Tom Chapin
To the extent that he wasn't overshadowed by his late brother, Harry, Chapin has been largely categorized as a children's performer by virtue of such projects as his TV series Make a Wish and his LP Cabbage Patch Dreams. As a folksinger, though, he is at least his brother's equal. Certainly his songs are less prone to melodrama than Harry's were, and this album shows he knows what adult life is about, too, with such tracks as Just a Woman, Song for Bonnie (Bonnie being his wife) and Small Business Blues, an anti-import political song written by Howard Bursen. The LP also includes one of Harry's ballads, Remember When the Music. Chapin's instrumental backing is spare, notably Walt Michael's hammer dulcimer and Eric Weisberg's (and Chapin's own) banjo. This is '60s-style folkie stuff, modest and intimate, which is not to be confused with something old fashioned. Hearing a quiet singer such as Chapin sing a quiet romantic song such as Let Me Back into Your Life is still one of the more serene pleasures of pop music. (Flying Fish)
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