Mention
Harry Chapin, and the strains of his 1974 hit "Cats in the Cradle" might briefly fill your head. After that, you might draw a blank.
But fans of the late performer remember him as a humanitarian, a man who played benefit after benefit for various causes without a heck of a lot of fanfare, helping pave the way for higher-profile philanthropic ventures.
"Probably without Harry's activism, 'We Are the World' wouldn't have happened," says
Joe D'Urso, a New Jersey singer-songwriter who is performing in the area this weekend.
Joe never met Harry, who died in an auto accident in the summer of 1981. But 25 years later, D'Urso and his band, Stone Caravan, have incorporated the late singer as a major part of their latest album, "Cause ...".
Courtesy of Sandy Chapin, Harry's widow, Joe has had access to recordings of various interviews Chapin gave, and he uses excerpts as introductions to most of the album's songs.
"With his gift of gab, the way he verbalized, I have all these great quotes to match all these songs I'd already written and recorded," Joe explains. He hopes the technique will add meaning to the songs: "People will listen just a little bit more than if it's someone down the street saying it."
D'Urso is a supporter of World Hunger Year, and organization founded by Chapin and Bill Ayres in 1975 to combat hunger around the world at the grass-roots level, promoting self-reliance. To honor the late co-founder, WHY presents annual Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards.
On "Cause ...," Chapin's commentary segues into a collection of songs that address several facets of social consciouness. The title track sends a message that should be taken to heart by anyone with a conscience: "Everyone has a Cause/I think the world's a good cause." And it sneaks in a reference to Bob Dylan and his classic "All Along the Watchtower": "Wise one says, 'The hour's getting late.'"
"Six O'Clock News" takes a shot at the tripe you're likely to see on your TV screen: "There's the ex-pop star pregnant with the wild love child/This takes too much time, we get no truth for a while." Joe comments on the head-in-the-sand attitude of many Americans in "When the Rain Finally Stops": "Went down to my local store/From the talk there you never know we're at war/No one likes to talk of such sings/Yeah, that's right, just shut up and sing."
He mixes some bittersweet love songs with a couple of covers, John Stewart's cynical 1979 hit "Gold" and Chapin's "Taxi." The latter is a low-fidelity acoustic version interspersed with commentary about the good deeds of the late composer.
Stylistically, Joe says the band strived for something close to its live sound: "I wanted to make this more loose, like a garage-rock record. I wanted more of the raw emotion and feel." Helping achieve that goal are the members of Stone Caravan: guitarist Greg Lykins, bass player Lou DeMartino and drummer Sam LaMonica, along with keyboardist Neil Berg.
Joe D'Urso &
Stone Caravan will play two shows in this neck of the woods, both times sharing the bill with Peters Township resident
Tom Breiding and his band, American Son. Joe knows Tom's music and is especially enthusiastic about his composition "Gary's '55," which appears on the album "Two-Tone Chevrolet."
Friday's show is at Archie's (304-292-3991) in Sabraton, W.Va., near Morgantown, where D'Urso developed a following with previous appearances there, prompting fans to e-mail and ask when the band would return.
"This is going to be a little bit like a homecoming for us," he says.
On Saturday, the two bands will play at the Rhythm House (412-221-5010), 3029 Washington Pike, South Fayette Township.
Click
here for sound samples of Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan.
