Record of the day: Tracy Chapman, “Tracy Chapman”
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman (Cd Elektra 960774-2)
In the history of pop and rock music, there have been many cases of artists who have had a dazzling debut which
they failed to give a follow-up of equal value, as if the urgency to say everything immediately had burned part of their creative abilities, irremediably weakening their intensity.
This is the case of Tracy Chapman, whose 1988 album suddenly ended up at the top of the world charts thanks also to the single “Fast Car”:
the album won all the possible awards, Tracy was also praised by the critics who even compared her to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan,
and the shy girl who a few years earlier had brought her demo tapes to producer Charles Koppelman for consideration found herself sharing the stage with Peter Gabriel and Sting at benefit concerts for Amnesty International.
The success was fully deserved, the album was beautiful and still stands the test of time and many listens. In the midst of an era of disengaged reflux, the album proposed lyrics that spoke of revolution, unemployment, domestic violence, poverty and social inequality, hunger and racism described without rhetoric, with dry language and lucidity of narration, moving confidently in the wake of the great folk tradition of Pete Seeger; such was the importance attributed to his lyrics that Tracy had the album published in Europe with a booklet containing them translated into five languages so that the understanding of their meaning was as clear as possible.
David Kershenbaum’s production intelligently left space for Tracy’s magnificent voice, drawing around
these are very effective, bare arrangements entrusted to first-rate instrumentalists such as Larry Klein (bass), Danny Fongheiser
(drums) and Jack Holder (keyboards). “Talkin’ bout a Revolution” and “Across the Lines” are harsh invectives launched against the dehumanization of a society increasingly divided into classes, “Baby Can I Hold You” offers a parenthesis of tenderness while “Fast Car” is one of the most devastating songs ever written about the crumbling of a love relationship, with a hypnotic riff that seems to lull the protagonist’s desperation; “Behind the Wall” is entrusted to the voice alone while “For You” closes the album sweetly accompanied only by the acoustic guitar.
Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.
This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.
