Michael Chapman -

Michael Chapman (1941–2021) was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds who released the 1969–71 Harvest albums Rainmaker, Fully Qualified Survivor, Window, and Wrecked Again. He followed with five albums through 1977 on Decca, Nova, and Gama. Over the next two decades, he issued eight albums on assorted indie labels. His songs have been covered by Jan & Lorraine, the Famous Jug Band, Crowdy Crawn, Derek Brimstone, and Peter Ratzenbeck.

Background

Michael Chapman was born Jan. 24, 1941, in Hunslet, Leeds, England. Chapman bought his first guitar at age fifteen in 1956 as a student at Cockburn Grammar School, where he played in a skiffle group. He taught himself from records by Big Bill Broonzy and Django Reinhardt and learned guitar without written music.

Chapman spent six years at Leeds College of Art and financed his education with paid music work. He played guitar and double bass in jazz and skiffle groups and took banjo jobs with New Orleans jazz bands. Chapman subsequently joined Bolton College of Art in Lancashire, where he ran the photography department for three years.

Chapman reached Cornwall in summer 1966 at the end of his teaching period in Bolton. He followed a car carrying a folk-club sticker to the Count House at Botallack and offered a short guitar set when he could not cover admission. The proprietor hired Chapman for six nights each week plus Saturday all-nighters. Chapman left teaching for the club circuit and met Wizz Jones and Ralph McTell, who showed him fingerpicking techniques.

Chapman moved to Hull after the 1966 Cornwall season and secured London dates at Les Cousins in Soho. Bookers at the club obtained further engagements at universities and colleges. He continued between northern venues, London clubs, and Cornwall through 1967.

Essex Music talent scout David Dearlove heard Chapman at a Cornish club in 1968 and introduced him to publisher David Platz, who secured a production agreement with Tuesday Productions, which he operated with producer Gus Dudgeon. The company initially planned an instrumental guitar album, but Chapman wrote songs as the recording date approached and incorporated them into the project. Tuesday Productions booked Regent Sound Studios in London with Dudgeon as producer. EMI A&R man Malcolm Jones heard the completed tapes through Platz and selected Rainmaker for the June 1969 launch of Harvest Records.

Discography: