Roger Chapman He Was...She Was...You Was...We Was CD - Import

One of the lost jewels within the Roger Chapman crown, He Was She Was You Was We Was was the double live album that confirmed the former Family/Streetwalkers frontman as a superstar in Germany in 1982. Recorded late the previous year in Hamburg (and not, as is frequently claimed, during the German TV Rockpalast concert show) and built around his Hyenas album, it blazed through his solo career with furnace-fire aplomb, with a pair of medleys -- one commencing with the old blues shaker "I'm a King Bee," the other with Larry Williams' "Slow Down" -- highlights that few live acts of the era could muster. It is not an oldies show -- anybody coming to a Chapman live album today would be certain to search for Family favorites. They are absent -- this is the sound of Chapman at the top of his game, whether pounding through his own most recent material or dipping back to mash Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free" with Miles Davis' "Bitch's Brew," while the band -- led by the indefatigable Tim Hinckley -- simply storms. Barely noticed in the U.S. or U.K., He Was She Was You Was We Was became one of the biggest European hits of the year, and it would be another 23 years before it finally received a headlining British release, when reissued by Angel Air in 2005, with one more moment of magnificence appended as a bonus track: a five-minute romp through "I Just Want to Make Love to You." ~ Dave Thompson

One of the most eagerly awaited reissues of 2005 was, correspondingly, one of the most overlooked albums of the early 1980s -- at least in the English-speaking world. In Germany and across central Europe, however, Roger Chapman was on the very edge of superstardom, by which token the double-live He Was She Was You Was We Was essentially served as his own Frampton Comes Alive, a double album that made no concessions to anyone but the fans, and made an entire new audience regardless. Building upon the phenomenal success of an appearance on TV's Rockpalast in late 1981, He Was She Was You Was We Was was recorded in Hamburg later on that same German tour, and is solidly built around what was then Chapman's latest album, the marvelous Hyenas. Indeed, though anybody coming to a Chapman live album today would be certain to search for Family favorites, and Streetwalkers stompers, in 1982 Chapman was still forging ahead so fast that he had no reason whatsoever to look backwards. This is the sound of Chapman at the top of his game, whether pounding through his own most recent material, or dipping back to mash Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free" with Miles Davis' "Bitch's Brew," while the band -- led by the indefatigable Tim Hinckley, simply storms. Impressive, too, is the bonus track appended to the CD reissue, a five-minute romp through "I Just Want to Make Love to You." Never considered for the original album, it is considerably less mixed and polished than the rest of the set. But it is dynamite regardless, the crowning glory to one of the last truly essential double-live albums ever recorded. ~ Dave Thompson

Reissued 2 CD set from 1982 is a timely reminder of a great vocalist and a great band who gloriously proved the timeless appeal of quality rock music. Roger Chapman is the singer best-known in Britain for his work with Family and the '70's R&B band Streetwalkers. In the pre-punk era, Roger was an enormous cult figure on the British rock scene, famed for his spectacular showmanship and soaring vibrato. Comes with a 24 page booklet with sleeve notes. Angel Air. 2005.

Roger Chapman: Roger Chapman; Poli Palmer, Geoff Whitehorn, Steve Simpson, Stretch, Tim Hinkley, Nick Pentelow, Boz Burrell.

Personnel: Roger Chapman (vocals); Steve Simpson (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Geoff Whitehorn (vocals, guitar); Tim Hinkley (vocals, piano); Nick Pentelow (saxophone); Poli Palmer (synthesizer, vibraphone).

Liner Note Author: Pete Feenstra.