, Chapman signed to Decca's subsidiary, Deram, recording an increasingly rockier set of albums.[2] Championed by Charles Shaar Murray 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 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.[2]
Post-Decca independent releases
Chapman's Decca deal ended with the release of The Man Who Hated Mornings (1977), which was almost immediately re-issued as part of his association with Criminal Records, in 1978.[2] He followed this with an LP of guitar instruction, and continued giving concerts and recording in a variety of styles, and with varying formations.[2] 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, and "for a while he supplemented his income by delivering cars".[4]
Renaissance and reappraisals: 1990s onwards
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 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.[2] Bands like Supergrass acknowledged Chapman's material and playing as a formative influence.
Chapman during the Ramblin' Roots Festival 2017, TivoliVredenburg, Netherlands
The new century saw Chapman exploring his guitar player roots and releasing instrumental 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.
Chapman's back catalogue for Harvest has been re-released by US based label Light in the Attic in both heavyweight vinyl and CD formats. He also recorded several instrumental albums for Tompkins Square Records, 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 Cornwall, 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."[8]
Personal life and death
Michael and Andru Chapman never married but entered a civil partnership in 2020, having lived "in a farm house in Northumbria, just south of Hadrian’s Wall" since the early 1970s.[4][1] He died on 10 September 2021, at the age of 80.[3][9]
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