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The Legendary Michael Chapman dies aged 80

by Alex Gallacher
by Alex Gallacher

The legendary British guitarist and songwriter, Michael Chapman has died at the age of 80. The following message was posted on his Instagram account:

Michael Chapman’s progressive and innovative approach to music has been a huge influence on many players including Ryley Walker, William Tyler, Steve Gunn, Meg Baird and Thurston Moore to name just a few.

While this article is not intended as bio of Michael’s life, it is a celebration. I still love reading about his early Cornwall days on the run up to his 1969 Rainmaker debut…while the stories you read suggest the mid-70’s were a messier period, you can instantly recognise a familiar modern sound that can be heard in releases today when wrapping your ears around the likes of Millstone Grit from 1973.

Many of the young modern day outlier’s were drawn to Chapman’s experimental and improvisational music of the 1970s, Steve Gunn referred to their panoramic feel.

Ironically, Chapman, who was busy rebuilding his career in the 90s was unaware of this attraction to his music or the influence it was having on others.

That changed at a gig in 1998, attended by members of Sonic Youth. Chapman struck up a friendship with Thurston Moore who he would later go on to collaborate with on 2012’s The Resurrection Of Clayton Peacock. There is so much to explore…I’m really just scratching the surface here.

In 2008, he befriended another guitar legend, Jack Rose. Although Jack passed away very soon after their introduction in 2009, Rose introduced Chapman to fellow outliers such as Steve Gunn. Gunn went on to produce his ’50’ album in 2016 and True North in 2019…”The strength of the songs, the simplicity of the strong acoustic guitar core matched with sympathetic and skilful playing throughout results in an album that is lean, unpretentious, wonderfully played and so very listenable throughout.” Glenn Kimpton, Folk Radio.

Another album we reviewed on Folk Radio was Chapman’s 2015 Fish. Reviewed by the late Nick Dellar, a fingerstyle guitarist, who concluded “Throughout this beautifully constructed album you can hear occasional string squeaks, fretting noise and body knocks making it a delightfully un-sanitised recording. Noises off don’t really matter when you’re listening to a master guitarist completely at ease with his playing.”

When Chapaman’s music is discussed you often hear terms such as ‘at ease’ and ‘unpretentious’, while those that befriended him frequently refer to his lack of ego. Steve Gunn spoke of how unlike his contempories, with Chapman ‘there’s no ego, either in music or as a person. He’s very humble, but still in there. He’s still present.” There was clearly a love for Chapman from many…he even appeared in Gunn’s own video ‘Ancient Jules’ below in which Chapman picks up Gunn who has broken down on the road and takes him back to his home for red wine, records and to play some tunes. That’s how many seem to recall Chapman, a storyteller with a warm heart, something that’s touched upon in many of the messages being shared on social media today.

Raised in Yorkshire, Chapman attended art school in Leeds (where he had an “amazing education”) he then became a lecturer in photography at Bolton College, Lancashire. He would often play in jazz bands, as Leeds was very much a jazz town, an influence that did come across in his early playing, described as being styled on jazz, folk & ragtime.

Chapman was among the many young British beatniks that headed to beaches of Newquay and St. Ives in the South West in the 1960s along with his partner Andru. They lived in a van for a while that was so small he had to keep his guitar in its case underneath. Cornwall became a spiritual home for them both alongside a tight-knit group of musicians that included the likes of Wizz Jones, Cliver Palmer, Ralph McTell and Cornish-language folk artist Brenda Wootton who would provide Michael and Andru more comfortable digs at a room in her house. This fascinating community was well covered in Rupert White’s excellent book “Folk in Cornwall” and the Cornish Folk Clubs played a pivotal role in launching Chapman’s career as well as Ralph McTell’s.

Chapman played at the famous Count House Folk Music Club in 1966. The club was owned and managed by Ian Todd and John Wood.  Fate played part in his arrival there as he ended up following a van with a folk club sticker down a dusty road to the venue. As he didn’t have the money to pay for his entry, he offered to perform instead. Despite his Donovan-style hat and leather jacket, he surprised punters that night as he was, thankfully, not another Donovan copycat. He put on a stunning performance and was asked by Ian to stay and play five nights a week. Chapman recalls in White’s book how it was a hassle free existence and he stayed for five weeks. It must have come as quite a shock then the place was sold not that long after…although the venues success gave rise the famous ‘Folk Cottage’ which was 30 miles further east.

After his first season at The Count House, Chapman returned to Yorkshire for a period and gave up his lecturing post with the aim of becoming a full-time musician. His big break followed a similar path to that of Ralph McTell thanks to David Dearlove, a talent scout for publishers Essex Music who had the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Who on their books. They paid for Chapman to make a record which was eventually leased to EMI on their progressive label Harvest.

‘Rainmaker’ was produced by Gus Dudgeon (who would later oversee many of Elton John’s most acclaimed recordings). It took a while to emerge…in “Folk in Cornwall”, he recalls that the label wanted to release Pink Floyd’s album at the same time and that ‘Floyd got stoned and couldn’t finish it’ so EMI decided to release Shirley and Dolly Collins instead. Rainmaker opens to the rocking ‘It Didn’t Work Out’ for which Gus assembled a group of London session musicians who weren’t cheap. This track apparently cost £1750, the rest of the album was £145.

There are many great stories from this period…maybe the most mentioned is how he asked a Hull friend and guitarist Mick Ronson to play on his next album, Fully Qualified Survivor (1970) which led to Ronson (along with his band The Rats) being nabbed by David Bowie for his backing band The Spiders From Mars. Fully Qualified Survivor also led to his only chart hit “Postcards of Scarborough.”

While Chapman maybe preferred to look forward than back when it came to his own music, this didn’t stop the Light in the Attic record label from reviving his early career through a series of reissues. That included the album he hated most – Window. Window was released after Fully Qualified Survivor and right before Wrecked Again. In short, the label released an unfinished album while he was on tour and before he had the opportunity to record the final acoustic guitar tracks to replace what he’s always said were only guide tracks. Light in the Attic also reissued his seminal albums Fully Qualified Survivor, Rainmaker and 1971’s Wrecked Again, described as a lost classic due to a lack of promotional budget from EMI at the time. It was recorded at the legendary Rockfield Studio and LITA sonically describe it as a place where Chapman feels most comfortable: in-between folk and rock, contrasting soft with edgy.

Despite Window’s unpopularity with Chapman, Among The Trees is one of the Top 10 most played Chapman tracks on Spotify

Chapman was certainly kept busy touring and collaborating in more recent years. Even during lockdown, he recorded an online concert at York’s stunning Merchant Adventurers’ Hall. He also turned his hand to production, for Sarah McQuaid’s ‘If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous‘ on which he also plays his 1961 Gibson on several tracks.

Here’s an interview he conducted in 2017 in which he covers a lot in 8 minutes…including why he hates being called a folk singer, and the several years he had writers block…”what did you do in that period?” Drank…

Finally, a clip from BBC4 Songwriters Circle 2012 alongside Steve Tilston and Martin Simpson. The clip opens to Chapman asking Simpson…”Do you think we write about the truth because we’re not smart enough to lie?”

What a rich legacy…

Rest in peace Michael.

24/01/1941 – 10/09/2021

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