Tracy took the world by storm with three songs on her debut album!
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles Fast Car, Talkin’ ’Bout A Revolution, and Baby Can I Hold You from her self-entitled titled debut album, Tracy Chapman.
Coming from the coffee shop scene in Massachusetts, Tracy not only sold multi-platinum and won three Grammy awards for her debut. She changed music history as she paved the way for other female acts with more political lyrics. Something that had gotten lost in the spandex and make-up of the 80s.
Following Tracy Chapman, many popular acts were now more honest. More female acoustic acts, like Jewel, were being signed in huge bidding wars by record labels as everyone was looking for the next Tracy Chapman.
A few years later, when male rock bands like grunge trio Nirvana and political metal hip-hoppers Rage Against The Machine became popular, the tide had shifted.
Hair metal was dead, and hundreds of rock bands were dropped overnight. There are numerous stories of band members going from sipping champagne on a private Jet to stacking shelves in their local supermarket overnight.
Tracy Chapman started a revolution
The original recording of Talking About A Revolution, or Talkin’ ’bout A Revolution as the album sleeve says, opened up the self-entitled masterpiece. This song epitomized the female songwriter, singing of political change from a street corner.
Before you even had a chance to turn the album over, fans were sold. Tracy Chapman was everyone’s new favorite singer-songwriter.
Women took to this record as something that spoke to them, it felt honest, genuine, and real. Again, very much in contrast to the direction the music industry, in general, had been going.
Following the success of her world-famous debut, Tracy Chapman has shared studios and stages with many famous artists.
On Tracy’s list of collaborations, you find B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Pavarotti, Buddy Guy, Ziggy Marley, and Dave Matthews.
In 1997, the Irish boy band Boyzone had a huge hit with Baby Can I Hold You which brought Tracy back into the charts with the same song, a decade later.
Boyzone attracted another generation of teenage girls to Tracy Chapman who saw a new revival.
Did Tracy Chapman’s debut album have the three strongest songs of an A-side? well, it’s definitely a contender!
Since the debut, Tracy has kept releasing albums, the tune Crossroads is pretty decent but to be honest, she never managed to live up to the success that her first, legendary album achieved.
Tracy Chapman tunes | Related pages
Fast Car
| Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 |
You got a fast car, I want a ticket to anywhere.
| Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 |
Maybe we make a deal, maybe together we can get somewhere.
Talking About A Revolution
| G Cadd9 | Em D Dus4 D |
Don’t you know, they’re talkin’ about a revolution,
| G Cadd9 | Em D Dus4 D |
it sounds, like a whisper.
Talking About A Revolution chords.
Tracy Chapman on the web
