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Tracy Chapman: Telling Stories

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Tracy Chapman
Title: Telling Stories
Released: 2000
Label: Elektra Asylum Records
Time: 43:09
Producer(s): David Kershenbaum, Tracy Chapman
Appears with:
Category: Pop/Rock
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2001.01.08
Price in €: 6,99
Web address: www.tracychapman.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Telling Stories (T.Chapman) - 3:58
[2] Less Than Strangers (T.Chapman) - 3:20
[3] Speak the Word (T.Chapman) - 4:30
[4] It's Ok (T.Chapman) - 4:00
[5] Wedding Song (T.Chapman) - 4:36
[6] Unsung Psalm (T.Chapman) - 4:20
[7] Nothing Yet (T.Chapman) - 4:04
[8] Paper and Ink (T.Chapman) - 4:52
[9] Devotion (T.Chapman) - 2:48
[10] Only One (T.Chapman) - 3:08
[11] First Try (T.Chapman) - 3:33

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Tracy Chapman - Acoustic Guitar, Bouzouki, Harp, Vocals, Background Vocals, Art

Emmylou Harris - Vocals
Direction, Mixing, Baritone Guitar
Steve Hunter - Dulcimer, Lap Steel Guitar, Baritone Guitar
Scarlet Rivera - Violin
Alejandro "Alex" Acuña - Percussion
Duane Baron - Engineer, Mixing
Tommy Eyre - Organ, Keyboards
Denny Fongheiser - Percussion, Snare Drums
Howard Hersh - Bass
Larry Klein - Bass
Iki Levy - Programming, Drum Programming
JayDee Mannes - Pedal Steel Guitar
John Pierce - Bass
Tim Pierce - Baritone & Acoustic Guitar, Dobro, Mandolin, Sitar
Patrick Warren - Keyboards, Chamberlain
Eric Rigler - Uillean Pipes, Low Whistle
Rock Deadrick - Background Vocals
Andy Stoller - Bass

David Kershenbaum - Mixing
Bob Ludwig - Mastering
Roger Sommers - Assistant Engineer
Herb Ritts - Portraits
John Heiden - Design
Jeri Heiden - Design
Martie Kolbl - Production Coordination
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2000 CD Elektra 62478
2000 CS Elektra 62478

There's nothing particularly fancy about Tracy Chapman's particular brand of folk-rock; she just blends the folk into the rock more appealingly than most anyone out there. Her music has enough verve to have vaulted her out of obscurity twice. Her fifth jaunt, TELLING STORIES, continues her charmingconsistency with an alluring set of picture-perfect tunes.
The bouncy title track opens the album with a clever circular play on a deceptively simple line, "there's a fiction in the space between.".., which makes it clear from the startthat Tracy remembers the value of a good pop song. Good popsongs abound on TELLING STORIES, from the country-rock of "Less Than Strangers" to the singer-songwriter folk of "Unsung Psalm" to the upbeat dance of "It's OK". Between her acclaimed debut and TELLING STORIES, very little about Chapman has changed, which is both comforting and good, the world needs good, well-meaning folk-pop songwriters and good, well-meaning folk-pop songs.



Forget that Tracy Chapman's fourth album shares a title with the Charlatans [UK]'s fifth album (and sole masterpiece) Telling Stories - as far any fan knows, Chapman probably isn't even aware of the Madchester group's existence. Instead, it should be viewed as what it is - the sequel to New Beginning, the album that reaffirmed Chapman's status as a fine singer/songwriter to a wide audience. That record became a hit thanks to a bluesy, hooky cut called "Give Me One Reason." Telling Stories, as the title suggests, leans toward narratives, but not necessarily in the conventional sense of the term. There are no story songs, in the way that "Fast Car" was a story. Instead, they are emotional, poetic snapshots - sort of like the musical equivalent of a dense, impressionistic short story. Chapman's songs on Telling Stories may not be as packed with detail as, say, Raymond Carver's work, but they certainly have a way of creating impressionistic lyrics, making short lines mean a lot. Also, the last album taught her a valuable lesson: her lyrics can be rich, but her compositions won't work collectively as a record if she doesn't craft melodic songs and warm productions. That's exactly what she delivers on Telling Stories. Some may think she does this to a fault - it's easy to coast on the sound of the record without digging into the lyrics - but the end result is basically the same: a strong, appealing collection of sturdy, tuneful, and evocative songs. This album may not sparkle with genius, as her debut did, nor is it as direct as its predecessor, but it's a strong, solid record that maintains Chapman's reputation as a reliably intriguing and substantive singer/songwriter.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide



Telling Stories is Chapman's first album in over four years. With this collection she has gone back to the spare, unsentimental feel of her early work, recapturing some of the urgency and simple melody lines that made her 1988 self-titled debut such a classic. There's maturity here, and strong sense of spiritual metaphor. On "Unsung Psalm", for instance, she imagines her funeral, singing: "I'd have a halo and flowing white robes / If I live right", while "Wedding Song" has the devotional line: "I reach out for your hand / For you I'd don a veil". The musical arrangements, too, are pared-down, with ghostly bluegrass banjo, silvery fiddle and guitar woven into subtle drum loops. Though not as immediate as her debut, it's Chapman's most focused work in a long time.

Lucy O'Brien, Amazon.co.uk



Despite multiple Grammys and pop hits like 1988's "Fast Car" and 1995's "Give Me One Reason," Tracy Chapman remains a songwriter in the tale-spinning tradition, and she returns to that well on TELLING STORIES. Five years have passed since Chapman's NEW BEGINNING, and the slow-cooked numbers on this remarkable new collection pick up on her continued renaissance. TELLING STORIES may lack a single as riveting as Chapman's big hits, but her rich voice is as powerful as ever, and even more nuanced. The title track and "Less Than Strangers" are buoyed by organ accompaniment that adds a '60s folk-rock flavor à la Counting Crows, while "Devotion" and the particularly haunting "It's OK" are spare numbers that draw their power from African percussion. Breaking down the dynamics of relationships, Chapman's smart songs present detailed portraits that resonate and glow with each listen. In the past, her serious demeanor sometimes undercut the goodwill of her early hits, but TELLING STORIES, while certainly not lighthearted, is imbued with an easygoing confidence that makes the disc one of Chapman's most satisfying.

Martin Johnson, Barnes & Noble



Das fünfte Album der afroamerikanischen Singer/Songwriterin Tracy Chapman thematisiert mehrdeutig das Thema Wahrheit. Ob nun die fragende Liebe auf "Speak The Word", das Abklopfen gewisser Illusionen in unserer Welt auf "Paper And Ink" und im Titelstück die Wahrheit hinter erzählten Geschichten, Überliefertem und Fabuliertem. Was ist Dichtung, was Wahrheit, was Einbildung? Tracy Chapman, die 1988 mit ihrem gleichnamigen Debütalbum und der Hitsingle "Talking 'Bout A Revolution" drei Grammies einheimste, gilt seitdem als das musikalische Gewissen der Musikbranche, als die neue, vor allem aber schwarze Joan Baez. Die promovierte Anthropologin aus Cleveland, Ohio hat sich nach dem Album New Beginning drei Jahre Zeit genommen, um diesen entspannten Songzyklus mit ihrem ehemaligen Erfolgsproduzenten Davide Kershenbaum und einer Batterie altmodischer Instrumente einzuspielen. Mit Dulcimer, Dobro, elektrischer Sitar, irischen Whistles und Pipes, Mandoline, Pedal-Steel-Gitarre und Violine ergänzt sie die fein gesponnenen Arrangements ihren simplen Folkmelodien zwischen Country und Blues. Sie selbst untermalt ihre spröde Stimme mit Akustik- und E-Gitarre, Bouzouki und Melody Harp, und der gute Larry Klein zupft den melodischen Bass. Sozialkritsches wie "Nothing Yet" über den neuen Gesellschaftsstatus schwarzer Amerikaner verpackt sie in ironische Gospel-Perkussions, weil zwischen Gestern und Heute noch gewaltige Sprünge klaffen.

