Listening to Living Room Suite today, you'd never know that it marked the commercial nadir of Harry Chapin's career -- the songs have such touching and startling intimacy, and are so beautifully produced that it's just a damn imposing record, just in the listening.
Coming at the tail-end of the second disco boom, the cresting of punk, and the full flourishing of power pop, however, it got buried.
When he opened up his heart on "Jenny," it was a phenomenally personal moment, but that wasn't the kind of love song that was selling in 1978; "Poor Damn Fool" was a wonderful song as well, with a glorious sound, but in tone and sound it was a million miles from "My Sharona"; "Flowers Are Red" was a startling ode to non-conformity, a subject much too serious for a pop record at the end of the 1970s; and "Dancin' Boy" and "I Wonder What Would Happen to This World," with their bluesy and gospel sounds, respectively, were even farther from what radio stations were playing.
Of course, the very attributes that made Living Room Suite seem so dated in 1978 that neither of its singles charted make it seem completely timeless and enduring today, as a body of music and a personal statement.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | If You Want to FeelHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 2 | Poor Damned FoolHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | JennyHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 04:54 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 4 | It Seems You Only Love Me When It RainsHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Why Do Little GirlsHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | Flowers Are RedHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | Somebody SaidHarry Chapin | Harry Chapin | Play | 05:18 | 12 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Dancin' Boy | Harry Chapin | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 38 mins | 87 MB | |||||
| 38 mins | 244 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Barry | Engineer |
| 2 | Ruth Bernal | Photography |
| 3 | George Bohannon | Trombone |
| 4 | David Burgen | Harmonica |
| 5 | Harry Chapin | Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 6 | Stephen Chapin | Arranger, Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, String Arrangements, Woodwind Arrangement |
| 7 | Tom Chapin | Banjo, Guitar |
| 8 | Ron Coro | Art Direction |
| 9 | Bob Cowsill | Guitar, Guitar (Electric) |
| 10 | The Cowsills | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Chris Darrow | Banjo |
| 12 | The Dixie Hummingbirds | Vocals |
| 13 | Howie Fields | Drums, Percussion |
| 14 | Chuck Findley | Trumpet |
| 15 | Steve Forman | Percussion |
| 16 | Dennis Frick | Bassoon, Wind |
| 17 | Fae Horowitz | Production Coordination |
| 18 | Dick Hyde | Trombone |
| 19 | Richard Hyde | Trombone |
| 20 | Neil Jason | Bass |
| 21 | Jackie Kelso | Sax (Baritone), Wind |
| 22 | Jim Keltner | Drums |
| 23 | Jay Krugman | Engineer |
| 24 | Steve Madaio | Trumpet |
| 25 | Jack Malken | Engineer |
| 26 | Reid Miles | Photography |
| 27 | Andy Newark | Drums |
| 28 | Jim Niper | Engineer, Mixing |
| 29 | Bill Payne | Keyboards, Organ |
| 30 | Chuck Plotkin | Mixing |
| 31 | Trudy Portch | Production Coordination |
| 32 | Mike Reese | Mastering |
| 33 | Herbert Rhoad | Vocals |
| 34 | Joe Russell | Vocals |
| 35 | Kim Scholes | Cello, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements, Woodwind Arrangement |
| 36 | Toby Scott | Engineer |
| 37 | Corky Stasiak | Engineer |
| 38 | Bobby Thomas | Mixing |
| 39 | Lou Volpe | Guitar |
| 40 | Doug Walker | Guitar |
| 41 | Big John Wallace | Bass, Vocals |
| 42 | Ernie Watts | Clarinet, Flute, Oboe, Saxophone |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |