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Harry Chapin
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All Time Most Popular Songs
Cat's In The Cradle
- 13,942 plays
Cats In The Craddle
- 4,076 plays
Taxi
- 2,811 plays
Changes
- 877 plays
Sequel (LP Version)
- 708 plays
Dreams Go By
- 705 plays
W*O*L*D*
- 688 plays
Flowers Are Red
- 680 plays
I Wanna Learn A Love Song
- 679 plays
30,000 Lbs. Of Bananas
- 659 plays
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Albums
Portrait Gallery
Verities & Balderdash
VH1 Behind the Music: The Harry Chapin Collection
Dance Band on the Titanic
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Most Popular Music Videos
Taxi
(Duration: 6:22)
Jul 16th, 4:37pm
Taxi
(Duration: 6:40)
Sep 17th, 10:16pm
Sniper
(Duration: 9:46)
Sep 17th, 10:23pm
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Jim Croce
Kenny Loggins
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Harry Chapin
Total Media Plays: 82,414
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Harry Chapin
's career as a popular singer/songwriter was cut short by an auto accident in 1981, yet he left behind a series of recordings that his fans continue to treasure decades after his death.
Chapin
was never a critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. Critics accused him of over-sentimentalizing his subjects and attaching heavy-handed morals to his socially aware story-songs; the heavily orchestrated arrangements that accompanied many of his songs didn't help his case with the critics, either. Nevertheless,
Chapin
earned a devoted
audience during the '70s, through his music and his charity work as a social activist.
Chapin
began performing while he was in high school, singing in
the Brooklyn Heights Boys' Choir
and forming a band with his brothers
Tom
and
Stephen
. During college, he decided to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker; in 1968, he directed the Oscar-nominated Legendary Champions. In 1971, he switched his career, concentrating on music.
Chapin
recruited a backing band through an ad in the Village Voice; the respondents included bassist
John Wallace
, guitarist
Ron Palmer
, and cellist
Tim Scott
. The group began performing in various clubs around New York and the singer/songwriter was soon signed to Elektra Records.
Heads and Tails
,
Chapin
's first album, was released in the summer of 1972 and became a success thanks to the hit single
"Taxi,"
which soon became the songwriter's signature tune. Later that year, he released his second album,
Sniper and Other Love Songs
, which didn't fare quite as well as his debut.
Short Stories
,
Chapin
's third album, appeared in the spring of 1973; it spent 23 weeks on the chart due to the success of the single
"W.O.L.D.,"
a story about the life of a disc jockey. After recording his fourth album,
Verities and Balderdash
,
Chapin
disbanded his backing band and began work on his musical The Night That Made America Famous; both
Wallace
and cellist
Michael Masters
worked on the show, along with guitarist
Doug Walker
, drummer
Howie Fields
, and
Chapin
's brothers
Tom
,
Steve
, and
Jim
. While he was working on the musical,
Verities and Balderdash
became his biggest hit, peaking at number four on the U.S. charts and becoming a gold record. The album's success was benefited by the number-one single
"Cat's in the Cradle,"
a song about an inconsiderate, career-oriented father that was based on a poem written by
Chapin
's wife.
The Night That Made America Famous opened on February 26, 1975. It closed on April 6, after 75 performances; the show would earn two Tony nominations.
Chapin
won an Emmy award that spring for his contributions to ABC television's children's series Make a Wish, which was hosted by his brother
Tom
. That spring, the singer/songwriter co-founded World Hunger Year, a charity designed to raise money to fight international famine; the organization earned over $350,000 in its first year. In the fall of 1975,
Chapin
delivered
Portrait Gallery
, his follow-up to
Verities and Balderdash
. While the album performed respectably, peaking at number 53, it failed to recapture the mass audience of his previous album.
Greatest Stories -- Live
, a double album released in the spring of 1976, became the singer/songwriter's second gold album, peaking at number 48.
Chapin
was becoming more politically active throughout 1976, as evidenced by his role as a delegate at that summer's Democratic Convention. Late in 1976, he released
On the Road to Kingdom Come
, which spent a mere six weeks on the charts. The 1977 double-album
Dance Band on the Titanic
was on the charts for a few more weeks, yet it didn't spawn a hit single. The following year,
Chapin
met with President
Jimmy Carter
, discussing the need for a Presidential Commission on Hunger; he also released
Living Room Suite
that summer, which peaked at number 133.
Chapin
released a second live album,
Legends of the Lost and Found -- New Greatest Stories Live
, in the fall of 1979; it was his least-successful album, spending only three weeks on the charts. In 1980, he signed with Boardwalk Records, releasing
Sequel
that fall; the title track of the album was a sequel to his first hit single,
"Taxi,"
and became his last Top 40 hit.
On July 16, 1981,
Chapin
was driving to a business meeting on the Long Island Expressway near Jericho, NY, when his car was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer. The accident caused his gas tank to explode, killing the singer/songwriter in the process. A memorial fund was established in his name following his death, with Elektra Records providing the initial donation of 10,000 dollars. Over the years, the fund has raised an estimated $5 million, which has gone to a variety of social causes that were close to
Chapin
's heart. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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© 2008 All Music Guide, inc. All rights reserved.