Ingeborg Schober, Amazon.de



With Telling Stories, her first album since 1995's New Beginnings, Tracy Chapman returns to the spare, unsentimental feel of her early work. In doing so, she recaptures some of the urgency and simple melodiousness that made her debut a soulful folk-rock classic. There's maturity here, exemplified by recurring spiritual metaphors. On "Unsung Psalm" she imagines her funeral, singing, "I'd have a halo and flowing white robes / If I live right." "Wedding Song" offers the plainspoken, devotional line, "I reach out for your hand / For you I'd don a veil." The musical arrangements, too, are pared-down, with ghostly banjo, silvery fiddle, and guitar woven into subtle drum loops. Though not as immediately captivating as her debut, Telling Stories is a focused return to form for Chapman.

Lucy O'Brien, Amazon.com



Four years after her left-field hit "Give Me One Reason" prompted an unexpected career resurgence, not-so-neo-folkie Tracy Chapman returns with Telling Stories, her finest record since her eponymously titled 1988 debut. Despite the presence of assorted exotica like electric sitars and uillean pipes, Stories has the feel of an old-school folk record. Stripped down and, as is Chapman's wont, relentlessly glum, it's nevertheless an affecting and frequently stunning record. Like much in the Chapman oeuvre, Stories is filled with the relentless self-examination typically afforded only to folk singers and Woody Allen. That Chapman actually has something to say, and a deft, if not exactly new, way of saying it, helps keep the record from veering toward navel-gazing self-absorption, if only just. That more self-examination necessarily means such less overtly political tracks as New Beginning's laugh-a-minute "The Rape of the World" can only be a good thing, too. On Stories, the personal is political: The strummy, almost-lighthearted single "Telling Stories" and "It's OK," which possesses the closest thing the record has to a danceable groove, address the same sort of glamorous, faithless lover limned so neatly in "Fast Car." "The Only One" is transformed from a perfectly respectable pop-lite ballad into something almost transcendent by the presence of Emmylou Harris (whose ability to salvage middling pop songs was similarly evident on the last Luscious Jackson record). Only on the repetitive "Speak the Word" and the slightly clunky "Paper and Ink" does Chapman misstep. The latter's central sentiment -- "Money's only paper / Only ink" -- has the sort of rock-star offhandedness of which Chapman is not usually guilty. A meditation on the spiritual unimportance of money might have been more effective coming from someone who has less of it.

Allison Stewart, CDNow.com
February 14, 2000



For her fifth album, Chapman worked with David Kershenbaum, the producer of her stunning 1988 debut. Together they incorporate subtle technical effects and flavorings from electric sitars and uillean pipes into Chapman's neo-folk sound. With songs that are both introspective and political, Chapman's mellow, yet intense and expressive voice delivers stinging barbs that strike close to our collective national heart. In a particularly biting lyrical moment in the song "Nothing Yet," she ponders the African-American experience and weaves biting phrases such as "From 40 acres to a 40 ounce" into her sinewy guitar lines.

