{"product_id":"michael-chapman-window","title":"Michael Chapman - Window","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e* Contextualizing essay by Michael‰۪s wife, Andru Chapman, featuring unseen archive photosåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e* Remastered from the original tapesåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e* LP housed in a deluxe Stoughton gatefold ‰ÛÏtip-on‰۝ jacketåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eEvery artist has a piece of work that niggles them‰ÛÓsomething that they wish they could redo, given the chance. It‰۪såÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ewhy Paul McCartney once reproduced Let It Be and why Kate Bush re-recorded Wuthering Heights for her best-ofåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ealbum. For the prolific Michael Chapman, that album is Window, the missing link in the series of Chapman‰۪s earlyåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ealbums being reissued by Light In The Attic Records. Window sits just after the previously released Fully QualifiedåÊ\u003c\/span\u003eSurvivor and Rainmaker, right before Wrecked Again.åÊ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eIn 1970, signed to the hip Harvest label (home to Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett, among others), Chapman was still anåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eartist waiting for that first big success, perpetually skint and permanently touring to make ends meet. With that in mind,åÊ\u003c\/span\u003ehe aimed to make Window in as little time as possible because being in the studio meant not being on the road.åÊ\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eProducer Gus Dudgeon‰ÛÒwho‰۪d been working with Elton John‰ÛÒhad other ideas and booked Chapman and his band intoåÊ\u003c\/span\u003eone of the UK‰۪s most expensive studios, Trident.åÊ\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eThe singer-songwriter and prodigious guitarist was in transition from his folkier origins to his heavier future and headingåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003efor a whole mess of trouble with the same year‰۪s Wrecked Again. Given the touring bust-ups and tortured recordingåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003esessions to come, Michael‰۪s wife Andru Chapman remembers the recording of Window was noted for a ‰ÛÏlack ofåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ehiccups. No one threw their toys out of the pram, unlike Wrecked Again.‰۝ Recorded with U.S. guitar player PhilåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eGreenberg, violin player Johnny Van Derek, and pianist Alex Atterson, the album has a blend of electric and acousticåÊ\u003c\/span\u003einstruments, both traditional and experimental at once, synthetic sounds melding with finger-picked guitars.åÊ\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eThe trouble came later. Immediately after recording finished, Michael took the band back out on the road with theåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eunderstanding that as soon as he got back, he‰۪d put the final acoustic guitar tracks down to replace what he‰۪s alwaysåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003esaid were only guide tracks. Unfortunately, Harvest‰۪s parent label decided the album was finished and pressed it upåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eanyway. And Chapman, as a result, hates it. Indeed, 34 years later he even set out to right the wrong, re-recordingåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eparts of the LP and noting it was a strange experience listening to ‰ÛÏdead people on the between-track studio chatter‰۝åÊ\u003c\/span\u003e(Dudgeon, engineer Robin Cable, and drummer Richie Dharma have all since passed).åÊ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eAs part of Light In The Attic‰۪s revival of Chapman‰۪s early career, however, the album is presented as was originallyåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ereleased, with Michael's blessing and albeit with two CD-only bonus tracks. Andru notes, \"Warts and all, it is anåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eimportant part of the Michael Chapman: The Early Years story.‰۝ Michael has been less diplomatic in talking about theåÊ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ealbum. \"It is a piece of my history for those interested in that, even though I think it sounds like a piece of crap,‰۝ heåÊ\u003c\/span\u003esays.åÊ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"South Records Ltd","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":64322946269561,"sku":null,"price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0973\/1463\/6153\/files\/michael-chapman-window-south-records-ltd_d2d83743-fe53-4e91-9828-9516f3b353c0.jpg?v=1787904203","url":"https:\/\/vinyl-relic.com\/products\/michael-chapman-window","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}