Michael Chapman (singer)
| Michael Chapman | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Chapman |
| Born |
24 January 1941 Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Folk, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, banjo, piano, percussion |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Labels | Harvest, Deram, Criminal, Black Crow, Strange Fruit, Mooncrest, Demon Records, Rural Retreat Records, Secret Records, Market Square Records, Blast First Petite |
| Website | www |
Michael Chapman (born 24 January 1941, Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire, England) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Chapman originally began playing guitar with jazz bands, mainly in his home town of Leeds in The West Riding of Yorkshire. He became well known in the folk clubs of the late 1960s, as well as on the 'progressive' music scene, and has recorded over 40 albums to date.
In 2016 Chapman celebrated 50 years as a professional musician. He still plays professionally & regularly tours in the UK, Europe and USA.
Chapman attended art college in Leeds and then worked as an art and photography teacher in Lancashire. At the time he was playing mostly jazz guitar standards as he was heavily influenced by American jazz performers. Listening to other English guitar players such as Ralph McTell, Chapman evolved his own distinctive style of playing incorporating jazz, folk & ragtime stylings.
He first appeared on the London and Cornwall folk music circuits in 1967, including the Piper's Folk Club in Penzance, alongside John Martyn and Roy Harper. His first album was Rainmaker in 1969. The producer was Gus Dudgeon who also produced records by Elton John, David Bowie, Steeleye Span and many others. Rainmaker was released on the EMI progressive label Harvest and Chapman played the folk and progressive circuits during the festivals of the early 1970s, with Mick Ronson, Rick Kemp and Keef Hartley.
While living in Kingston upon Hull, Chapman recorded a further three albums for Harvest. Fully Qualified Survivor again produced by Gus Dudgeon with lush strings arranged by Paul Buckmaster which received much critical acclaim from the likes of BBC Radio 1 DJ, John Peel, and contained his best-known track, "Postcards of Scarborough".Window and Wrecked Again followed, the latter being Chapman's attempt at a Memphis, Tennessee album. Brass arrangements featured on biographical tracks like "Shuffleboat River Farewell" and the title track. After a tour of the United States with Rick Kemp, Chapman signed to Decca's subsidiary, Deram, recording an increasingly rockier set of albums. 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.
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