Harry Chapin (1942–1981) was one of America's most inspiring songwriters as well as a public advocate and humanitarian whose voice was silenced over 40 years ago. On Friday, January 24, 2025, the members of his family gathered together at Union, NJ's Kean Stage to celebrate his memory in a Harry Chapin's Greatest Stories LIVE retrospective starring brothers Steve and Tom Chapin, daughter Jen Chapin, niece Abigail Chapin, along with members of The Harry Chapin Band.
Inside Kean Stage’s sleek and modern Wilkins Theatre, manager Steve Cochran takes the stage to thank audience members for their donations of food before welcoming The Chapin Family. Taking a seat behind the grand piano, Steve Chapin introduces tonight’s backup musicians including original Harry Chapin Band members “Big” John Wallace on bass and Howard Fields on drums, along with guitarist Clark Wallace on guitar and Frankie Carr on cello.
Opening with Chapin’s 1973 Top 40 story song about an aging disc jockey, “W.O.L.D.” Steve’s warm voice rings out as he sings, “I am the morning DJ on W.O.L.D./Playing all the hits for you wherever you may be.”
As he performs, Steve’s legato voice is complemented by Frankie Carr’s staccato cello part and precision playing by the rhythm section.
The crowd cheers and Steve welcomes his Grammy-winning brother, Tom Chapin, to the stage. After explaining, “All of us have other careers, but to celebrate Harry’s music, what a blessing it is to be here tonight,” Tom launches into the jaunty “Sunday Morning Sunshine.” Audience members sway and clap softly to the music as Tom, Steve, and bassist “Big” John Wallace sing in harmony on the song’s uplifting “You brought your Sunday morning sunshine/Here into my Monday morning rain” chorus.
After announcing, “Tonight is a night of story songs, which Harry used to do just by himself,” Tom provides background information for the evening’s next number, revealing it takes place “in the 1880s’ on the North Dakota plains where a lone man waits for his mail order bride.” Tom introduces “Mail Order Annie” with a single harmonica line before singing, “Mail Order Annie, never mind your crying/Your tears are sweet rain in my empty life,” on this sweet story song.
Explaining that his daughter, Lily, isn’t here tonight due to illness, Tom introduces the other member of The Chapin Sisters duo —his daughter, Abigail — to the stage. On “Remember When the Music,” Abigail touches hearts as she sings,” Remember when the music/Came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire,” on this treasured Chapin folk song.
Abigail is also featured on “Old College Avenue,” a dramatic folk-rocker which Tom discloses was written by Harry about Cornell University. In her plaintive voice, Abigail poignantly interprets the lyrics on this nostalgic ballad.
Announcing, “This is a song for L.A.,” Abigail is joined by Jen Chapin for The Chapin Sister song, “Angelino,” which features Tom playing an acoustic guitar solo and Clark Wallace contributing an electric guitar solo.
Moving onto a number which Abigail says people often credited to Harry but which was actually written and recorded by Steve, Frankie Carr’s cello accompanies Steve’s inviting vocal on the lovely ballad, “Let Time Go Lightly.”
Steve also handles the lead on the partner song, “Mr. Tanner,” where “Big” John Wallace reprises his role from the original Harry Chapin recording singing the song’s “O Holy Night” descant.
Concertgoers are filled with emotion as Steve croons, “And he sang from his heart/And he sang from his soul” while Wallace cries, “O Holy night, O night divine!” on this pop masterpiece which inspires avid audience cheers and applause.
Steve acknowledges, “Harry always said that his prize achievement was his daughter, Jen,” as Jen takes the stage accompanied by Jamie Fox on electric guitar and Stephan Crump on acoustic bass. Jen and her trio are featured performing a folk song which Jen’s parents wrote about her older sister, Jamie, entitled “Tangled Up Puppet.”
After talking about her father’s WhyHunger organization in addition to thanking concertgoers for their food donations tonight, Jen is joined by Abigail for “a song about people who can’t feed their children.” Together, Jen and Abigail sing, “Worry worry, work and cry,” on Jen’s funky tune with a message entitled “Feed Your Baby.”
Continuing with another original, Jen sings, “Can’t you feel the universe in everything you see?” on “Connectivity” which features bassist Stephan Crump singing softly as he bends his strings and Jamie Fox rendering a lyrical electric guitar solo.
To conclude Act I, The Chapin Family performs Harry’s 1974 chart-topper, “Cat’s in the Cradle.” On this arrangement, Tom handles the lead, inviting the audience to join in singing the song’s well-known “And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon/Little boy blue and the man in the moon” refrain.
Following a short intermission, Tom returns to kick off Act II, recalling, “I was 12, Harry was 14, and Steve was 11 when we first heard the album, The Weavers at Carnegie Hall. Our aunt played it for us all summer and by the end of the season, Harry said, ‘We could do that!’” As a result, the siblings created the trio, The Chapin Brothers, and played together for ten years.
