Mr. Tanner New York Times Article that inspired Harry Chapin

Mr. Tanner New York Times Article Feb 17, 1972 pg. 32

This is the news article that Harry Chapin read to inspire his beloved song "Mr. Tanner"

"Martin Tanner, a bass baritone who came to Town Hall on Tuesday night to give his second New York recital, performed songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Britten and others. He was accompanied on the piano by Mitchell Andrews.

Mr. Tanner's voice seemed quite limited in amplitude, range and flexibility, and it was probably because of this that his interpretations lacked force and strong communicative power.

He was well prepared and sang conscientiously, but the results were not up to generally accepted levels of professional accomplishment.
Allen Hughes"

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mr. Tanner
• Harry Chapin

[MusicMastersPS]

Wow! I too would appreciate knowing where you found this article. I am performing this song on a concert on Sept 20, 2009! Harry Chapin was amazing. Music critics are notoriously "wrong" at great moments of music history. At the same time, it is equally possible that this singer's performance was "not up to contemporary standards." (I hope the critic stays FAR away from my concert.) :-) Thanks for the post!

[bagnon]

Hi. Good luck tomorrow. I found out about this article on Wikipedia.

[bindagr]

Oustanding. I have loved this song for many years. I did not know it was based on a true story

[bravo723]

Great to know where the song came from but a damn bitch that the press can ruin you so quickly.. Practice, give it another shot, don't let the press bring you down...

 who the hell are they anyway but some one who found a way to get paid for his opinion.

[Milkpaw]

and THAT is why you shouldn't read your critic reviews, if you ever are fortunate enough to have critics take notice of you. because then the next time you perform all you can think of is how everyone must have read the review and is thinking 'yup... he was right. this guy's rubbish' or if the reviews are good then it doesn't really help either. it just makes you cocky and arrogant, and thats not so great.

[BobLMorgan]

Music is one of those things that can't really be judged as Best or not really good enough. It's really what you personally like. I happen to be the published author of five novels who always refused to enter writing contests for the same reason. Some authors that I love will never have a bestseller. Some I can't stand have bestsellers over and over again. Just be true to yourself and send it out. Art is what it is.

I love this song.

I always have.

It speaks the truth.

B.L.Morgan

[RobGoth100]

The New York Times sucks!

[TinyDancer500]

Creative way of filling in the blanks for the fans, thanks for this cool trivia. I always assumed it was based on a real person, just as I'm sure there's a "Better Place To Be" waitress and an old man waiting for Corey somewhere out there, just never saw the article before.

[PALancia1]

I have not thought about Harry Chapin in such a long time that I am somewhat shocked. I caught his concerts every time he was in or close to Rhode Island and have had all of his 8 tracks, cassettes, no CD's. (I am ordering them now) His music is as poignant now as it was when I was in my teens and early 20's.

[vNillatZilla]

well, that was truly a lame critique, lacking in ample description, apparently written by someone who thought of themselves as a critic, capable of saying something useful, thought they were prepared to unleash their prose upon NY and the world, but sadly, it sounded like it was written by someone who had nothing interesting to say.

[Jmanwit]

Nor have I. awesome. Where did you find this?