Heads and Tails - 8

Harry's first real album as a singer-songwriter introduces us to his unique view of Americana - a world full of characters, lovers, Greyhound buses and much much more. It shows his beginnings as a chronicler of American life and the singing equivalent of Edward Hopper. More than anybody else Chapin told stories. His stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Many are autobiographical and ooze stories of missed opportunities and  underline the human condition better than any songwriter before or since. Heads and Tails introduces us to one of his most endearing songs and the one voted by his fans to be his best - Taxi.

Taxi is a typical Chapin effort - exploring relationships through the eyes of a San Francisco cabbie who comes across an old lover in his cab. Later he wrote the next chapter in the song Sequel. His lyricism shines through from the brilliantly evocative opening lines "It was raining hard in Frisco. I needed one more fare to make my night."

Sniper and Other Love Songs - 8

Harry's ability to mix beauty and the beast is illustrated with the opening two tracks of this album where the whimsical singalong beauty of "Sunday Morning Sunshine" gives way to the stark realism of "Sniper" which chronicles the life of a killer. overall the similarity between this album and Heads and Tails is very marked.

This album introduces us to two more Chapin classics in the wonderful Better Place to Be and Circle. The former is again one of the best loved songs, a tail of loneliness and ultimate redemption with the lines

"And if you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me. 'Cause I know I'm goin' nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be."

Short Stories - 8.5

Short Stories arguably saw Harry at his songwriting best - with all the rough corners smoothed out. Again it was full of classic heart-wrenching Chapin songs including the brilliant WOLD - the story of an over the hill disc jockey. It's a story of lost opportunity and confusion and contains my all time favourite lyric "Sometimes I get this crazy dream that I just took off in my car, but you can travel on 10,000 miles and just stay where you are."

Chapin's ability to invent characters that we love and feel sorry for in equal measure are never better underlined than in "Mail Order Annie" and "Mr Tanner."  Mail Order Annie has much in common with Better Place to Be from Sniper and Mr Tanner tells the story of a singer who is ridiculed for putting on a public concert that he is talked into doing. This song introduces us to the rich backing vocals of Big John Wallace.

Verities and Balderdash - 7

Perhaps the power of Harry Chain as a storyteller and moralist is summed up on the opening track of Verities "Cats in the Cradle" - the song of a relationship between a father and a son and the lost opportunities of a parent never there for a child. It is a song of sadness, regret and lost opportunities that has been used by family specialists across America.

Chapin also used this album to show his lighter side - although telling the story of a lorry driver who crashes with a truck carrying 30,000 tons of bananas might not be to everyone's cup of tea. I have to say it's one of my least favourite Chapin tracks, but one he used to good effect to involve the audience at concerts. The other fun track is Six String Orchestra which I believe turned up many years ago on the Muppet Show.

Portrait Gallery -7.5

If Harry's songwriting took a dip with Verities, he returned to form with Portrait Gallery. From the vaudeville swing of the opening song "Dreams Go By" to the last chord of "Stop Singing Those Sad Songs" we are introduced to Harry's world yet again. It's all here from the pure beauty of his song to his wife "Sandy" to the introspective songs like "Tangled up Puppet"