D.M. Avery - Mar 06, 2000
CMJ New Music Report Issue: 656



You could say Tracy Chapman's biggest sin has been assaying every subject with so much measured calm that passion is sometimes doused in the process. On her fifth LP - her first since 1995's New Beginning - Chapman doesn't show evidence of having changed much. She has a tendency to fret about bad things long before they actually happen. "What if I should find you're no good for me?/What if I can't be strong enough?" she sings on "Devotion." The unexamined life may not be worth living, but that doesn't always mean the examined one is worth singing about. That said, there's a comforting consistency about Telling Stories - you can hear layers of confidence behind Chapman's sound. If there's no song here that captures the offhand intensity of Chapman's first hit, 1988's "Fast Car," the good news is that you don't hear Chapman desperately trying to capture it. Her silvered-gauze voice, after twelve years on the scene, shows no signs of stress, no evidence that she feels any pressure to try for a hit. She knows what she does well and sticks to it, and if the resulting songs don't shake the earth, there's no getting away from their careful craftsmanship. Radiant organ lines and silky interwoven guitars suffuse "It's OK" with a peculiar brand of laid-back energy - they're restful without being stultifying. And gentle plucked strings give "First Try" a Far Eastern-sounding sense of tranquillity, the song's contours polished smooth as a worry stone. Like most of Chapman's work, Telling Stories isn't fueled by overt passion. What's surprising is how well she keeps it running on cool.

STEPHANIE ZACHAREK
RollingStone.com (RS 835)



Recorded at Royaltone Studios, North Hollywood, California. There's nothing particularly fancy about Tracy Chapman's particular brand of folk-rock; she just blends the folk into the rock more appealingly than most anyone out there. Her music has enough verve to have vaulted her out of obscurity twice. Her fifth jaunt, TELLING STORIES, continues her charming consistency with an alluring set of picture-perfect tunes. The bouncy title track opens the album with a clever circular play on a deceptively simple line, "there's a fiction in the space between...," which makes it clear from the start that Tracy remembers the value of a good pop song. Good pop songs abound on TELLING STORIES, from the country-rock of "Less Than Strangers" to the singer-songwriter folk of "Unsung Psalm" to the upbeat dance of "It's OK." Between her acclaimed debut and TELLING STORIES, very little about Chapman has changed, which is both comforting and good, the world needs good, well-meaning folk-pop songwriters and good, well-meaning folk-pop songs.

CDUniverse.com



Rolling Stone (3/2/00, p.96) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...there's a comforting consistency about [this album] - you can hear layers of confidence behind Chapman's sound....Her silvered-gauze voice...shows no signs of stress....It's surprising how well she keeps running on cool."

Entertainment Weekly (2/18/00, p.86) - "...folkish, watercolor-hued meditations on love and good ol' social consciousness....[She] remains an enigma: an intelligent, levelheaded craftsperson unable to convey any emotion beyond resignation..." - Rating: B

Mojo (3/00, p.102) - "...Chapman alights on a lyric of such universal insight that the world stops for four minutes while it washes over you....TELLING STORIES is an uplifting affirmation of eternal values..."

Uncut (3/00, p.92) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This is an album of honesty and compassion that will continue to have a shelf life long after the din and clamour of current pop fad and fashion have faded from memory..."

CMJ (3/6/00, p.31) - "...incorporates subtle technical effects and flavorings from electric sitars and uillean pipes into Chapman's neo-folk sound....mellow, yet intense and expressive..."

NME (3/18/00, p.34) - 6 out of 10 - "...intense, folksy songs, voicing personal dismay and sufferation on a wider scale....consistently mournful, the music rarely developing beyond a polite skank..."
 

 L y r i c s


Telling Stories

There is fiction in the space between
The lines on your page of memories
Write it down but it doesn't mean
You're not just telling stories

There is fiction in the space between
You and reality
You will do and say anything
To make your everyday life
Seem less mundane
There is fiction in the space between
You and me

There's a science fiction in the space between
You and me
A fabrication of a grand scheme
Where I am the scary monster
I eat the city and as I leave the scene
In my spaceship I am laughing
In your remembrance of your bad dream
There's no one but you standing

Leave the pity and the blame
For the ones who do not speak
You write the words to get respect and compassion
And for posterity
You write the words and make believe
There is truth in the space between

There is fiction in the space between
You and everybody
Give us all what we need
Give us one more sad sordid story
But in the fiction of the space between
Sometimes a lie is the best thing
Sometimes a lie is the best thing


Less Than Strangers

You and me
Had some history
Had a semblance of honesty
All that has changed now
We shared words
Only lover speak
How can it be
We are less than strangers

