Tracy Chapman’s iconic debut album in April 1988 is one of the most successful albums by a female artist in chart history – featuring the classic and timeless singles “Fast Car”, “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution”, and “Baby Can I Hold You” – the album earned three Grammy Awards and went on to become one of the most successful debuts of all time.
Peaking at #1 in multiple countries and selling more than 20 million copies worldwide. To this day, it still makes regular appearances on charts around the world.
To mark its 35th anniversary, Elektra/Rhino Records will reissue Tracy Chapman’s eponymous debut album on vinyl this Friday, 4th April 2025. It has long been unavailable on vinyl and this anniversary reissue has been prepared for release by Chapman and the album’s original producer, David Kershenbaum, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and sourced from an analogue master. The album package will also include an insert of translated lyrics, which accompanied the original international release.
Chapman comments, “I was just out of college when the album came out and for a young singer songwriter it was a dream come true – making a record, recording my own songs, releasing my first album. 1988, that year marked the beginning of what has been a humbling and thrilling experience, seeing fans around the world embrace these 11 songs. I really wanted to mark the 35th anniversary of the album, and so I am grateful to have this opportunity to reissue the record on vinyl.”
Over the course of four decades and eight studio albums, Tracy Chapman has created a body of work that has been as consistently compelling as it is honest and uncompromising, eloquently telling stories with perennial appeal that are at once personal and universal. Impervious to trends, she has commendably stayed her musical course, earning the approbation of fans, critics and peers.
Beginning with 1988’s multi-platinum Tracy Chapman, her musical journey has continued with “Crossroads” (1989), “Matters Of The Heart” (1992), 1995’s multi-platinum “New Beginning” (which featured the Grammy-winning single “Give Me One Reason”), “Telling Stories” (2000), “Let It Rain” (2002), “Where You Live” (2005), “Our Bright Future” (2008), and two best-selling compilations, “Collection” (2001) and “Greatest Hits” (2015).
In addition to her four Grammys, Chapman has earned an American Music Award, two BRITS, and a Billboard Music Award.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Chapman was awarded an academic scholarship to the prestigious Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut, and later attended Tufts University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. In 2004 she received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from her alma mater. It was while she was there, in the Boston area, in the late 1980s that she began singing in coffee houses, night clubs and street performing around Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Chapman made her breakthrough performance at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday concert in London in 1988. Since then, she has appeared frequently in support of social and humanitarian causes, including Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! Tour, the annual Bridge School benefit concerts, the Nelson Mandela Free South Africa Concert, Farm Aid, Tibetan Freedom Festival, Vote for Change, the Driving Votes tour, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and many others.
Chapman made her theatre debut composing the music for a new production of Athol Fugard’s classic 1961 play “Blood Knot”, which opened at San Francisco’s A.C.T. in 2008, and was directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. In 2012, Chapman performed at the 35th annual Kennedy Center Honors as part of the Buddy Guy tribute. In 2014, she sat on the domestic documentary jury at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2015, she was invited by David Letterman to sing “Stand By Me” during his final season hosting The Late Show, commanding a stage entirely on her own for an emotional performance of a classic song. In November 2020, the night before the US federal elections, Chapman performed “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution” on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Myers to encourage voter participation.
In February 2024, Chapman made a surprise appearance at the 66th Grammy Awards, collaborating with country superstar Luke Combs for an unforgettable duet of “Fast Car”. The performance was historic, representing a moment of confluence, coming 35 years to the month since Chapman first performed ‘Fast Car’ at the Grammys and after a year of unprecedented success for Combs with the song.
Introduced to a new audience, “Fast Car” achieved new chart peaks across genres (including #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and #2 on the Hot 100), and won two awards at the 2023 CMA Awards (notably ‘Song of the Year’ for Chapman, who made history as the first Black songwriter to win in the category).
Following the Grammy performance, Chapman’s original version re-entered charts around the world (including the Hot 100), as did her debut album. By the end of the year, the Grammy performance had made Google’s Top five trending songs as part of its ‘Year in Search’ 2024, and “Fast Car” recently entered Spotify’s Billions Club.
Side One
1. Talkin’ Bout A Revolution (2:38)
2. Fast Car (4:58)
3. Across The Lines (3:22)
4. Behind The Wall (1:46)
5. Baby Can I Hold You (3:16)
Side Two
1. Mountains O’ Things (4:37)
2. She’s Got Her Ticket (3:54)
3. Why? (2:01)
4. For My Lover (3:15)
5. If Not Now… (2:55)
6. For You (3:09)
Words and music by Tracy Chapman
Produced by David Kershenbaum for SBK Record Productions Inc.
Executive producers: Don Rubin and Brian Koppelman
Engineered and mixed by Kevin W. Smith
Recorded and mixed at POWERTRAX, Hollywood, CA
Mastered at Masterdisk
Art direction: Carol Bobolts
Photography: Matt Mahurin
Musicians: Tracy Chapman, Ed Black, Paulinho Da Costa, Denny Fongheiser, Jack Holder, Steve Kaplan, Larry Klein, David LaFlamme, Bob Marlette
Reissue produced for release by Tracy Chapman and David Kershenbaum
Vinyl reissue mastered by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering
Project support: Karina Beznicki, David Bither, Maya Bouvier-Lyons, Joseph Cacciola, Andrew Campbell, Teri Eastwood Molls, Lisa Glines, Lauren Papapietro, Matthew Rankin, Rory Wilson
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