Tracy Chapman (album)

Background

In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. In an interview he said "I was helping organize a boycott protest against apartheid at school, and [someone] told me there was this great protest singer I should get to play at the rally." He went to see Chapman perform at a coffeehouse called Cappuccino. He said "Tracy walked onstage, and it was like an epiphany. Her presence, her voice, her songs, her sincerity—it all came across." After this, Koppelman told her that his father was at the time a co-owner of SBK Publishing and could help her make a record. She did not consider the offer seriously. Koppelman, however, was very interested in Chapman, so he attended most of her shows. She finally agreed to talk to him, but did not record any demos for him. He later discovered that she had recorded demos at the Tufts radio station WMFO for copyright purposes. Her demo of the song "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" was taken to radio stations and, after the success, he copied it and took it to his father. According to the interview, "He immediately got the picture and flew up to see her." Her demo led her to a signing with Elektra Records. She said "I have to say that I never thought I would get a contract with a major record label [...] All the time since I was a kid listening to records and the radio, I didn't think there was any indication that record people would find the kind of music that I did marketable. Especially when I was singing songs like 'Talkin' Bout a Revolution' during the Seventies [...] I didn't see a place for me there."

David Kershenbaum said that the album was "made for the right reasons". "There was a set of ideas that we wanted to communicate, and we felt if we were truthful and loyal to those ideas, then people would pick up on the emotion and the lyrical content that was there."

Recording

Chapman started writing songs when she was immediately signed to Elektra Records. Koppelman started finding producers for the album with the demo tape of her single "Talkin' Bout a Revolution". However, she was turned down due to the more mainstream impact of dance-pop and synthpop at the time. They then found David Kershenbaum, who recalled later: "I'd been looking for something acoustic to do for some time . . . There was a sense in the industry of a slight boredom with everything out there and that people might be willing to listen again to lyrics and to someone who made statements."

Chapman's greatest concern during her meetings with Kershenbaum was that the integrity of her songs remain intact, because she wanted to record "real simple"." Kershenbaum said, "I wanted to make sure that she was in front, vocally and thematically, and that everything was built around her." Every song that was featured on the result of the studio album was featured on her demo tape, except for "Fast Car", which resulted as one of the last songs recorded on the album. Kershenbaum recalled that the first time she sang and performed it for him, he "loved it the minute I [he] heard it."

The album was, in total, recorded in only eight weeks at Powertrax, Kershenbaum's Hollywood studio. Interviewed in 2002 by The Guardian, Kershenbaum stated that a lot of the public wanted "what she had" and said, "And they weren't getting it. She got there at the right moment with stuff that was good." Chapman was also interview and talked about the background of the album. She said, "The first record [Tracy Chapman] is seen as being more social commentary . . . more political. But I think that's just all about perspective."

In an interview with The Guardian in 1996, Chapman said: "My first record was almost not my first record." The proposed producer for the studio album was killed in a car accident and the record company called in someone far less experienced to take over.

Critical reception

Tracy Chapman received critical acclaim from music critics. According to Rolling Stone, Chapman "caught everyone's ear in the hair-metal late Eighties" with the album. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic wrote, "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, providing a touchstone for the entire PC movement while reviving the singer/songwriter tradition." According to Erlewine, "the juxtaposition of contemporary themes and classic production precisely is what makes the album distinctive -- it brings the traditions into the present." He highlighted the album as her best album of her whole discography. Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in his review for The Village Voice. He found "Fast Car" and "Mountains o' Things" very perceptive and Chapman an innately gifted singer but was disappointed by the presence of "begged questions" and "naive left-folkie truisms" such as "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" and "Why": "She's too good for such condescension ... Get real, girl."

Commercial response

Just two weeks after its release, the album sold one million copies worldwide, becoming a big commercial success. In total, it sold over 20 million copies worldwide and is one of the first albums by a female artist to have more than 10 million copies sold worldwide.

Though it has still received such success beyond its release, the album has never been re-issued or remastered.

Track listing

All songs written by Tracy Chapman.

Personnel

Production

Legacy

The album received seven nominations at the 31st Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, ("Fast Car"), Song of the Year ("Fast Car"), Producer of the Year for David Kershenbaum, Best New Artist, Best Contemporary Folk Album, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Fast Car"). The latter three were won.

In 1989, the album was rated number 10 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of the 80s". In 2003, the album was ranked number 261 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 49 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

The album was critically acclaimed and helped to revive the singer-songwriter tradition.