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From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

URGING NOMINATION OF HARRY CHAPIN IN THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME

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HON. STEVE ISRAEL

of new york

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the career of
Harry Chapin, and to urge the Songwriters Hall of Fame to nominate him
for induction. Harry Chapin is known not only for his powerful
songwriting but also for his philanthropy and activism, as he spent his
life fighting hunger and poverty in his Long Island community and
around the world. His eminence as a songwriter and as an activist
proves that he is deserving of this honor. I am also submitting for the
record my letter to the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as a letter
from Sandy Chapin, Harry's wife.
Though his musical career lasted only a decade, Harry Chapin's talent
lives on through his timeless songs and powerful storytelling. He wrote
over 400 songs in that time, including classic songs like ``Taxi'' and
``Cat's in the Cradle;'' released nine albums; and wrote a Broadway
musical, ``The Night That Made America Famous.'' He also wrote songs
for television and film. He was inducted into the Long Island Music
Hall of Fame in 2006.
Furthermore, Harry's humanitarian work serving the people of Long
Island deserves to be remembered and honored. He donated half of his
concert revenue to charity and founded various organizations that
continue to fight hunger and poverty on Long Island and around the
world. Harry co-founded WhyHunger, a grassroots organization that
supports over 8,000 community groups nationwide in their efforts to
develop innovative programs to eliminate hunger and provide
sustainable, health food sources. He founded New York City's Hunger
Hotline and Long Island's first food bank, Long Island Cares, which
today distributes more than six million pounds of food every year. Long
Island Cares also provides community members with nutrition education,
job training, and veterans' services, because Harry understood that
ending hunger requires addressing the root causes of poverty. In 1977,
he lobbied Congress and President Carter to establish a Presidential
Commission on World Hunger, on which he served as an active member. For
all of his humanitarian work, Harry posthumously received a
Congressional Gold Medal in 1987. His legacy lives on with the Harry
Chapin Foundation, which continues to support charities that fight
hunger and poverty, as well as organizations that support arts
education.
Harry Chapin's contributions to music and to the world should not be
forgotten, and again I encourage his nomination to the Songwriters Hall
of Fame.
Steve Israel,

House of Representatives,

December 16, 2014.
Board Members,
Songwriters Hall of Fame, New York, NY.
To the Board Members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame: I
write today to ask for full and fair consideration for Harry
Chapin, a Long Island treasure, as a nominee for induction
into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In his life, Harry Chapin
was known not only for writing songs that resonated but also
for his philanthropic efforts and activism to combat hunger
and poverty both in his Long Island community and around the
world. His eminence as a songwriter and as a leader in the
fight against poverty and hunger proves him truly deserving
of this honor.
Though his musical career lasted only a decade, Harry
Chapin's enduring legacy ensures that his talent will live on
through his timeless songs that reverberate across
generations. During that brief period, Harry wrote over 400
songs, including classics like ``Taxi'' and ``Cat's in the
Cradle;'' released nine albums; and wrote a Broadway musical,
``The Night That Made America Famous.'' He also wrote songs
for television and film. He was inducted into the Long Island
Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Harry's unparalleled humanitarian work serving the people
of Long Island also deserves recognition. Along with donating
half of his concert revenue to charity and founding various
organizations to fight hunger and poverty on Long Island and
around the world, Harry also served as a powerful voice
lobbying Congress and President Carter to establish a
Presidential Commission on World Hunger, on which he served
as an active member. For all of his humanitarian work, Harry
posthumously received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1987. His
legacy lives on with the Harry Chapin Foundation, which
continues to support charities that fight hunger and poverty,
such as Long Island Cares, as well as organizations that
support arts education.
Today, I'm proud to give much deserved recognition to Harry
Chapin's contributions to music and to the world in the House
of Representatives. Harry's legacy is timeless and should not
be forgotten. I once again ask for full and fair
consideration for his nomination to the Songwriters Hall of
Fame.
Sincerely,
Steve Israel,
Member of Congress.
____

September 15, 2013.
Board Members,
Songwriters Hall of Fame, New York, NY.
Board Members of the Song Writers Hall of Fame: I am
writing to ask that you might consider Harry Chapin as one of
your

[[Page E1853]]

