On April 5, 1988, singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman made her official debut with the release of Tracy Chapman. The album yielded a few major career hits for the artist, including “Talkin’ ‘Bout A Revolution”, “Baby Can I Hold You”, and “Fast Car”.
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The record was a very substantial hit both commercially and critically, and it hit no. 1 on the Billboard 200. But more than charting success and critical acclaim, the album changed the world of contemporary folk music in a major way.
The Origins of Tracy Chapman’s Debut Album
Putting this record together was no easy feat. A number of producers had turned Chapman down before David Kershenbaum decided to give the acoustic album a chance. It was recorded in Hollywood in about eight weeks.
Chapman was originally discovered back in 1987 by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. He first heard her perform after a friend told him to check out a protest singer who would benefit an upcoming apartheid protest at the university. When he first saw Chapman strumming her guitar and singing at a coffee shop, he was immediately taken aback by her sincerity. With a few connections in place, Chapman secured a deal with Elektra Records, and her debut album was underway.
How Tracy Chapman’s Debut Album Changed The World of Contemporary Folk Music
Folk music had seen many evolutions through the 20th century. The 1980s, sadly, was not exactly considered the pinnacle era of folk. That era had been lost to the 1960s and 1970s. Folk music was in a bit of an odd spot.
It seems that all the genre really needed was a sincere musician to attract attention. Tracy Chapman was that sincere musician, and her debut record resonated with the public in a big way. In a world full of hair metal, listeners were smitten with the powerful energy Chapman brought to contemporary folk with just her voice and acoustic guitar.
“Arriving with little fanfare in the spring of 1988, Tracy Chapman’s eponymous debut album became one of the key records of the Bush era,” said Stephen Thomas Erlewine for AllMusic. “The juxtaposition of contemporary themes and classic production precisely is what makes the album distinctive. It brings the traditions into the present.”
Chapman changed the way the public listened to folk music. And she also helped launch an entirely new movement of protest music in the Bush era. The themes were modern, but the production was not unlike what you’d hear from Bob Dylan or Joan Baez decades earlier.
Photo by Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
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