Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988)
I was 15 when Tracy Chapman’s self-titled debut came out, and I first heard it when my next-door neighbor, a friend from school, lent me his cassette. I thought he had purchased the single, ‘Fast Car,’ which was getting a lot of MTV airplay, but it turned out the be the whole record.
I took to it immediately, because how could anyone not? It’s beautiful and melodic, but with bursts of real acoustic muscle, and it’s aching and romantic, while clear-eyed and hard-nosed about injustice in America. It’s a true marvel.
I don’t know if it struck me at the time, or not until years later, how interesting it was that my high school friend loved this album. He was a lily-white, devout Southern Baptist — not exactly the sort I would expect to listen to love songs and tales of inner city woe sung by a young Black woman.
Maybe I’ve been poisoned by the modern incarnation of so-called religious folks, who claim moral superiority while voting for Donald Trump. This album is exactly what a genuinely faithful and godly person should treasure. So apologies to my neighbor Jeff, wherever he may be, for underestimating him.
Tracy Chapman went 6X Platinum and won three Grammys after seven nominations. Chapman was awarded Best New Artist (defeating Rick Astley, among others). I was surprised to see that her seven subsequent albums all did quite well, with three more going Platinum and two Gold. New Beginning (1995) even outsold this one, on the strength of her biggest hit, ‘Give Me One Reason.’
I’m not familiar with any of those albums, but I’d be surprised if this debut isn’t the best of them. I’m making a note to dig into the rest of her catalog so I don’t have t speculate. I will say that, if any of those records is better than this one, that makes it one of the greatest albums of all time. Because Tracy Chapman is exactly that.
You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero, got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make somethin’
Me, myself, I got nothing to prove
[Verse 2]
You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us outta here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won’t have to drive too far
Just across the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
Finally see what it means to be living
[Verse 3]
See, my old man’s got a problem
He lives with a bottle, that’s the way it is
He says his body’s too old for workin’
His body’s too young to look like his
When mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said, “Somebody’s gotta take care of him”
I quit school and that’s what I did
[Pre-Chorus]
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
[Chorus]
So I remember when we were drivin’, drivin’ in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feelin’ I could be someone
Be someone, be someone
[Verse 4]
You got a fast car
We go cruisin’, entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted
And we’ll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs
[Chorus]
So I remember when we were drivin’, drivin’ in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feelin’ I could be someone
Be someone, be someone
[Verse 5]
You got a fast car
I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinkin’ late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I’d always hoped for better
Thought maybe together, you and me’d find it
I got no plans, I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on drivin’
[Chorus]
So I remember when we were drivin’, drivin’ in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feelin’ I could be someone
Be someone, be someone
[Outro]
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
Meet Me In Montauk 
My memory associated with this album comes from the summer I spent in Cambridge England on a college program. While in London, posters for the album were plastered all over the place, especially in the tubes stations. I recall finding such intense marketing of a young female American black artist’s debut album to be a bit odd, and yet it somehow made me proud to be an American.
Anyway, I concur that this is a great album. Her subsequent releases, particularly New Beginning, were good, but the debut album remains my favorite.
I love her sound and that she is so successful ❤️
Love your insight here that it didn’t strike you til years later how curious and profound it was that this artist resonated with someone from such a different background! I suppose that is the power of music.
I’m sure he felt quite represented when all these years later Luke Combs from a similar outlook recorded his extremely successful cover!
It is a spectacular record and songs like “For My Lover” and “If Not Now…” show how many hidden gems there are throughout this album in addition to the hits that get much deserved love like “Fast Car” and “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution”.
Love this theme!
Great album. Music brings us all together.