Michael Chapman is a British guitarist and singer-songwriter from Leeds, associated with folk and jazz, and also with the folk and progressive music scenes. He starts out playing guitar with jazz bands before becoming known on the London and Cornwall folk club circuit in the late 1960s.

Early career

Chapman appears on the folk circuit in 1967, including at Piper's Folk Club in Penzance, where he plays alongside John Martyn and Roy Harper. He builds a reputation as a virtuosic guitarist with an often unusual song style and vocals, and his work sits between folk-rock and psychedelic jazz.

Albums and recordings

His first album is Rainmaker in 1969. His second album, Fully Qualified Survivor, appears in 1970, is produced by Gus Dudgeon, and has string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. It includes his best-known track, Postcards of Scarborough, and features Mick Ronson, Rick Kemp and others.

After touring the United States with Rick Kemp, he signs to Decca subsidiary Deram and records a more rock-oriented series of albums. His records from this period gain support from John Peel and Charles Shaar Murray, and he remains a regular live draw on the college circuit in the UK and mainland Europe.

Later career

Chapman's Decca deal ends in 1977, and from 1978 he is associated with Criminal Records; both labels issue versions of The Man Who Hated Mornings. He continues to perform and record steadily, sometimes with a full group and often with Rick Kemp alone.

The 1980s are a quieter period, but he keeps recording music that crosses genres and puts his guitar playing forward. From the late 1990s he has a renewed profile, with critical attention for albums including Navigation, Dreaming Out Loud and Still Making Rain.

From the 21st century onwards, he also releases instrumental albums alongside song-based records. Americana and Words Fail Me include soundscapes inspired by travels in America and show the guitar work associated with his earlier Harvest and Decca years.

Recognition and tributes

A tribute album, Oh Michael, Look What You've Done: Friends Play Michael Chapman, appears in 2012 on Tompkins Square Records, with contributions from Lucinda Williams, Maddy Prior, William Tyler, Hiss Golden Messenger and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. In 2016, he marks fifty years as a professional musician. He continues to tour and perform regularly in the UK, Europe and the US.