"In Search of 'Storytelling' Songwriters

[Willie G. Moseley]

I've noted before that I use this place as a sounding board for potential commentaries, and the thread about songwriters who specialize in "tales" that I started is exemplary. Here's what ran in the newspaper for everybody else:

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Stories in song have probably been around ever since music began to be played. However, as music began to evolve in numerous genres and styles with the advent of recording and radio, all too few artists were cited for their abilities to able to tell memorable stories within the brief three-minutes-or-so time frame that was required. Better to sing about love gone bad or some new dance in order to garner airplay; telling stories just didn’t seem to work.

There were exceptions, of course, Hank Williams’s “Kaw-Liga” being exemplary (and close to home).

As radio formats diversified, longer songs were indeed heard over the airwaves, and some singer/songwriters were actually cited for their storytelling abilities.

Within the same genre that begat Hank Williams, Tom T. Hall was hailed for his storytelling songs a couple of decades later.

And Billy Joel composed some pretty good tales, including the powerful and politically-inspired “Miami 2017” (the live version on Songs From The Attic is way better than the studio version) and perhaps “Piano Man,” as well. The latter tune is present tense, and while some purists might think that storytelling songs should be past tense only, Joel’s piano bar point-of-view was poignant and on the money.

However, Joel’s ultimate story in song was the brilliant “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” from 1977’s The Stranger album. It’s an Everyman tale of a longtime-but-ultimately-broken romance (“Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies, and the king and the queen of the prom…”), and it’s a story with which almost anyone can identify.

But for my money, nobody’s come close to Harry Chapin (1942-1981) regarding an ability to compose unforgettable chronologies accompanied by music.

Indeed, Chapin’s first hit, “Taxi,” was a song about a hack whose old flame ends up as a passenger. (The song clocked in at 6:46.) Chapin would go on to further success with other story-oriented songs, like the No. 1 “Cat’s In The Cradle,” and a sequel to “Taxi” titled, appropriately enough, “Sequel.”

He also created the musical Cotton Patch Gospel, which was performed at Jasmine Hills (maybe more than once).

For many of his fans, though, an all-time favorite Chapin tune was “Mr. Tanner,” which ought to be heard by anyone who has ever sung and/or played an instrument for the sheer joy of the experience rather than as an avocation.

It’s another Everyman-type of tune, and once again, the live version from 1976’s Greatest Stories Live is preferable. The first line in the chorus, “Music was his life, it was not his livelihood,” speaks volumes, and one wonders how many people got choked up the first time they heard that song. It’s that moving.

In his time, Chapin was also a pioneer in the drive to alleviate world hunger, which added to his credibility.

Nowadays, there may be certain storytellers around somewhere in the gazillion different radio formats around, but I bet they’d be difficult to find. And somehow, I get the feeling they couldn’t carry Harry Chapin’s guitar case. He’s sorely missed.

[DavidE]

"However, Joel’s ultimate story in song was the brilliant “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” from 1977’s The Stranger album. "

Agreed.

Very hard to beat Chapin in this genre. Croce did a decet job (Operator, Leroy Brown etc...).

One of my favorites is Townes Van Zandt's Tecumseh Valley. (Truth be told, I prefer the Nancy Griffith/Arlo Guthrie version.)

Speaking of Arlo.....Alice's Restaurant is a damn fine story in song but it's so long you only want to hear it once a year! ;-)

[Hamer of the gods]

John Prine and James McMurtry are two of my faves, McMurtry's "Choctaw Bingo" is a masterpiece!