Oh it hurts to lose in love
Let anger and cruelty win
It's unfair that you doubt your feelings
And that you'll ever love again
I know that hearts can change
Like the seasons and the wind
But when I said forever
I thought that we'd always be friends

You and me had some history
Had a semblance of honesty
All that has changed now
We shared words
Only lovers speak
How can it be
We are less than strangers

I thought I saw you yesterday
I thought I passed you on the street
I swear I saw your face
I was not imagining
That you stole a glance my way
You walked away from me
My heart it may be broken
But my eyes are dry to see

You and me had some history
Had a semblance of honesty
All that has changed now
We shared words
Only lovers speak
How can it be
We are less than strangers


Speak The Word

Unsettled hearts
Promise what they can't deliver
Bring me the wine
And the cold night air to clear my head
Gray matter memory house
Master of this trembling flesh
Steady still my doubts
Let me speak the word that precedes bliss
Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word

Love love love love love love love love

Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word

Love love love love love love love love

Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word

Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word

These weakened knees
Have not touched ground or pew in ages
I haven't bowed my head
I offer thanks to any god or to ask for favors
But watch me now
I'm falling down
Praying
To speak the word that precedes bliss
To speak the word
To speak the word

Love love love love love love love love

Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word

Love love love love love love love love

Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word

Let me speak the word
Let me speak the word


It's OK

It's OK
Love is only meant for some
I'm the rock
The shoulder you can cry on
I keep the walls from falling down
I keep the walls from falling down
I keep the walls from falling down

I'll play it straight
While you laugh and drink and party all night long
I'll designate myself
To be the driver who takes you home
I keep the walls from falling down
I keep the walls from falling down

You can be pretty and tragic
I'll try to keep the walls from falling down
You can be beautiful and fabulous
I'll try to keep the walls from falling down
I can't reach the pain you feel
But I'll try to keep the walls from falling down
If you can hold on
Lose your fear
I'll try to keep the walls from falling down
Falling down
Falling down
Where is your saint?
To let you know you're not alone
To bring you peace
Help me be your friend your confidante
And keep the walls from falling down
Keep the walls from falling down
Keep the walls from falling down


Wedding Song

I've been having dreams and visions
In them you are always standing
Right beside me
I reach out for your hand
To see your arms extending
outstretched towards me

For you I don the veil
By your light
Others pale by comparison
I place my faith in love
My fate in this communication

I've been having dreams and visions
In them you are always standing
Right beside me
I reach out for your hand
To see your arms extending
Outstretched towards me

To you I give my pledge
I honor all that's good
In this life we're living
To think not only of myself
But of the greater union

Can I get a witness
There is salvation and rapture for the lonely
Can I get a witness
Bless this day sacred and holy
Sacred and Holy

I've been having dreams and visions
In them you are always standing
Right beside me
I reach out for your hand
To see your arms extending
Outstretched towards me

With you I am revealed
All my shame all my faults and virtues
Behold body mind and spirit
Heart and soul devoted all to you

Can I get a witness
Bless this day sacred and holy
Sacred and Holy


Unsung Psalm

There would be psalms sung by a choir
I would have a white robe a halo newly acquired
I'd be at peace and I'd have no desire
If I'd lived right

There would be cherubs with tiny harps arrows and bows
I'd have a halo and a flowing white robe
I'd be enfolded by a celestial light
If I'd lived right

But I'm feeling hot and bothered under the collar
I feel the sweat breaking out on my brow
I feel the heat and I know it's the passion
The love I can't disavow

If this is a dream wake me up now
If this is a movie let's edit these scenes out
It would be a PG instead of an X-rated life
If I'd lived right

Some would call me a cheat call me a liar
Say that I've been defeated by the basest desired
Yes I have strayed and succumbed to my vices
But I tried to live right

But I have no regrets no guilt in my heart
I only feel sadness for any pain that I've caused
I guess I wouldn't bother to worry at all
If I'd lived right

Do you live by the book do you play by the rules?
Do you care what is thought by others about you?
If this day is all that is promised to you
Do you life for the future the present the past?

