It's probably just me, but I swear I keep hearing Tracy Chapman's melodic chords to "fast Cars" tucked in here and there on several newer bands Cd's lately. Neat, neat.

Examples?

The Delgados "the great eastern Cd" (track 8 'witness') the mysteries of life (a vague hint) @ about 2:24 into '3 things at once' on "Distant relative" The Shore (via an orchestrated passage) on track 3 'take what's mine' at about 3:25 till the songs ends on their brilliant self titled album Belly pays homage at the end of 'seal my fate' on the great "king" album.

That was kinda fun, because while searching for a few examples, (thanks Brad) I came across the Bigger Lovers doin Jimi's "FOXY" and Richard Heyman sounding very much like Martin Newell on one track of "Basic Glee"



Post Edited (07-29-05 00:57)

I've always loved "Fast Car," but for years, it was really the only Tracy Chapman music I'd ever play. The rest of her debut LP never quite lived up to my hopes - well-intentioned but never as great as I'd like it to be - and the albums that came later were underwhelming.

Now that she's back in the spotlight by proxy, I gave her debut another chance. Though it's not heavily produced, not everything was done with a spare touch and I wondered if some of the arrangements drowned out the impact when a rawer approach would've been more powerful.

Turns out there are quite a few bootlegs of the supporting tour, all featuring just Chapman and her guitar, and I found two gems in particular, digital recordings taken from the soundboard with possibly no generational loss. I'm not sure if links are appropriate, so I'll just say FLAC copies are easily found via Google, which led me to several copies hosted on 'Guitars101.' The first is a shorter set from July 4, 1988 at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, possibly a headlining set since it's 13 songs over 50+ minutes. It's got a bit of echo on the mix which may suit some tastes. The other bootleg is a longer 18-song set from July 25, 1988 in Philadelphia, PA, and it's a bone-dry mix, more typical of a soundboard. Except for the occasional recording anomaly, it's a pretty clean recording.

I don't think there's anyway she could've produced her entire debut in this manner, and even if she did, I imagine it would get criticized for being monotonous and underproduced, but for my own listening, I actually prefer it.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2024 02:52AM by belfast.