Blondie Chaplin

Blondie Chaplin

Chaplin performing at Woodstock, 1979
Background information
Birth name Terrence William Chaplin
Born (1951-07-07) 7 July 1951
Genres Rock, pop
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1968–present
Labels Brother Records, Reprise Records, Capitol Records, Columbia Records, Asylum Records
Associated acts The Beach Boys, The Flames, Rick Danko, Paul Butterfield, David Johansen, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds 20th Anniversary Celebration, The Band, Brian Wilson, Jeff Beck
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Junior
Fender Telecaster
Fender Jazz Bass

Terence William "Blondie" Chaplin (born 7 July 1951) is a singer and guitarist from Durban, South Africa, where he played in the band The Flames in the mid-to late-1960s. He became known to international audiences in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys.[1] He is a long-term backing vocalist, percussionist, and acoustic rhythm guitarist for English band The Rolling Stones on their recordings and tours over a 10-year period, starting in 1997. To date he has released two solo studio albums.

Biography

Both Chaplin and Ricky Fataar were members of Durban-based rock band The Flames, which they joined at ages 13 and 9, respectively. Their 1968 album Soulfire produced a hit in South Africa: the band's cover of "For Your Precious Love" was #1 on white radio for thirteen weeks.[2]

Beach Boy Carl Wilson heard The Flames while the band was performing in London. Wilson signed them to the Beach Boys' Brother Records label and produced their self-titled album, The Flame (changed from Flames, to avoid confusion with the group that played with James Brown), which featured soulful rock/pop songs in the vein of The Beach Boys and Badfinger. The Flame were the only band aside from The Beach Boys to record for Brother Records.

Blondie Chaplin, along with drummer Ricky Fataar, joined the Beach Boys when original drummer Dennis Wilson suffered a hand injury that left him unable to play the drums for almost two years. For the Beach Boys, it was a period in which long-time member Bruce Johnston had departed the band, and one-time leader Brian Wilson's participation in the group was very limited. As a result, Chaplin and Fataar joined the Beach Boys as full-fledged members and not merely as backing musicians. Chaplin left the group in 1973 after a dispute with the Beach Boys' management; Fataar remained with the band until the following year.

Blondie sang lead on various Beach Boys songs from two studio albums, Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" and Holland, and plays on the live album The Beach Boys in Concert. "Sail On, Sailor" from the album Holland, on which he is the lead singer, is his "signature song".[2]

Following his time with the Beach Boys, Blondie recorded a self-titled album, released on Asylum Records in 1977. He also performed on Rick Danko's self-titled début album, which also featured each of Rick's former bandmates from The Band in addition to Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Doug Sahm, and Danko's brother, Terry. Blondie went on to tour with the David Johansen group and participated in producing Johansen's third solo album Here Comes the Night, on which Blondie played guitar and sang backing vocals and co-authored seven tracks. During the late 1980s Blondie toured with The Band, replacing some of Richard Manuel's vocals and playing guitar and, occasionally, drums. In the 1980s, Blondie also toured with a band featuring Rick Danko and Paul Butterfield, and was guitarist and vocalist, as well as contributing a tune as songwriter, on Butterfield's last studio album, The Legendary Paul Butterfield Rides Again, released in 1986. Blondie was also a featured player in former Byrds members Gene Clark and Michael Clarke's then new band, The 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Byrds, also known as the Tribute to the Byrds. Blondie appeared on the Jennifer Warnes albums Shot Through the Heart, The Hunter, and The Well.

Blondie also played on "High on the Hog," the ninth studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band, released in 1996, to which he also contributed his composition, "Where I Should Always Be."

Blondie toured with former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and performed on his live album, Stranger in This Town. Starting in 1997, with the recording and release of the Bridges to Babylon album and subsequent tour, and, for some 15 years following, Chaplin served as a backing vocalist, percussionist, and, at times, backing guitar player for The Rolling Stones, in the recording studio and on the road. The Bridges to Babylon album lists Chaplin's credits as backing vocals, tambourine, piano, bass guitar, percussion, shakers, and maracas.

Blondie is the vocalist, songwriter, and lead guitar player with Skollie, a band formed with fellow South Africans Keith Lentin on bass and Anton Fig (of The Late Night with David Letterman band) on drums. Chaplin has recorded three solo albums, most recently Between Us in 2006.

In late 2013, Blondie was featured at select shows of former Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson and guitarist Jeff Beck. Blondie also appears on Wilson's 2015 album No Pier Pressure, on which he is the featured vocalist on the song, "Sail Away," and he then went on tour as a featured performer, along with Al Jardine, for Brian Wilson's 2015 tour, with Rodriguez as the opening act.[3]

Discography

Year Album details
1977 Blondie Chaplin
  • Released: 1977
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Tracks: Bye Bye Babe; Can You Hear Me; Crazy Love; Woman Don't Cry; Loose Lady; Be My Love; Lonely Traveller; Riverboat Queen; Say You Need Me; For Your Love; Gimme More Rock 'N' Roll
2006 Between Us
  • Released: 2006
  • Label: Big Karma Records
  • Tracks: Between Us; Heal The Rage; Hurricane; So Hard; Mother Smother; Children Of War; Love Power; Heads On Fire; Love You Till I Die; Crawl

Other albums and videos from the Blondie Chaplin catalogue:

Additional performances are on the following recordings: • Bonnie Raitt – Nine Lives • Ray Ohara – Picaresque, (released 1988 in Japan and on which Blondie was principal songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist on all songs) • a Keith Richards-produced project, Wingless Angels (featuring singers from Jamaica) • the album Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project • Two Faced by Freida Parton (Dolly Parton's sister) • Renée Geyer – So Lucky and her self-titled album • Elliott Murphy – Change Will Come and Paris/New York • Paul Shaffer – The World’s Most Dangerous Party • The Parlor Dogs – Social Harem • Sir Mack Rice – This What I Do • Chris Whitley – Rocket House • Marsha Hansen's My Soul Is a Witness (a CD accompanying a book with that title) • Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute album • Hubert Sumlin – About Them Shoes

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Craig. "Biography: Blondie Chaplin". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 Forte, Dan (January 2016). "Blondie Chaplin, Still Sailing". Vintage Guitar. p. 129.
  3. ↑ "Brian Wilson Plots Summer Tour With Former Beach Boys". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blondie Chaplin.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.