next recipients for the Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. While
reading your news letter about the recipients for 2008 Awards
I couldn't help but think that Harry is long overdue for a
honor such as this.
Harry Chapin earned a devoted audience during the '70s,
through his music and his charity work as a social activist.
Harry wrote and recorded a reasonably large body of work
before his death in 1981. Though many may not know all of
Harry's songs (he wrote over 400), his legion of fans
continue to buy his CD's, as well as attempt to unearth lost
recordings by the man to this day.
Harry Chapin is remembered by a generation of music fans as
one of America's greatest musical storytellers and
troubadours, but as Ralph Nader said, ``to talk about Harry
Chapin only as a singer-composer is like viewing Theodore
Roosevelt as a state assemblyman or Babe Ruth as a pitcher.
More that any other entertainer in his generation, Harry was
a citizen-artist.''
Harry's albums, musical plays and TV contributions are
listed as follows:
Chapin Music (1966, Rock-Land Records) Harry's early years
with brothers Tom and Steve.
Heads and Tales (1972, Elektra) Harry's first album with
Elektra, was released in the summer of 1972 and became a
success thanks to the hit single ``Taxi,'' which soon became
the songwriter's signature tune. Taxi became the most
requested song in America for ten weeks in a row and earned
Harry a Grammy nomination as best new artist.
Sniper and Other Love Songs (1972, Elektra)
Short Stories (1973, Elektra) This album it spent 23 weeks
on the charts due to the success of the single ``W.O.L.D.,''
a story about the life of a disc jockey.
Verities & Balderdash (1974, Elektra) This album became his
biggest hit, becoming a gold record. The album's success was
benefited by the number-one single ``Cat's in the Cradle,'' a
song about an inconsiderate, career-oriented father that was
based on a poem written by Sandy Chapin, his wife. He earned
another Grammy nomination as best male vocal performer.
Portrait Gallery (1975, Elektra) his follow-up to Verities
and Balderdash. The album performed respectably, peaking at
number 53.
The Night That Made America Famous In the mean time, Harry
had been working on his musical which opened on February 26,
1975. The show earned two Tony nominations.
Make a Wish Harry won an Emmy award in the spring for his
contributions of songs to ABC television's children's series
Make a Wish, which was hosted by his brother Tom. At that
time Harry also co-founded World Hunger Year, a charity
designed to raise money to fight international famine; the
organization earned over $350,000 in its first year.
Greatest Stories Live (Double Album, 1976, Elektra) This
double album, became the singer/songwriter's second gold
album, peaking at number 48. Chapin was becoming more
politically active throughout 1976, as evidenced by his role
as a delegate at that summer's Democratic Convention.
Dance Band on the Titanic (Double Album, 1977, Elektra)
This album was also on the charts.
Living Room Suite (1978, Elektra) The following year, Harry
Chapin met with President Jimmy Carter, discussing the need
for a Presidential Commission on Hunger; he also released
Living Room Suite that summer, which peaked at number 133.
Legends of the Lost and Found (Double Album, 1979, Elektra)
His second live album.
Sequel (1980, Boardwalk Records) Harry signed with
Boardwalk Records, releasing Sequel; the title track of the
album was a sequel to his first hit single, ``Taxi,'' and
became his last Top 40 hit before his death.
Mothers & Daughters: The Loving War (1980, ABC Friday Night
Movie) Harry wrote the music for this TV production.
Cotton Patch Gospel (1981) The off-Broadway premiere of
Cotton Patch Gospel, original score by Harry Chapin received
praise as ``The best music Harry Chapin ever wrote'' by--
David Marsh, Rolling Stone Magazine. This was his last after
a career as one of the great American folk singers and one of
the great humanitarians having raised over 5 million dollars
for World Hunger.
Anthology of Harry Chapin (1985, Elektra)
Remember When the Music (1987, Dunhill Compact Classics)
The Gold Medal Collection (1988, Elektra)
The Last Protest Singer (1988, Dunhill Compact Classics)
Harry Chapin Tribute (1990, Relativity Records)
The Bottom Line Encore Collection (1998, Bottom Line/Koch)
Story of a Life (1999, Elektra)
VHI Behind the Music The Harry Chapin Collection (2001, MTV
Networks)
Sequel (2001, re-mastered and re-released on CD Chapin
Productions LLC)
Sniper and Other Love Songs (Re-mastered and re-released on
CD 2002, Wounded Bird Records)
The Last Protest Singer (2002, re-mastered and re-released
on CD Chapin Productions LLC)
Harry Chapin Songwriter (2002) Originally produced in 1975
for the educational series Pipeline, this CD closes the
distance between listener and performer. A real treat for any
aspiring musician, who, regardless of his status as a Harry
Chapin fan, will no doubt gain a clear and simple outline for
writing a successful song. The disc is broken down into five
parts: a short, friendly introduction, the second part, a
soulful, acoustical version of a previously unrecorded gem
called ``Too Many Miles.'' The third part is the meat of the
disc. Harry talks of the difference between ``attitudinal''
songs and his own unique style of story songs. He then goes
through the process of building a chorus and its verses,
discussing the pitfalls of first-time songwriter, strategies
for successful rhyming, and finding a ``zinger.'' In the
fourth part Harry plays a short upbeat track off the Portrait
Gallery album, ``Stop Singing These Sad Songs.'' In the fifth
and final part, he conveys easily such concepts as tonal
consistency and ``architectural constants.'' The conversation
closes with Harry talking about what is plainly evident
throughout Songwriter, his ``joy of doing it.''
Heads and Tales/Sniper and Other Love Songs (2004, Elektra.
Double CD re-release of first two albums with bonus tracks)
Legends of the Lost and Found (Double Album, 2005, re-
mastered and re-released on CD, Chapin Productions LLC)
Introducing. Harry Chapin (2006)
Harry Chapin Cat's In the Cradle and Other Songs (2008,
Elektra)
Harry performed more than 250 concerts every year, and
donated the proceeds for half of them to charity. After his
concerts, he would go into the lobby and sign autographs and
sell records, T-shirts and song books. And every penny he
took in would go to charity, especially the battle to end
world hunger. He spent four months nearly single-handedly
successfully lobbying both Congress and President Carter to
form a Presidential Commission on Domestic and International
Hunger and Malnutrition, activity serving as a member of the
commission.
On Sunday July 26, 1981, Ralph Nader wrote in the Sunday
New York Times: ``We hope that Taxi is sung as long as there
are taxis and lovers with long memories. And we hope as well
that Harry Chapin's legacy will include not only his music
but his citizenship, so that others may learn of his example
and emulate it. For he was a model of what Justice Felix
Frankfurter once referred to as the highest position in a
democracy--the office of citizen. That was no third-rate folk
singer (as he called himself), only a first rate American.''
Harry Chapin was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall
of Fame on October 15, 2006.
I have enclosed a copy of the CD, Harry Chapin Songwriter
as a gift to you, thinking that you may find it an
appropriate piece considering my request. May you enjoy it!
Sincerely,
Sandra Chapin,
Chapin Productions LLC.

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