Michael Chapman

Michael Chapman (24 January 1941 – 10 September 2021) 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. 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. Rick Kemp played bass and Barry Morgan was on drums and congas. 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.

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.

Select discography Albums Rainmaker (UK LP, Harvest SHVL 755, Jul 1969), reissued (US LP, Light in the Attic Records ), reissued (US LP, Light in the Attic Records LITA 060, 2011) Window (UK LP, Harvest SHVL 786, Dec 1970), reissued (US LP, Light in the Attic Records LITA 124, 2015) Wrecked Again (UK LP, Harvest SHVL 798, Nov 1971), reissued (US LP, Light in the Attic Records LITA 101, 2013) Millstone Grit (UK LP, Deram SML 1105, 1973) Deal Gone Down (UK LP, Deram SML 1114, July 1974) Pleasures of the Street (GER LP, recorded live at Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Nova 6.22321 AS, 1975) Savage Amusement (UK LP, Decca SKL-R 5242, 1976) Michael Chapman Lived Here 1968–1972 (UK compilation LP, Cube Records GNAT 1, 1977) The Man Who Hated Mornings (UK LP, Decca SKL-R 5290, 1977), reissued (UK LP, Criminal Records STEAL 3, 1978) Play Guitar The Easy Way (UK LP, with instruction manual, Criminal Records STEAL 2, 1978) Life on the Ceiling (UK LP, Criminal Records STEAL 5, 1979) Looking For Eleven (UK LP, Criminal Records STEAL 9, 1980) Almost Alone (UK LP, Black Crow Records CRO 202, 1981) Guitar Solo (UK LP, April Music APR 1004, 1982) Original Owners (BE LP, Michael Chapman and Rick Kemp, recorded live at Nettlefield Hall, London, Konexion Records KOMA 788003, 1983) Heartbeat (NL LP, Coda/New Age 832 223-1, 1987) Still Making Rain (1991/3) – Self Release 1991 / Making Waves 1993 Navigation (UK CD, Planet Records PLAN CD007, 1995) Dreaming Out Loud (1997) – Demon Records Michael Chapman Black And White (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 1998) BBC Sessions 69–75 (1998) Strange Fruit Records The Twisted Road (1999) – Mystic UK Growing Pains (UK CD, compilation of previously unreleased material recorded 1966–1980, Mooncrest Records CRESTCD 046, 2000) Growing Pains 2 (2001) – Mooncrest Records Americana (2001) – Apropos / reissued on Blueprint Live And Unhinged (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2001) Kule 2 B Blue with Alamo Leal (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2001) Americana 2 (UK CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2002) Dogs Got More Sense (2004) – Secret Records Journeyman Live DVD (2004) – Secret Records 27 06 05 Live in Brighton (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2005) Plaindealer (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2005) Lost (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2005) Words Fail Me (2007) Vanity and Pride (2008) – self release – limited edition – Michael Chapman and Ursa Sweet Powder (UK CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2008) Time Past & Time Passing (2008) – Electric Ragtime And Then There Were Three Live in Nottingham 1977 (2010) – Market Square Records Wrytree Drift (CD, Rural Retreat Records, 2010) Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967–2010 (CD, Tompkins Square Records TSQ 2530, 2011) The Resurrection and Revenge of The Clayton Peacock (UK CD, Blastfirst Petite PTYT 068, Feb 2012) Pachyderm (LP, Blastfirst Petite PTYT 070LP, 2013) The Polar Bear (LP, Blastfirst Petite PTYT 078LP, Nov 2014) Fish (LP, Tompkins Square Records TSQ 5203, Oct 2015) 50 (US/UK LP, Paradise of Bachelors PoB-29, Jan 2017) EB=MC2 (2017) (Michael Chapman & Ehud Banai) – Nana Disc True North (US/UK LP, Paradise of Bachelors PoB-044, Feb 2019) Another Story (UK, Record Store Day Limited Edition compilation LP, Secret Records SECLP 210, Apr 2019) Plaindealer + Twisted Road (2020) Double album – Mooncrest Records Americana (LP, Secret Records CRESTLP 108, Apr 2020) Michael Chapman – Sweet Powder & Wrytree Drift Double CD (2020) Mooncrest Records Michael Chapman – The Decca Years 1974–77 – 8 Panel Digipack (2021) Mooncrest Records

Singles "It Didn't Work Out" b/w "Mozart Lives Upstairs" (UK 7" Harvest HAR 5002, 1969) "The Banjo Song" b/w "Dumplings" (UK 7" Deram DM 407, 1974) "Lovin' Dove" b/w "Steel Bonnets" (UK 7" Decca FR 13658, 1976) "While Dancing the Pride of Erin" b/w "The Man Who Hated Mornings" (UK 7" Criminal Records SWAG 1, 1978) "Blue Season" b/w "Theme from the Movie of the Same Name" (UK 7" Criminal Records SWAG 6, 1979) "Lescudjack" b/w "Wrecked Again" and "Deal Gone Down" (recorded live in Hamburg) (UK 12" Criminal Records D SWAG 7, 1979) "East Coast" b/w "White Night Starlight" (UK 7" Criminal Records SWAG 13, 1980) "That Time of Night" b/w Lucinda Williams, "That Time of Night" (UK Limited Edition 10" Tompkins Square Records 12653, Nov 2012)