The arrival and tragic departure of Harry Chapin left many fans overwhelmed with his genuine music and lyricism, and with his sad death. From 1972 through 1980, Harry Chapin recorded and released eight studio albums. His most notable was, of course, his 1974 classic album, Verities & Balderdash. It sold almost three-million copies and generated the hit, “Cat’s In The Cradle”, endearing a solid base of fans.
On March 25, Strawberry Records (via Cherry Red UK) will release a 6CD Box overlooking the Elektra years of Harry Chapin ranging from 1972 through 1978. In those years, Harry Chapin released eight studio albums and a well-received Live album – Greatest Stories Live. The 6CD Box is being called Story Book – The Elektra Albums 1972-1978.
Story Book will provide all eight albums as well as the Greatest Stories Live set, all with brand new 2022 remastering. A rich booklet will be packed in with notes and photos about those albums as well as his years as an artist. There are no bonus tracks but to have the original albums newly remastered, collected in one clamshell-styled box, with a wealth of photos and notes is a treat all by itself. (I admit to not being a fan of album continuation across separate CDs as this collection does.)
Story Book: The Elektra Years 1972-1978 – Harry Chapin
CD1 (Heads & Tails/Sniper and Other Love Songs)
Heads & Tails
01 Could You Put Your Light On, Please
02 Greyhound
03 Everybody’s Lonely
04 Sometime, Somewhere Wife
05 Empty
06 Taxi
07 Any Old Kind Of Day
08 Dogtown
09 Same Sad Singer
Sniper And Other Love Songs
10 Sunday Morning Sunshine
11 Sniper
12 And The Baby Never Cries
13 Burning Herself
14 Barefoot Boy
15 Better Place To Be
CD2 (Sniper And Other Love Songs continued/Short Stories/Verities & Balderdash)
Sniper and Other Love Songs (continued)
01 Circle
02 Woman Child
03 Winter Song Short Stories
Short Stories
4 Short Stories
5 WOLD
6 Song For Myself
7 Song Man
8 Changes
9 They Call Her Easy
10 Mr Tanner
11 Mail Order Annie
12 There’s A Lot Of Lonely People Tonight
13 Old College Avenue
Verities And Balderdash
14 Cat’s In The Cradle
15 I Wanna Learn A love Song
16 Shooting Star
17 30,000 Pounds Of Bananas
18 She Sings Songs Without Words
CD3 (Verities & Balderdash continued/Portrait Gallery/Greatest Stories Live)
Verities & Balderdash (continued)
01 What Made America Famous?
02 Vacancy
03 Halfway To Heaven
04 Six String Orchestra
Portrait Gallery
5 Dreams Go By
6 Tangled Up Puppet
7 Star Tripper
8 Babysitter
9 Someone Keeps Calling My Name
10 The Rock
11 Sandy
12 Dirt Gets Under The Fingernails
13 Bummer
14 Stop Singing These Sad Songs
Greatest Stories Live
15 Dreams Go By
16 WOLD
CD4 (Greatest Stories Live continued/On The Road To Kingdom Come)
Greatest Stories Live (continued)
01 Saturday Morning
02 I Wanna Learn A Love Song
03 Mr Tanner
04 A Better Place To Be 5 Let Time Go Lightly
06 Cat’s In The Cradle
07 Taxi
08 Circle
09 30,000 Pounds Of Bananas
10 She Is Always Seventeen
11 Love Is Just Another Word
12 The Shortest Story
On The Road To Kingdom Come
13 On The Road To Kingdom Come
14 The Parade’s Still Passing By
CD5 (On The Road To Kingdom Come continued/Dance Band On The Titanic)
On The Road To Kingdom Come (continued)
01 The Mayor Of Candor Lied
02 Laugh Man
03 Corey’s Coming
04 If My Mary Were Here
05 Fall In Love With Him
06 Caroline
07 Roll Down The River
Dance Band On The Titanic
08 Dance Band On The Titanic
09 Why Should People Stay The Same
10 My Old Lady
11 We Grew Up A Little Bit
12 Bluesman
13 Country Dreams
14 I Do It For You, Jane
15 I Wonder What Happened To Him
CD6 (Dance Band On The Titanic continued/Living Room Suite)
Dance Band On The Titanic (continued)
01 Paint A Picture Of Yourself (Michael)
02 Mismatch
03 Mercenaries
04 Manhood
05 One Light In A Dark Alley (An Imitation Spiritual)
06 There Was Only One Choice
Living Room Suite
07 Dancin’ Boy
08 If You Want To Feel
09 Poor Damned Fool
10 I Wonder What Would Happen To This World
11 Jenny
12 It Seems You Only Love Me When It Rains
13 Why Do Little Girls
14 Flowers Are Red
15 Somebody Said