The Harry Chapin Story: Part 3 - Sequel Quiz

Answer: Taxi

"I thought about taking a limousine
Or at least a fancy car
But I ended up taking a taxi
"Because that's how I got this far..."
The album "Sequel" was released on Boardwalk Records in October 1980.
The title song picked up and concluded the story of 'Harry' and 'Sue' that was begun in "Taxi". The single reached Number 23 on the Billboard charts.

Answer: $600,000

The contract was for nine albums in five years plus a $40,000 dollars advance. Columbia Records had offered an $80,000 advance, but Chapin felt that Jac Holzman, the Elektra chief, would look after his interests better. Holzman had given up producing records when he became company boss, but he returned to the sound desk for Chapin's first album.
Chapin owed that to the persistence of an Elektra executive called Ann Purtill, who fought his corner vociferously and persuaded Holzman to sign Harry. In succeeding years, Chapin named Purtill in the dedications on his albums.

Answer: Heads & Tales

The album was recorded in Los Angeles and was heavily hyped by Elektra, but did not reach the sales levels the company had hoped.

Answer: WHY

World Hunger Year was formed not merely to raise funds, but to raise awareness of the causes of world hunger and the ways to resolve it. During his career, Chapin performed more than 2,000 concerts, more than half of them for 'good causes' such as WHY. Chapin was in it for the long haul, the felt that education to eradicate the causes of hunger - and the main one was poverty - was the best way, rather than one-off concerts on initiatives. [As recounted by Peter M. Coan in his biography 'Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story'.]
WHY continued its work after Chapin's death.

Answer: North Dakota

"You know I'm just a dirty man from the North Dakota plains
You're one girl from the city who's been thrown out on her own
I'm standing here not sure of what to say to you
'Cepting Mail Order Annie, let's you and me go home".
In the emerging west of America in the 1800s there was an abundance of men but few women, while the position was reversed in the cities of the east. Many couples were brought together as a result of newspaper advertisements.

Answer: John Wallace

Wallace was a Chapin family friend from their Grace Church days in New York. He played guitar and provided harmonies. Wallace had a five-octave vocal range from low bass to high falsetto. It's that falsetto you hear on songs like "Taxi".

Answer: Rice

Chapin supported a Bill that would change a law that kept the price artificially high in five US States. Harry's view was that hunger was persistent in all countries, even the mighty USA. He told concert audiences that in a country rich enough to feed the world many times over, it was "unconscionable" that millions of Americans went to bed hungry each night. [Source: various Chapin recordings.]

Answer: Jaime

"(Song for Jaime) Tangled Up Puppet" was the tale of the changing relationships between a father and his daughter. He also wrote "Dancing Boy" for Joshua.
Chapin's daughter, Jen, is also a singer and songwriter. Two of his nieces sing in a group called 'The Chapin Sisters'.

Answer: North West 222

"But now they've gone and canceled
Old Northwest 222
It's a late night bird that always
brought me back home to you
There's a thousand miles between us
Babe that I cannot get through
Is there nothing left to count on, now
That old 222 is gone?
Old 222 is gone."
Chapin had a grueling touring schedule, but after his wife found his little black book (enough said) of contacts, he always endeavoured to get back home after each concert. North West 222 was a late-night mail flight that could get him closer to home. Sometimes he would drive for eight hours after a show to get home. [As recounted by Peter M. Coan in his biography 'Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story'.]

Answer: Carly Simon

Simon was the biggest name on the Elektra label at that time. The concert was at Symphony Hall, Boston. The next day, Ernie Santosuosso wrote in the 'Boston Globe': "Chapin, in fact, stole Carly's thunder".

Answer: Cello

The cello gave Chapin's music a distinctive sound. It could be used to counterpoint the drama of his story songs. But the position of cellist was a difficult one, with five individuals filling the position in ten years of recording and touring.

Answer: Jimmy Carter

In February 1978, Chapin and key supporters met Carter at the White House. Carter had the power to veto the proposal, but surprised those present by saying "It's gotten so bad that even Amy [his daughter] is asking what I am going to do about world hunger." [Source" "Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story" by Peter M. Coan.]

Answer: Sinking of the Titanic

"Dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me"
"Dance Band On The Titanic" was a double album on the Elekta label. It was, however, poorly marketed and continued the series of disappointing sales for Chapin records.

Answer: False

Greyhound were interested, until they realised that the song was not very complimentary:
"Take the Greyhound
It's a dog of a way to get around..."

Answer: What Made America Famous

"The Night That Made America Famous" was previewed in February 1975 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. It included around 30 songs by Chapin, and although it featured a strong cast, it received mixed reviews and closed within two months.

Answer: Cat's In The Cradle

The lyrics were written by Sandy Chapin and it was the second single off the album "Verities & Balderdash". The first, "What Made America Famous" sank without a trace. "Cat's In the Cradle" sold more than 1.3 million singles.
In the 1980s, this tale of a young boy who grew up to be just like a frequently absent father was used in Northern Ireland in a government-backed public information film that portrayed the boy as the son of a terrorist gunman who grew up to be a gunman himself.

Answer: Tuesday Weld

Chapin even got to kiss the girl in his one and only scene when he turned up as a former lover of a divorced mother who had raised a daughter alone. He also wrote the musical score.

Answer: The Last Protest Singer

"The Last Protest Singer" was released on the Dunhill label in 1988. Chapin had laid down the basic tracks in the weeks before his death and they were overdubbed later. "Anthology" and "Story Of A Song" were posthumous albums of previously released material.

Answer: Congressional Gold Medal

This is the highest honour the US Congress can bestow. His name is listed there right above Winston Churchill's.
Chapin's interest in world hunger pre-dated that of other artists who became involved in such campaigns as "USA For Africa". At the 1986 Grammy Awards, Harry Belafonte accepted an award for the "We Are The World" song. He told the audience: "It was Chapin who started this whole thing when nobody was listening." [Source" "Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story" by Peter M. Coan.]

Answer: I Wonder What Would Happen To This World

"If a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
Well I wonder what would happen to this world"
Harry Chapin was interred near his home in Huntington, New York in July 1981. He was aged just 38.
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