Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs - Fast Car 66th Grammy Performance

 because . . . . . after the post from XRay yesterday of the earliest of sets it made me look around for Tracy with a band where her work suddenly took on a whole new depth somehow . . . not that the solo guitar sets from ’88 aren’t worth having but boy the band she put together I just LOVE! She needs that bass and drum to make her vocals pop and sparkle . . . . just me warbling . . . . . . but here  amore recent performance with Luke Combs of her classic hit

Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs - Fast Car Grammy Performance

Song of The Day | TRACY CHAPMAN : STAND BY ME [Live on Letterman] 2015

 

ALBUMS THAT SHOULD EXIST | TRACY CHAPMAN LIVE IN TEXAS 2003

Tracy Chapman - Austin City Limits, Zilker Metropolitan Park, Austin, TX, 8-3-2003

"Tracy Chapman was massively popular in the late 1980s and through much of the 1990s. Her debut album "Tracy Chapman" sold about 20 million copies worldwide, and her 1995 album "New Beginning" sold five million copies in the US alone. But strangely, I've found it very difficult to find any concert recordings at a soundboard level after about 1991. That's not helped by the fact that she's never released a live album. I've previously posted a 2008 concert by her, but that was just a very good audience bootleg. Finally, I've found a worthy later live recording, and here it is.

The reason this sounds so good is because it's from the TV show "Austin City Limits." It seems to me Chapman didn't do a lot of the usual promotional appearances most music stars do. She wasn't that interested in fame, and in fact he music career pretty much stopped altogether after about 2008, with no more album releases or tours from then until now (as I write this in late 2023). But I came across an article about this concert that said the producer of "Austin City Limits" was a big fan of Chapman's music, and pushed hard to get her on the show.

This concert remains unreleased, but the sound quality is excellent. Unfortunately though, it looks like it was edited down to fit in a one hour time slot. There also is no banter, except for one extended discussion she had about seeing seeing bats in Austin, of all things.

I'm not a fan of a lot of Chapman's studio albums after the first couple. I often don't like the production, which seemed to be moving in the dreaded "adult contemporary" direction, and a few weak songs would drag down the good ones. But in this concert she played a mix of newer (at the time) songs with the well known ones mostly from her debut album, and I think all the songs here are really good. This was why I was keen to hear an excellent sounding concert from her later years, to put her later songs in a better way. 

By the way, the full video of this concert is available on YouTube if you want to watch it and not just hear it. And if you have other concerts from her of this caliber from after 1911, please let me know so I can share them.” Paul

This album is 52 minutes long. 

01 Say Hallelujah (Tracy Chapman)
02 For My Lover (Tracy Chapman)
03 Smoke and Ashes (Tracy Chapman)
04 Baby Can I Hold You (Tracy Chapman)
05 Fast Car (Tracy Chapman)
06 Another Sun (Tracy Chapman)
07 talk (Tracy Chapman)
08 Telling Stories (Tracy Chapman)
09 You're the One (Tracy Chapman)
10 Talkin' 'bout a Revolution (Tracy Chapman)
11 Give Me One Reason (Tracy Chapman)
12 I Am Yours (Tracy Chapman)

TRACY CHAPMAN - LIVE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS - Albums THat Should Exist here . . .

this is just plain lovely and if you doubt it or question the quality just check Smoke and Ashes or Fast Car and Give Me One Reason . . . superb!

Smoke and Ashes - Tracy Chapman live

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman live

Gimme One Reason - Tracy Chapman live

Song of the Day::Tracy Chapman - Gimme One Reason

 Tracy Chapman - Gimme One Reason

great song and another bought when it came out . . . . .

TRACY CHAPMAN

The 'wellspring of creativity' that Bobby Dylan mentioned in his 60 minutes interview from 2004 that I posted earlier courtesy of Aquarium Drunkard, produced these songs by the peerless Tracy Chapman too. Without any doubt, small songs somehow perfectly formed, heartfelt and revealing of the human condition, love and the ability to ask for forgiveness and to finally say 'Sorry' . . . . . . . . 





the next song means so much to me  . . . here with some backing guitarist . . . 



the original official video


such a breathtakingly beautiful song

Sorry

Is all that you can’t say

Years gone by and still

Words don’t come easily

Like sorry, like sorry

Forgive me

Is all that you can’t say

Years gone by and still

Words don’t come easily

Like forgive me, forgive me

But you can say baby

Baby can I hold you tonight

Maybe if I told you the right words

At the right time you’d be mine

I love you

Is all that you can’t say

Years gone by and still

Words don’t come easily

Like I love you, I love you

Songwriter: Tracy L Chapman

On this day in music history: April 5, 1988 - “Tracy Chapman”, the debut album by Tracy Chapman is released. Produced by David Kershenbaum, it is recorded at Powertrax in Hollywood, CA in Late 1987 - Early 1988. The young singer/songwriter is brought to the attention of record executive Charles Koppelman (The Entertainment Company, SBK Music) by his son Brian who is a student at Tufts University where Chapman is also attending school. Chapman works with veteran producer David Kershenbaum (Joe Jackson, Supertramp) on her first release. A number of producers pass on working on the project, not sharing Chapman’s vision of how the songs should be arranged and produced. The album is a huge critical and commercial success upon its release, spinning off three singles including “Fast Car” (#6 Pop), and “Baby Can I Hold You” (#48 Pop). Chapman also wins three Grammy Awards for the album including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist in 1989. “Tracy Chapman” spends one week at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 6x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves

Yup, bought this as soon as we heard it and she remains a favourite from that period if she didn't quite fulfil the early promise of this first album somewhat she remains in a special place. Perhaps my favourite Tracy Chapman song . . . . . ..  

TRACY CHAPMAN

On this day in music history: April 5, 1988 - “Tracy Chapman”, the debut album by Tracy Chapman is released. Produced by David Kershenbaum, it is recorded at Powertrax in Hollywood, CA in Late 1987 - Early 1988. The young singer/songwriter is brought to the attention of record executive Charles Koppelman (The Entertainment Company, SBK Music) by his son Brian who is a student at Tufts University where Chapman is also attending school. Chapman works with veteran producer David Kershenbaum (Joe Jackson, Supertramp) on her first release. A number of producers pass on working on the project, not sharing Chapman’s vision of how the songs should be arranged and produced. The album is a huge critical and commercial success upon its release, spinning off three singles including “Fast Car” (#6 Pop), and “Baby Can I Hold You” (#48 Pop). Chapman also wins three Grammy Awards for the album including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist in 1989. “Tracy Chapman” spends one week at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 6x Platinum in the US by the RIAA. 
another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog

Here's another album we bought when it came out and Tracy's debut blew us all away. It was however surpassed later by subsequent album tracks too and there are tracks dotted around her entire output that match this in terms of heartfelt contemporary blues and this includes the following 'Give Me One Reason' but check out the vid of her with the master B.B. King ' The Thrill is Gone' too! AWESOME stuff and if she didn't somehow quite live up to her early potential it wasn't for lack of talent. 

TRACY CHAPMAN

Tracy Chapman - 1988 - by Zoran Veselinovic

Lovely early set from Montreux and earlier 86 demo from Tracy Chapman here . . . . . .support your local artist and buy her back catalogue here . . . . . .Tracy Chapman

Live at the Montreux Jazzfestival, Switzerland; July 4, 1988

Tracy Chapman 88 - Big O link