Michael Chapman - Journeyman

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fine live album

I think this is a brilliant live album.  Michael Chapman has been an inspiration to me ever since I first heard him, well over 40 years ago.  He's a terrific guitarist and a very good songwriter, with a distinctive vocal style which I have always loved.

This is a recording of a concert in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 2003 and, to be honest, it's a very welcome reminder of why I love the man's music after Pachyderm, which did nothing for me whatsoever.  Here we get plenty of brilliant guitar playing in some less familiar pieces, and some of Chapman's fine, well-loved songs in excellent performances.  His mumbling, slurred delivery is well in evidence ("It ain't so" comes out in places as something like "Iddain-n-n dzho-o-w-n", for example), and personally I love it.  From a technical point of view it's dreadful, but there's something about it which makes these songs really speak, I think - this version of One Time Thing  makes me feel the most powerful, piercing melancholy, for example.  Some of that's nostalgia for student days and old girlfriends in the Rainmaker era, of course, but other songs here were just as evocative, while others – especially the instrumental work – make me smile, and sometimes make me shake my head in admiration. 

It's always a tough balance to strike on a live album between having enough chat between songs to convey the atmosphere while avoiding making it a bit tedious for repeated listening.  Chapman chats a good deal to the audience and most (perhaps all) of it is preserved here.  It's great first time around, but after a couple of listens it gets just a bit much and I'd have preferred a little trimming.  That's just my judgement, though, and it doesn't spoil the album at all.

The sound quality is very good, and it's just a great listen.  This is a fine album by an underrated artist who has been producing quality work for decades, and I can recommend it very warmly.

(Note that this is a review of the digital download, so I can't comment on the DVD or packaging.)