Late singer’s songs
will be center stage at concert in Lakewood
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
While it may not be true that only the good die young, it is true in the case of musician Harry Chapin. He was a good man who died in a car crash when he was only 38 years old. It was July 16, 1981, and he was driving a 1975 Volkswagen on his way to a benefit concert in Long Island.
It was the electrified rock age, but Chapin remained dedicated to folk music. According to his obituary in The New York Times, his principal contribution to musicianship was his self-described "story song," a narrative form that owed much to older talking blues and similar structures. He organized and appeared in many benefit concerts for causes, including the campaign against world hunger, environmental and consumer issues, and the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
In 1975, he founded the Harry Chapin Foundation which gives grants to world hunger organizations. At one time, more than half of his 200 yearly concerts were benefits.
The Long Island, N.Y., native would be 60 years old now. His musical and charitable legacy has been carried on by family, friends and musicians. Chapin’s daughter, Jen Chapin, who also has a singing career, now chairs the board of World Hunger Year, the hunger relief group that Harry co-founded in 1975, and his brother, Tom, is on the board. Chapin’s widow, Sandy, is the chairwoman of the Harry Chapin Foundation. In addition, various family members support innumerable charitable events, mainly to combat hunger.
Chapin’s song-stories will be part of the annual show at the Strand Theater in Lakewood on Sept. 21 at 3 p.m. As usual, the net proceeds will be donated to some of the late singer’s favorite charities: World Hunger Year, the Harry Chapin Foundation and Catholic Charities Emergency Services Division in Lakewood. In addition, attendees are asked to bring nonperishable food items to be collected at the door.
The Remembering Harry Chapin Hunger Benefit Concert will be different this year, said Kelly V. Barry of Freehold Township, one of the volunteers helping with the benefit.
"We have three of Harry’s most popular band mates joining John McMenamin’s crew on stage," Barry said.
They are Yvonne Cable, cello; Howard Fields, drums; and "Big" John Wallace, bass and vocal pyrotechnics. The three former band members will join McMenamin, singer/guitarist, Robert DeVitis, electric guitar, and John Gebhart, keyboard.
McMenamin has been performing Chapin’s music since the late 1970s. After Chapin’s untimely death he began to perform concerts of Chapin’s songs at a small theater near Pittsburgh, Pa., with the profits going to Chapin’s favorite cause, World Hunger Year.
"In 1995, after a 10-year absence, we all realized how much we missed the concerts and did another one – in New Stanton, Pa.," McMenamin said. "The next year my good friend, Rob DeVitis, joined with his electric guitar, and we drew 400 people for a World Hunger Year benefit in Monroeville, Pa. I love Harry’s songs and know some great stories about him and his music. I consider it a privilege to spend two to three hours sharing Harry’s songs and stories with the audience."
McMenamin recalled that Chapin started out playing the trumpet, but when he discovered that girls like the guitar better, he switched. Although McMenamin never knew Chapin, he knew he loved the singer’s music.
"I saw him five times. He would always stay after the show and autograph any piece of memorabilia that the audience purchased, including their tickets. He would sit there until the last person left, which sometimes annoyed the theater owner because he had to stay open, but the money from the sale of the memorabilia went to Harry’s charities," McMenamin said. "He was a pretty remarkable guy and such a dynamic performer. I became a fan after seeing him one time. He made you feel as though he was singing specifically to you."
McMenamin plans to perform Chapin’s best-selling "Cats in the Cradle," "Taxi" and "Sequel" among other pieces.
"We plan to do about 25 songs over the three hours. One of the crowd favorites is called "Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas." It’s amazing people still know all of the words to Harry’s songs. It’s the words of the songs that really got me into Harry’s music. In the past years, I’ve come to understand the complexity of the music," he said.
Drummer Howard Fields met Chapin while he (Fields) was still in college through a guitar player who played with the Chapin brothers.
"He introduced me to Steve (Chapin) who was music director of a show (Broadway play that Chapin wrote) called The Night That Made America Famous. I was playing in the show at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway when it ended after only six weeks. Harry at that time decided to add drums to his touring band. So on March 31, 1975, in Chicago, I started playing with his band. It was the first of over 800 shows that I did," Fields said.
After Chapin died, three of the band members tried to stay together, but it was hard to get anywhere, so they gave up, Fields said.
"After a while we started doing various memorial events to Harry with the Chapin Brothers. I have been playing in a band called the Steve Chapin Band for 10 years. We also do shows that are billed as Chapin family concerts with his brothers Tom and Steve, as well as Tom’s three daughters. Sometimes Harry’s father, who is the renowned jazz drummer and singer-songwriter (known as Big Jim Chapin), joins us," he said.
Fields said whenever he is asked to explain Harry’s character he tells a story that Harry’s brother Steve likes to relate.
"Harry and his brothers, Steve, Tom and James, who was the only non-musical one, used to have pillow fights. Steve would always gravitate to Harry’s side because he was the kind of guy who broke down walls for you," the drummer said.
Fields said Harry was "quite determined, extremely driven and dedicated to whatever goal or cause he took up."
The drummer said that being part of Chapin’s band from 1975 to 1981 was the best time of his life.
"It’s a delight to be able to play Harry’s beautiful songs again in front of adoring fans," he said.
According to Barry, this concert will be a most lifelike recreation of Harry’s songs.
"It will be a real thrill for fans to see some of the old band members in action. In the recent past, I produced four of John McMenamin’s shows — two at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, one at Freehold Township High School and one at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park," he said.
Songs like "Cats in the Cradle" and "Taxi" will bring back many memories for fans, while neophytes will be seduced into becoming fans.
"Wait until you hear Big John Wallace’s booming baritone style during ‘Mr. Tanner.’ He also sings the falsetto part in Taxi. He has amazing range," Barry said.
According to an obituary in Rolling Stone magazine on Sept. 3, 1981, "No other singer — not Bing Crosby, nor Elvis Presley, nor John Lennon — has ever been so widely honored by the nation’s legislators. Nine senators and 30 congressmen paid tribute to Harry Chapin on the floor, and not all of them were the kind of liberal Democrats on whose behalf Harry had campaigned for long and hard last fall.
"No less a conservative than Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas, not exactly known for his political generosity of sprit, called Chapin, ‘A liberal, and a liberal in the best sense of the word. He possessed a spirit of generosity and optimism that carried him through his various commitments with a great sense of seriousness and purpose. … What he was really committed to was decency and dignity.’ "
McMenamin agrees with that assessment and is looking forward to the concert in Lakewood.
"I feel it will be a very special evening honoring a very special man," he said.
Ticket prices are $35 for orchestra, $28 for loge and $22 for mezzanine.
Tickets can be ordered by calling (732) 367-7789 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by visiting the box office at the Strand.