Tom performs his original tune, “Pass the Music On,” where he sings, “For the good times and the high times/Through the suffering and pain/It’s the song of generations singing in my veins,” accompanying himself on the banjo.
The audience cheers and Abigail retakes the stage to solo on the lovely ballad, “Ferry Boat.” After announcing, “We’re gonna do a song that Tom wrote — it’s spooky, haunting, and very beautiful, and it’s featured in the Netflix series, Midnight Mass,” Abigail sings lead on “Saturday Morning,” a slow waltz which is accompanied by Carr’s legato cello and Steve Chapin’s cascading piano part.
Tom exclaims, “Let’s do a Harry song!” as he launches into “Story of a Life,” which features strumming guitars and acoustic piano accompanying Tom’s voice on this poignant ballad.
Jen and her trio are welcomed back to perform her father’s composition, “Flowers are Red,” where she sings, “Flowers are red, green leaves are green/There’s no need to see flowers any other way/Than the way they always have been seen,” on this cautionary tale in the form of a story song.
Acknowledging that, in addition to being a musician, she’s also a history teacher who wants her students to know about Gandhi, Jen performs her original composition, “Satyagraha.”
Accompanying herself on guitar, Jen connects with the crowd as she sings from the heart on this gentle tune about nonviolent cooperation and the process of finding the truth.
Tom, Steve, and “Big” John Wallace gather together around a single mic to accompany Jen as she sings lead on a jazzy and bluesy rendition of her father’s song, “I Wonder What Would Happen to this World.”
The crowd listens intently as Steve handles the lead on a live presentation of Harry Chapin’s 1972 hit, “Taxi. “Big” John Wallace handles the song’s operatic descant and audience members sing along on the well-known “She was gonna be an actress/And I was gonna learn to fly” refrain before energetically calling out in unison on the song’s memorable “Harry, keep the change” lyric.
Steve reveals that at Harry’s 1987 45th birthday celebration concert at Carnegie Hall, “the biggest standing ovation was for ‘Big’ John!” who reprises his lead on one of Harry’s final compositions, “Last Stand,” singing with conviction on this 1981 folk-rocker.
Tom invites the entire family onto the stage to perform his original folk tune, “If Only.” Segueing into Harry Chapin’s “Circle,” music lovers in the crowd join in singing the song’s “All my life’s a circle” refrain before responding to tonight’s program with a rousing standing ovation.
As concertgoers make their way out of the theater, several share their thoughts on the evening’s performance. Exclaims Camille from Woodbridge, “I loved this show! It embodied the spirit of who Harry was — the songs, the consciousness, the mission — with a special focus on hunger, truth, and vision.” Barbara from South Plainfield, contends, “It was a beautiful show, and I think Harry would be especially proud of his daughter, Jen. I closed my eyes many times during the show and could envision Harry’s soul and spirit coming directly through her music.”
Declares Rudy from Brooklyn, “I thought it was a great show! This was my second time seeing the group, and I can’t get over how many talented people they have in just one family.” His friend, Carmen from Marlton, NJ, concurs, noting, “It was an excellent concert, and I especially loved when Tom performed ‘Mail Order Annie,’ which was gorgeous.”
Rich from Hillside insists, “I loved this show — the musicians sounded terrific and even though they didn’t do my favorite Harry Chapin song, ‘Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas,’ all the others were spot on!” Joe from East Windsor asserts, “It was so nice to see musicians playing real music where there were real melodies, lyrics that told stories, and excellent musical arrangements.”
Patti from Verona recalls, “When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to see Harry perform at the Meadowlands Race Track so tonight’s program brought back a lot of memories for me. It was so nice to see the family keeping the music alive in this wonderful show.”
Lastly, Bruce from Parsippany acknowledges, “I see tons of concerts and I’ve seen this show at least a dozen times; it’s one of my favorites of all time. It’s like sitting in Harry’s living room with 500 of your best friends listening to stories — the songs are timeless and 50 or 100 years from now they are still going to be timeless,” prior to concluding, “It was an uplifting experience and a real honor for me to be a part of the audience for this phenomenal, phenomenal show.”
To learn more about Harry Chapin, please go to harrychapinmusic.com. For information on Harry’s organization, WhyHunger, click on whyhunger.org. For info on The Chapin Family, please navigate to thechapinfamily.com. For more on great upcoming performances at Kean Stage — including Jazz at Lincoln Center’s New Orleans Songbook on February 23 at Wilkins Theatre, along with Voctave on April 11 and Michael Feinstein on April 25 at Kean Stage’s Enlow Recital Hall — go to keanstage.com.
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