Michael Chapman Rainmaker

In 1969 British singer/songwriter Michael Chapman took the U.K.'s folk-rock world by surprise with his debut album, Rainmaker, on the Harvest label. In an era when each week garnered a new surprise in the music world, gathering serious and widespread critical acclaim wasn't easy, and finding a buying public near impossible. Rainmaker showcases a new talent who holds nothing back for himself. Every songwriting principle and trick, killer guitar riff, and songwriting hook in his bag makes an appearance here (something he would never do again). As a result, there are several truly striking things about the album that makes it stand out from the rest of the Brit folk-rock slog from the late '60s. One of them is Chapman's guitar playing.

For Michael Chapman's early fans, the 1971 release of Wrecked Again, his fourth and final album for Harvest was a return to the glories of Rainmaker and Fully Qualified Survivor. He'd disowned his third album, Window, claiming it was an unfinished series of acoustic demos released by the label while he was on tour for an album he fully intended to be electric. (This bears weight since some of its songs have remained in the songwriter's live set into the 21st century.) Recorded at Rockfield Studios with producer Gus Dudgeon and a band that included bassist Rick Kemp (who had been with him since the beginning), drummer Pique Withers, accordionist Jack Emblow, and a slew of backing vocalists (including Albert Hammond), with lead guitar by Ray Martinez and strings and horns by Paul Buckmaster added by Dudgeon later.

For Michael Chapman's early fans, the 1971 release of Wrecked Again, his fourth and final album for Harvest was a return to the glories of Rainmaker and Fully Qualified Survivor. He'd disowned his third album, Window, claiming it was an unfinished series of acoustic demos released by the label while he was on tour for an album he fully intended to be electric. (This bears weight since some of its songs have remained in the songwriter's live set into the 21st century.) Recorded at Rockfield Studios with producer Gus Dudgeon and a band that included bassist Rick Kemp (who had been with him since the beginning), drummer Pique Withers, accordionist Jack Emblow, and a slew of backing vocalists (including Albert Hammond), with lead guitar by Ray Martinez and strings and horns by Paul Buckmaster added by Dudgeon later.

Limited Edition 2CD Set of unreleased recordings. Treehouse 44 release the first known recordings by British folk guitar hero Michael Chapman. Previously unreleased, these are the earliest known recordings of this great British guitar hero, or as Michael Chapman calls it "The album I had no idea I had made!" This follows on the heels of Light in The Attic'c catalogue re-issue programme. TreeHouse44 has worked closely with Michael Chapman, being allowed full access to his private archive, to produce a unique album that captures the earliest stages in the career of this phenomenal artist. The story of how Michael Chapman turned pro as a musician, walking into a Cornish pub and offering to play a gig in return for shelter from the rain outside is both well known and well told.

This music, the album EB=MC2 and Chapman and Banai’s concerts together before that can ultimately be traced back to two valleys. One near Hawnby, North Yorkshire, lush green and full of trees, the other, more austere, in northern Galilee. Michael Chapman, paying his way through Art College in the early ’60s worked as a woodsman on the North Yorkshire Mexborough estate in the summer breaks and found inspiration for classics like “In the Valley” and “Among the Trees,” leaning against the trees with his guitar. Slightly later, Ehud Banai spent an extended reflective period in the ’70s, alone near Rosh Pina in Galilee, with his guitar, a ghetto blaster and one cassette. On that inspirational cassette was Michel Chapman’s 1969 Fully Qualified Survivor album. Travel forward over 30 years to 2012, and Ehud, now a successful musician with a string of his own albums, is playing The 12 Bar Club on Denmark Street in London.

After the critical acclaim Michael Chapman received for Rainmaker in 1969, he followed up quickly in early 1970 with Fully Qualified Survivor, a record more adventurous and haunting than its predecessor, with added production flourishes and equally strong songs. Fully Qualified Survivor is the album that established Chapman as a folk troubadour. Leaving the guitar pyrotechnics largely locked in a shed, Chapman concentrated instead on his songwriting skills, and the sacrifice—for this record anyway—paid off. Leaving the lead guitar credits to a fellow Hull-man, Mick Ronson (who got his gig with David Bowie as a result of his playing on this album), with Rick Kemp making a return as bassist and Barry Morgan on drums, Chapman relied on no less than Paul Buckmaster—then beginning to work with Elton John, among others—to employ and arrange a small string section to fill out the songs.

Hopefully this reissue of Chapman's 1993 disc will find a wider audience than it managed the first time around. For those who love his late-'60s work, there's a real harking back to the classic Rainmaker in the title, and even a new version of one of his best-known songs, "Postcards of Scarborough." Doing everything himself, Chapman melds his gritty voice with thoughtful lyrics and rippling guitar work, although he does cut loose on a couple of occasions, on the instrumentals "Akublu" and "Elinkine," while his non-vocal take on "She Moves Through the Fair" glides with an almost ethereal grace. He can still write some stunning, insightful songs, like "Fool in the Night," with its remorse, or the wistful "Falling from Grace."

Michael Chapman (1941-2021) released his debut album Rainmaker in 1969 on Harvest. He went on to release over fifty albums and influence many with his evocative songwriting and guitar prowess. From heady jams to expressive ballads to experimental noise, Chapman’s work continues to inspire. Tompkins Square recruited Henry Parker to curate a collection of covers by working musicians from Chapman’s home turf in Northern England. With stunning artwork by local artist Bunty Marshall mapping the important places in Michael’s life, and package design by D. Norsen, this 12th volume of Tompkins Square’s Imaginational Anthem series is the ultimate tribute to a very dearly missed artist.

Since emerging from the folk scene in Yorkshire, England in 1967, guitarist, and singer Michael Chapman has gained a dual reputation as one of England's finest original singer/songwriters and most restless guitar players, equally comfortable in folk, rock, free improvisation, global music styles, blues, and jazz. With over 40 albums to his credit, this former art and photography teacher has, in the 21st century, been embraced by a host of boundary-crossing younger musicians who credit his influence on their work including Thurston Moore, Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker, Meg Baird, and many more.