In 2017, Ehud Banai, one of Israel’s most successful singer songwriters, released an album with British guitar legend Michael Chapman titled EB=MC². It was a collaboration that had started as a dream many years before; then, 25 years later, in the winter of 2013, that dream was realised when Banai managed to bring his guitar idol over to Israel on tour. Two years later, Chapman returned for a second tour. On both tours, Banai plays the opening act and participates as a guest performer.
Both musicians went on to forge a close relationship, one that was reflected in their music – Banai’s 2015 album “Low Fire” includes a song titled “Michael Chapman Was Here”, and in the same year, Chapman released his album “FISH” which includes a song titled “Ehud”.
That connection was most evident on their album collaboration EB=MC² (reviewed here) on tracks like Rosh Pina. The tune is by Chapman with lyrics by Banai, which included the line – “And your guitar, so clear and bright, is like a cure to the broken heart”. This period was expanded upon in the press for that album: “Kodak Ghosts” from Chapman’s 1970 cult album “Fully Qualified Survivor” is one of Banai’s favourites. The album was playing in an endless loop on a small portable tape the inconsolable Banai carried with him in the 70s during his retreat to Rosh Pina Wadi, shattered by a lost love. He felt as if this song about one’s solitude and reclusion in nature was written by him and about himself.
As many of you will know, Michael Chapman passed away last year. Ehud Banai recorded his cover of Chapman’s Truck Song (taken from Chapman’s 2019 album True North) to celebrate his 80th birthday. He recently released it as a single, accompanied by a beautiful video with footage of them touring together. It’s also our Song of the Day:
Rumbling trucks on the highway
The hiss of tyres in the rain
A roll of distant thunder
And the lonesome moan of a train
A million stars no moon
The breeze comes up through the pines
But the highway never seems to sleep
I guess it’s a sign of the time
It’s always darkest before the dawn
Waiting for the morning light
To show the road going on and on
Down endless highway out of sight