Tracy Chapman (album)

Tracy Chapman is the debut album by the American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 5, 1988, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded at the Powertrax studio in Hollywood, California. In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. He offered to show her work to his father, who owned a successful publishing company; however, she did not consider the offer to be serious. After multiple performances, however, Koppelman found a demo tape of her singing "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", which he promoted to radio stations, and she was eventually signed to Elektra.

In early attempts to produce the first album, many producers turned down Chapman as they did not favor her musical direction. David Kershenbaum, however, decided to produce it as he wanted to record an acoustic music album. It was recorded in Hollywood, California, in eight weeks. Most of the writing is based on political and social causes.

Tracy Chapman quickly gained critical acclaim from a wide majority of music critics, praising the album's simplicity, Chapman's vocal ability and her political and social lyrical content. The album achieved commercial success in most of the countries it was released, making it to the top of the charts in many countries, including Austria, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. It peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales exceeding over six million copies in the United States alone.

Three singles were released from the album, with the most successful single being "Fast Car". The song was performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. It rose to the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also did well in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. Tracy Chapman is one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 20 million units worldwide.

In April 2025, it was inducted into National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

Background

In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. In an interview, Koppelman said, "I was helping organize a boycott protest against apartheid at school, and [someone] told me there was this great protest singer I should get to play at the rally." He went to see Chapman perform at a coffeehouse called Cappuccino, adding, "Tracy walked onstage, and it was like an epiphany. Her presence, her voice, her songs, her sincerity—it all came across."

After this, Koppelman told Chapman that his father, Charles Koppelman, was at the time a co-owner of SBK Publishing and that he could help her make a record. She did not consider the offer seriously.

They then found Kershenbaum, who later recalled, "I'd been looking for something acoustic to do for some time," adding, "There was a sense in the industry of a slight boredom with everything out there and that people might be willing to listen again to lyrics and to someone who made statements." Chapman's greatest concern during her meetings with Kershenbaum was that the integrity of her songs remain intact, because she wanted to record "real simple". Kershenbaum said, "I wanted to make sure that she was in front, vocally and thematically, and that everything was built around her." Every song that was featured on the resultant studio album had been featured on her demo tape, except for "Fast Car", which was one of the last songs recorded for the album. Kershenbaum recalled that the first time she sang and performed it for him, he "loved it the minute I heard it." Chapman was also interviewed and talked about the background of the album, stating, "The first record [Tracy Chapman] is seen as being more social commentary... more political. But I think that's just all about perspective."

| rev2 = Los Angeles Times

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| rev3 = NME

| rev3score = 8/10

| rev4 = Orlando Sentinel

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| rev5 = The Philadelphia Inquirer

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| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 9.4/10

| rev7 = Q

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| rev8 = Rolling Stone

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| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

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| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10score = B+

Critical

According to Rolling Stone, Chapman "caught everyone's ear in the hair-metal late Eighties" with the album. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice found "Fast Car" and "Mountains o' Things" very perceptive and Chapman an innately gifted singer but was disappointed by the presence of "begged questions" and "naive left-folkie truisms", such as "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" and "Why": "She's too good for such condescension ... Get real, girl." The following week, it reached No. 77 By June 22, it was awarded gold record status by the RIAA. By July 27, it was awarded platinum status, having sold 1,000,000 copies. Ultimately, it sold over 20 million copies worldwide and is one of the first albums by a female artist to have more than 10 million copies sold worldwide.

Awards

31st Annual Grammy Awards

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="6" style="text-align:center;"| Grammy Awards

! Year

! style="width:200px;" | Work

! style="width:300px;" | Award

! style="width:65px;"| Result

! style="width:20px;"| Ref

|rowspan=7|1989

|rowspan=2|Tracy Chapman

|Album of the Year

| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;"|

|Best Contemporary Folk Album

|rowspan=3|"Fast Car"

|Song of the Year

|Record of the Year

|Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

|Tracy Chapman

|Best New Artist

|David Kershenbaum

|Producer of the Year

| style="text-align:center;"|

Legacy

In 1989, the album was rated No. 10 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of the 80s". No. 263 in a 2012 revised list, and No. 256 in a 2020 revised list.

Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 49 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

The album was critically acclaimed and helped to revive the singer-songwriter tradition. Additionally, it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, higher than Chapman's original version. Chapman and Combs subsequently performed the song together live at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024.

In 2025, the album was inducted into National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant".

Musicians

Tracy Chapman – all vocals; acoustic guitar (1–3, 8–10), electric guitar (1–2, 6–7), percussion (1–2, 10), rhythm guitar (5)
Denny Fongheiser – drums (1–3, 5, 7–10), percussion (1, 5, 8, 10)
Larry Klein – bass guitar (1–3, 5, 7–10)
Jack Holder – Hammond organ (1, 5, 7–8), electric guitar (1, 7–8), hammer dulcimer (3), electric sitar (5), dobro (9), acoustic piano (10)
Ed Black – steel guitar (2, 9)
Bob Marlette – keyboards (5–6)
David LaFlamme – electric violin (5)
Steve Kaplan – keyboards (6–7), synth harmonica (9)
Paulinho da Costa – percussion (6–8)

Technical

David Kershenbaum – producer
Don Rubin – executive producer
Brian Koppelman – executive producer
Kevin W. Smith – engineer, mixing
Carol Bobolts – art direction
Matt Mahurin – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1988–2025)

! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position

!scope="row"|Argentina (CAPIF)

| 1

! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (RPM)

| 1

! scope="row"| Croatian International Albums (HDU)

| 5

!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)

|align="center"|2

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1988)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 7

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 13

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 5

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 6

! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 11

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 6

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 21

! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)

| 100

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1989)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 46

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 1

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 91

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 3

! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 27

! scope="row"|Portugal Albums (AFP)

| 3

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 10

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 41