About Me

Harry Chapin enjoyed a full creative life before his recording career with Elektra took wings. Immensely talented, as both a writer and filmmaker he earned an Academy Award nomination in 1968 for Legendary Champions, a documentary film he wrote and directed about boxing. Chapin was simultaneously working the clubs as the Chapin Brothers (with brothers Tom and Stephen), but by 1971, found his special niche as a writer and performer, forming a group designed to convey the inner light of his storytelling songs with an unusual line up; two guitars, bass and cello accompaniment. Jac Holzman fought hard to sign him and one of the deal points that convinced Harry was Jac’s offer to personally produce Chapin’s debut album, Heads And Tails.

Chapin’s breakthrough hit was the six-minute “Taxi” which demonstrates his command of narrative song, well suited for the increasingly important FM radio. Chapin’s reputation was further burnished by hits with “W-O-L-D” and the #1 “Cat’s In The Cradle” in 1974. Harry Chapin would remain a popular and engaging Elektra artist until the end of the 70’s. If Carly Simon was Elektra's Judy Collins for the new decade, Harry Chapin was its new Tom Paxton.

Tragically, on July 16th 1981, his VW was hit by a truck in Jericho, New York and Harry was killed. While maintaining his career as a songwriter and performer, Harry had become involved in politics, standing as delegate to the 1976 Democratic Convention. He tirelessly played benefits, raising millions of dollars for his crusade against world hunger for which Harry was posthumously awarded the civilian Congressional Medal Of Honor.

A gifted saxophonist who brought jazz into the mainstream, Grover Washington, Jr. is best remembered as a Grammy Award-winning pioneer of the popular smooth jazz sound. The Buffalo, NY-born musician first made his mark as a master of the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones before signing to Elektra in 1979.

Released the following year, Winelight was a perfect distillation of the Washington sound, merging traditional jazz’s improvisation and virtuosity with modern technology and a pop/soul sensibility. The RIAA platinum-certified album was highlighted by the massive hit single, “Just The Two Of Us,” featuring the distinctive vocals of soul icon Bill Withers. The now-classic song peaked at #2 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” before winning Grammy Awards in 1982 as both “Best R&B Song” and “Best Jazz Fusion Performance.”

Washington recorded a range of further albums as a leader, including 1982’s The Best Is Yet To Come, the title track of which earned him yet another major hit single. In addition, the saxophonist teamed with artists ranging from jazz legends like Gerry Mulligan and Dexter Gordon to less likely collaborators such as renowned soprano Kathleen Battle. Washington died of a sudden heart attack on December 17, 1999 while taping an appearance on CBS’s The Saturday Early Show; he was 56.

In 1997, Levert co-founded LSG, an urban R&B supergroup also comprising Johnny Gill and Elektra labelmate Keith Sweat. Fueled by the #1 R&B/Hip-Hop hit, “My Body,” the trio’s Elektra/EastWest debut album, Levert. Sweat. Gill, made a top 5 Billboard 200 debut on its way to RIAA platinum certification.

Levert’s first Elektra release came with 1999’s G, an ambitious collection that included the R&B hit, “Mr. Too Damn Good.” Levert’s next three albums, including 2001’s Gerald’s World, 2002’s The G Spot, and 2003’s Stroke of Genius, made top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200 upon their respective releases, with the third set also hitting #1 on the R&B album chart.

With Elektra entering dormancy, Gerald returned to Atlantic in 2004 with Do I Speak For The World. On November 10, 2006, he passed away from acute intoxication caused by the accidental combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs; he was 40 years old.

In 2007, Levert’s final solo album, In My Songs, debuted atop Billboard’s “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” chart while also entering the overall Billboard 200 at #2. The acclaimed album’s title track later earned Levert his first-ever Grammy for “Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance,” an award memorably accepted on his behalf by younger brother, Sean. Sadly, Sean Levert died shortly thereafter from complications related to sarcoidosis; he was 39.

The finely etched hard luck stories of Freedy Johnston’s 1992 Can You Fly instantly established the New York-based singer/songwriter as an exceptionally talented lyricist and craftsman. The album – self-financed by the sale of his family’s Kansas farm – was named among the year’s best, drawing significant college radio airplay. Johnston signed to Elektra and made his major label debut in 1994 with This Perfect World, helmed by Butch Vig, the preeminent producer of the alternative era. As acclaimed as its predecessor, it included songs like the album-opening “Bad Reputation,” which garnered extensive alternative play across the nation.

It was three years before Johnston’s next album, 1997’s Never Home. Produced by Danny Kortchmar – an Elektra/Asylum veteran as session guitarist on classic works by Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Don Henley, and countless others – the album’s spontaneous roc ‘n’roll sound was, like its title, inspired by Johnston’s non-stop touring over the course of the ‘90s.

Blue Days, Black Nights, which followed in 1999, was a very different affair, a deep, dark, truthful song cycle that, as produced by T-Bone Burnett and Roger Moutenot, stands as Johnston’s sparest, most intimate release of the period. He returned to a more ebullient guitar-pop sound on his final Elektra release, 2001’s Right Between The Promises, even going so far as to include a cover of Edison Lighthouse’s bubblegum classic, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” alongside his own literate storytelling.

Johnston carries on today, recording new albums and performing regularly, universally acknowledged as one of the most accomplished songwriters of his generation.