• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Taxi Harry Chapin

R

Rev J

Jun 14, 2012
1,829
1,661
Berkeley, Ca.
#1


I was just listening to this at work on laptop speakers and the bass line on this is incredible almost like the stuff most bassists would be fired for playing because it is so busy. Then when the bassist takes over the lead vocal in falsetto and plays counterpoint. Jesus Christ!

I grew up listening to this on vinyl and am only picking up on this subtleties now.

C/S,
Rev J
 
  • Like
Reactions: Clarence Walker, MCF, tonym and 7 others
#2
It got even better when John Wallace later switched to an Alembic and you could hear every tiny little detail. Remarkable melodic bassist and a formidable singer whose vocal range ran from counter-tenor to baritone.

There was also a sequel to the song entitled Sequel. Chapin released just a few short months before his tragic death in a car accident on the LIE in 1981. He was only 39.



Chapin was social activist and philanthropist who donated a third of his concert earnings to charitable causes, sometimes electing to perform solo in order to reduce costs. And not something always appreciated by his fellow bandmates.

There was a third sequel planned to tell the conclusion of the Taxi story called Hearse. And you can probably guess was what it was about. Unfortunately it turned out to be eerily prophetic. Chapin died before he completed it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Old Blastard, MCF and GrooverMcTube
#12
I fully agree about John Wallace's playing. Later in the 80's I had the honour of being in the first Canadian production of a musical about Harry called "Lies and Legends - The Story Songs of Harry Chapin." Both Tom and Steve Chapin were on hand to help supervise the production. What phenomenally nice people and very talented musicians. Hearing them play was an education. I'd always loved Harry's music, and if memory serves, the charts I had were transcriptions of Big John's original parts. And what parts they were! It was both thrilling and inspiring to play them every night and realize how he would keep the groove going and also weave in such melodic fills. A hugely talented player; hope some of it rubbed off on me. I agree there's lots to learn from many of the singer/songwriters/bassists of the period.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jerry
#14
I remember seeing this band after the unfortunate passing of Harry Chapin in a small NYC club. The bass player was amazing...as mentioned..superb playing and singing. He was playing an Alembic bass..
Also had the great honor of playing on The Harry Chapin Stage in Huntington Long Island.
 
#15
Rev J said:
I was just listening to this at work on laptop speakers and the bass line on this is incredible almost like the stuff most bassists would be fired for playing because it is so busy. Then when the bassist takes over the lead vocal in falsetto and plays counterpoint. Jesus Christ!

I grew up listening to this on vinyl and am only picking up on this subtleties now.

C/S,
Rev J
Click to expand...


buldog5151bass said:
A lot of the 70s songwriter/singer stuff had some great basslines. Take a close listen to American Pie.
Click to expand...

This thread makes me think of I Got A Name by Jim Croce (Joe Osborn, I think). Thanks for posting it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: buldog5151bass
#16
Fender_Bender said:
I’m digging the cello player.
Click to expand...

+1!

Chapin was the first contemporary singer songwriter I heard who had a cello in his band. Something that Electric Light Orchestra, Al Stewart and Loreena McKennitt would also use to good effect later on.

It makes good sense for music like Chapin’s in that the cello is considerd the one instrument that most closely mimics the human voice. Having a cello is almost like having a virtuoso backup singer in your band. So I suppose it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that, between John Wallace and the cello, Harry Chapin had two.

I’ve had the good fortune to work with a few cellists on occasion over the years. And they were all extremely competent, incredibly well trained musicians. Plus exceptionally easy to work with. And as an added benefit, (purely from a staging perspective) cellists tend to be rather attractive and somewhat glamorous looking people for some strange reason. So they look good when they’re up on stage. Having a little eye candy never hurts.

Lots to like. I’m surprised you don’t see more of them in rock and pop music than you do.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Fender_Bender
#19
I saw Chapin when I was on faculty at Washington State, probably around 1980. He was a marvelous singer, and reflecting on the lyrics in "Cat's In The Cradle" should be enough to make anyone reflect on their role and behavior as a parent. My daughters were born a few years later, but I think of them - and things I did both right and wrong - every time I hear that song.

And who among us hasn't had a romance go wrong or wither and die? You move on and deal with life; that's how it works. Taxi captures that feeling very poetically and effectively.
 
#20
Part of the reason I was listening to this is I'm going through a breakup. Our first date was on a rainy night in SF nearly 8 years ago and I started singing this as we were waiting for a Taxi.

My parents saw Chapin play in the late 70's in Portland Maine while a snowstorm went on outside. The said he got off stage and walked through the audience.

C/S,
Rev J
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back