Michael Chapman - Deal Gone Down (1974 uk, smart folk rock, 2015 bonus tracks edition)

“Well, I think I stayed a little too long and had too much to drink” are the first words you hear on Deal Gone Down and coupled with the 4.00 am cover photo that gives something of the feeling of the album. It’s Chapman at his most basic with only Rick Kemp and Nigel Pegrum on bass and drums and Maddy Prior and Bridget St. John providing background vocals. Apparently Chapman didn’t really like the production…and he produced it.

The best songs on the album (‘Goodbye Sunny Sky’ and ‘Journeyman’) are first rate but the initial impression is of too many throwaway tracks. The opener ‘The Rock’n’Roll Jigley’ sounds brilliant but just when it should be developing into a monster song it ends at less than two minutes. The first of six bonus tracks, ‘Dumplings’, the B-side of ‘The Banjo Song’, is even shorter. But let’s accentuate the positives. ‘Party Pieces’, from which the quoted line comes, is a gem as is ‘Used To Be’. The title track is a slice of bluesy guitar picking topped off with sizzle cymbal and an electric solo and Michael continues the electric lead into ‘The Banjo Song’.

by Dai Jeffries

Tracks
1. The Rock 'N' Roll Jigley - 1:43
2. Party Pieces - 4:52
3. Another Season Song - 3:27
4. Stranger Passing By - 3:29
5. Used To Be - 1:47
6. Deal Gone Down - 3:59
7. The Banjo Song - 3:32
8. Theme From The Movie Of The Same Name - 2:15
9. Goodbye Sunny Sky - 3:19
10.Journeyman - 5:12
11.Dumplings (Instrumental From The Deal Gone Down Session, B Side) - 1:35
12.Stranger Passing By (Demo) - 4:36
13.Theme From The Movie Of The Same Name (Demo) - 2:49
14.Goodbye Sunny Sky (Demo) - 2:52
15.Untitled Rag (Demo) - 1:51
16.Journeyman (Demo) - 3:09
All compositions by Michael Chapman
Bonus Tracks 11-16

Musicians
*Michael Chapman - Guitar, Vocals
*Rick Kemp - Bass
*Nigel Pegrum - Drums
*Maddy Prior - Backing Vocals
*Bridget St.John - Backing Vocals
*The Fabulous Preludes - Backing Vocals On "The Banjo Song"

1968  Michael Chapman - Rainmaker
1970  Michael Chapman - Fully Qualified Survivor
1970-71  Michael Chapman - Window / Wrecked Again

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