Harry Chapin died in 1981, but he remains a very large influence on my music career.
He and his band set the gold standard for stage performance. He was funny, genuine, engaging. The quintessential entertainer. Attending a Harry Chapin concert was like sitting in a friend’s living room for three hours and wishing you could stay for three weeks. That’s the type of person and entertainer I aspire to be.
And his music! His lyrics tell compelling stories. His melodies are a perfect fit for his lyrics. As a young man with a guitar and no real musical aspirations, I used to wonder where and how he came up with these stories and songs. Whether it was his 1972 breakthrough hit “Taxi,” or the heartbreaking “Mr. Tanner,” or the hilarious “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” – whether a song hit the charts and sneaked onto the radio or was buried deep in one of his albums – everything he wrote made me sit and listen.
Harry was a frequent and favorite guest of Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show.” Those appearances helped illuminate the music and the artist. For years, one in particular stood out. The other day, I was trolling music on YouTube and ran across a Harry Chapin song. Then it occurred to me that I might be able to find this particular “Tonight Show” clip. It took just a few minutes.
The interview is priceless, especially the one story Harry professed he was unable to turn into a song. That interview begins about the 9:30 mark. But I encourage you to watch the entire clip, beginning with the musical performance.
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