Tracy Chapman

Great record!

No self-respecting Amazon Prime member who regularly reviews their verified purchases and who is also a Tracy Chapman fan could fail eventually to leave a 5-star rating and collection of heartfelt comments on her breakthrough debut album, released to great fanfare in 1988 at the end of the Reagan era. It would be like a God-fearing Christian refusing to read the Book of Genesis. Life has got to originate from somewhere; it’s only in myth that goddesses emerge fully grown from the cracked heads of their fathers. And Tracy, while a folk rock goddess without question, did not emerge from the head of her father, and he sure as heck wasn’t named Zeus. The truth is, my favorite of Tracy’s albums is always her last. This means – for the time being – her 2008 8th solo album, “Our Bright Future.” It’s so Californian, it hurts. The musicianship is astounding. And guess what? Larry Klein produced and played on her final solo album, and he plays bass on her first. 1988. 2008. Regan, Bush 41, Obama, and all that happened in-between. That’s the span, politically speaking, of Tracy’s 30 years of active singing and songwriter, and it all started here, as a recent Tufts University graduate in anthropology and African studies, working the coffee shops and squares of Cambridge, Massachusetts, after having been a prep school scholarship student in Connecticut. She was signed by the major record label Elektra, and she stayed with them for decades. So, Tracy isn’t singing about herself in “Fast Car.” She’s conjuring live spirits and chess-playing with actual bodies as performance props, with love and empathy and endless amounts of compassion. That’s what most protest singers and political activists do, and that’s likely why Tracy's first album was and is so beloved by critics, fans, and Grammy voters. The next Joan Baez! A female Dylan who could actually sing! The sensuous and soft-spoken voice of her generation. The sound of a quiet sonic revolution. Platinum selling albums melded to a political consciousness that repudiated racism, materialism, sexism, small-minded conservatism, religious hypocrisy, and domestic violence. How could you not want her to succeed? A debut album by a 22-year old musical Wunderkind like Tracy Chapman, it is somewhat like a dissertation by an up-and-coming academic in her mid-20s: if it attracts the attention of the powers that be in the music industry or the Ivy League, then you will be embraced and celebrated and helped to craft a sound and voice that sells records, gets tenure, and garners awards aplenty. Tracy, to her credit, did this amazingly well. This album is proof that her talents were for real. Now, when listening to these songs in retrospect, and comparing them to the songs she wrote 30 years later and performed in her early to mid-40s, I think I see the difference. Ethnography. Or autobiography. Tracy went to Tufts on scholarship. She didn’t work retail or love boys and their fast cars that could take her to the suburbs. She chose the San Mateo coast instead and followed her own, convoluted path to love and loss in the labyrinth, with Minotaurs lurking around every corner. She thanks her mother and her reverend in the liner notes. She remembers her father and hopes for his redemption. If there is a song in her songbook about her father, it’s probably “Cold Feet” from her 4th album, New Beginning. I love that song, even if she made it all up. But I like the fact that she stuck with Larry Klein on bass for all those years. He played with her in ’88 and in ’08, and they do make beautiful music together. They seem to respect each other I ways that I, who doesn’t have a musical bone in his body, will never be able to grasp. Now, after many years of listening, I think I get this album. Tracy was a grade A student: of music, of anthropology, of African studies, of history, and of life. She took good notes. She paid attention in class. And she practiced writing and playing songs until her mind ached and her fingers bled. She was more mature as an artist at 22 than most of us will ever be in our collective lifetimes. The fact that a major label like Elektra signed her and made lots of money doing it, well that’s what the world in 1988 was like before Amazon Prime music streaming services and downloadable songs on demand. I wonder: would songs like “Baby Can I Hold You” and “For You” have been downloaded at all? Would everyone have “Fast Car” and “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” on their playlists and not the rest? For me, it’s a moot point. I bought this CD on Amazon years ago, in 2008 (ironic, isn't it?). It’s been part of my music collection ever since. I’ve played it while driving to Baltimore at night from Durham, North Carolina to make it to morning lecture on time, the smells and scents of my Spanish lover still sticking to my damp clothes and sweating body. It has survived in boxes shipped across the country in a metal moving pod, and it has frozen in the CD player of my car at subzero temperatures in Montana. My Subaru Impreza may not always be a fast one, but it gets me where I need to be. So, too, does Tracy. Thanks, friend, for 30 years of musical creationism. I hope you mother was proud. No words can convey the feelings I have for you. Vaya con Dios! And when walking in the redwoods, always be sure to watch where you walk. You never know when you’ll come across a pair of banana slugs lost in a slime-drenched circle of endless love.

Great album!

You've got to have this album for "Fast Car," but the rest of it is just as good! Ms. Chapman is quite the underrated artist.

Great Music.

This is a standout album on vinyl that had been out of print for many years. My first pressing copy was over $50 and I'm so delighted they re-released this as it deserves it. The vocals and instrument recording are fantastic and I haven't noticed any difference from my first pressing copy. The record cover and pressing quality seem very high! Now they just need to re-release Crossroads!

This Album is Simply Amazing. I have an original copy of this disc which I have worn thin. The sound of THAT pressing is OUTSTANDING. Dynamics are great, Soundstaging wonderful. This pressing is extremely noisy with many clicks and pops with gobs of surface noice. This is even after a thorough ultrasonic cleaning of the record. Buy if you must, for the songs OR wait for the Rumored 35 year Anniversary Reissue.

This is one of my favorite albums. It was originally released as a cd not available on vinyl.

Musik ist, wie bekannt, genial. Die Pressung ist ebenfalls hervorragend.

Ottimo, inutile perdersi in parole inutili,artista superbo,prodotto ben confezionato di ottima fattura

ボーカルアルバムとしても最高 録音もオーディオチェックに使える位に良いですね。

Excelente disco

Très bel album avec des titres en plus. la qualité du son est parfaite . service Amazon toujours rapide et au top