If there is one thing I know I know I will die
If anyone cares some stranger my critique my life
I may be revered or defamed and decried
But I tried to live right

There would be psalms sung by a choir
I would have a white robe a halo newly acquired
I'd be at peace and I'd have no desire
If I'd lived right


Nothing Yet

Good times and bad
Seen them both
Hope fly out the window
Fortune walk through the door
Learned not to believe
This is as good as it gets
Because we ain't seen nothing yet

Hands untied
But the same shuffle once again
Running all the time
Ain't going nowhere
It's a new page in the same book
It's a new game with the same rules
The lights go down
Fade to black on the set
And we ain't seen nothing yet

Saddled with bonds
Broken and in disrepair
Forty acres to a forty-ounce
Don't seem fair
The sirens rise and wail
Shadowed by Liberty's torch
As the boats that brought us over
Are slowly sinking off the shore
And we ain't seen nothing yet

This life a crime
A blessing and a curse
Chosen and unwanted
Displaced and usurped
I'd run away
But there is nowhere to go
So I'll stand and fight
And hope and pray
That the best is yet to come
And we ain't seen nothing yet


Paper And Ink

Touched the mirror
Broke the surface of the water
Saw my true self
All illusions shattered

Money's only paper only ink
We'll destroy ourselves if we can't agree
How the world turns
Who made the sun
Who owns the sea
The world we know will fall piece by piece

Sat down up close to the colored black hole
Like they'd always told me not to
Saw the one dimension polka dot pacifier
And all illusions shattered

Money's only paper only ink
We'll destroy ourselves if we can't agree
How the world turns
Who made the sun
Who owns the sea
The world we know will fall piece by piece

Bared myself wholly heart and body unadorned
Stripped down solely
To the evil and the good
Felt no shame
Naked to the world
And all illusions shattered

Money's only paper only ink
We'll destroy ourselves if we can't agree
How the world turns
Who made the sun
Who owns the sea
The world we know will fall piece by piece

Faced towards the sea
Looked to heaven up above
Felt the world revolve around me
No one could tell me otherwise
But the turbulent waters won't reflect this life
Only the sun the moon and sky
And all illusions shattered

Money's only paper only ink
We'll destroy ourselves if we can't agree
How the world turns
Who made the sun
Who owns the sea
The world we know will fall piece by piece

Money's only paper only ink


Devotion

If I am right
If I can be
Constant and faithful
You'll find me

In my devotion
In my devotion

What if you find a fault
Between my purpose and my deeds
And deem me beyond salvation
Judge me to be unworthy

Of your devotion
Of your devotion

If this be obsession deliver me
A passing infatuation deliver me
A feeling lacking in purity deliver me
A test of fidelity deliver me
Deliver me
Deliver me

What if I should find
You're no good for me
What if I can't be strong enough
What if I can't break free

Of my devotion
Of my devotion


The Only One

She was the only one
Of my flesh and blood
Now I have no calling
I can do no worldly good

I sit silent
I sit mourning
I sit listless all the day
I've mostly lost the voice to speak
And any words to say except
Does heaven have enough angels yet?

I've gone hard
And I've gone cold
I can't make the piece of this cracked life fit
Please forgive me for wanting to know
Does heaven have enough angels yet?

She was the only one
Of my own flesh and blood
Sometimes I hear her calling
Straight from the house of god


First Try

Can't run fast enough
Can't hide I can't fly
I'm struggling with the limits of this ordinary life

I'm just a
Just a
Just a first try

Can't hear what you say
Can't see by the light
I'm struggling with the limits of this ordinary life

I'm just a
Just a
Just a first try

Can't say what I mean
Can't love from the heart
Can't trust in the mercy and the goodness in the world
Can't learn to accept that it's alright
To struggle with the limits of this ordinary life

Can't be
Just a
Just a first try
Can't be
Just a
Just a first try
Just a
Just a
Just a first try

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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