Harry Chapin (The Chapins)- "Gotta Get A Daddy" (Merv Griffin Show 1965)

Harry Chapin ("Cat's In The Cradle") and his brothers perform this never-recorded original for Merv in 1965, before they had even recorded their first album. Their father Jim Chapin is on drums. Merv Griffin had over 5000 guests appear on his show from 1963-1986. Footage from the Merv Griffin Show is available for licensing to all forms of media through Reelin' In The Years Productions. www.reelinintheyears.com.

[@ralphonofrio1518]

My friend, teacher and mentor on drums with his 3 talented sons. He was a proud dad and a great drummer and teacher.

[@vicnickmusicvideos]

And the GREAT Jim Chapin on drums!!

[@joegongora2200]

This indeed is great 👍 Harry Chapin and his brothers along with their dad on 🥁 drums. When Harry Chapin went solo then he recorded many wonderful songs.

[@jennyq4979]

I sure do miss Harry, he was a wonderful man.

[@danielmeadows1114]

WOW, that’s so cool!!!😄

[@BjdacH]

Whoaa I love this!!!!

[@dovbarleib3256]

Unbelievable. Harry, we miss you! My Cat's in the Cradle and flying in his Taxi!

[@55jmcc]

NIce. Thank you very much for posting. I am a 40+ year Harry Chapin fan and I never knew about this. A bit commercial but you can see the roots of later songs.

[@MikeBlitzMag]

Herein the Chapin Brothers draw however unintentionally from the Mills Brothers (brothers Tom, Steve and Harry, accompanied by their virtuoso big band/jazz drummer father, Jim) and the not so Sunny Side of the Kingston Trio with a bit of the tongue in cheek not unlike the latter band's Ah Woe, Ah Me. This predates their adventures in first generation garage rock by about a year, and showcases sublimely the not so subtle approach that put the Chapin Brothers (and ultimately Harry) on the map. Genius of the highest order.

[@denize1654]

OMG! I love Harry Chapin-such a loss. Every day I think what would Harry write about what's going on these days!

[@hcitydave]

Great posting! Unfortunately for the Chapins, the folk explosion from the late 50s to the early 60s was waning in 1965 with the British Invasion and other forms of rock taking hold in the public eye. I am so glad that they persevered because Harry and his brothers enlightened my college years in the 70s.

[@recordguy4321]

Jim Chapin passed on a few years back. One of the greatest drum instructors of all time and a great man behind the kit.

[@funkadelphiarecords]

Jim Chapin wrote one of the most important drum instruction books of all time that is still used today: "Advanced Techinques for the Modern Drummer." He played drums on the Chapin Music album as well.

[@christomsal]

My drum teacher had me studying from ,among others,the Jim Chapin book over fifty years ago.Also read articles Jim wrote for various drum mags such as Modern Drummer.A great musician and wonderful teacher. Love this video.Brought back memories.

[@jonserkspawn7776]

so awesome Grew up hearing him. He was a local for us in Huntington

[@qtpysusie54]

Wonder what he'd be doing musically today. Awesome stuff.

[@funkadelphiarecords]

Amazing Jim Chapin drum solo at 2:42!

[@wilvi66]

They swing!!! Loved this tune .... just stumbled upon it today and will be sharing on my facebook with my friends! Cheers

[@StarVoyager9]

Actually, Merv is slightly wrong about the college part. As you can see, the boys were all quite tall 6' 5"...And Tom actually attended the State University of New York in Plattsburgh where he was a basketball standout. My dad was one of his advisors and during home coming in 1965, all the boys were at our house because my mom's sorority was building their float in our garage and Tom, at the time, was dating one of them and they had earlier played a show for the school. I was 11 at the time.

[@jimdavis2385]

Harry was very tall in person. It's funny that he was the "short one."

[@Pronzini1]

@@jimdavis2385 Don't exaggerate. Tom Chapin was 6'3, Harry was 6'2, and Steve was barely 6'0

[@johnnyboync1]

gotta love harry!

[@DonaldaBoland]

we miss you everyday I hope your playing for the angels

[@markhollenbeck9965]

Miss you Harry, amen ╬

[@karinawelte2528]

Wow. First time I heard this.

[@opie1956]

Great song! Hello type in "Ron Howard Palace" listen to Opie sing "Lady"! R.I.P. Harry, you were one of the Greats!!

[@thetragedian]

Happy birthday, Harry!

[@thomashoban6888]

I saw Tom and Steve and two other guys as a rock group open for John Denver at the Main Point.

[@funkadelphiarecords]

Tom & Steve's early 70s band was called Mt Airy and they made one LP

[@leahtwosaints]

I'd somehow missed this. I saw two videos of Joni Mitchell (nee Anderson) in a Canadian broadcast here, with the brothers waiting, but whoever posted it deleted or never saved the Chapin Brothers' performance.

[@theoriginalbillholt]

Cool. I remember waiting with bated breath as a kid to catch Buddy Rich on the Merv or Mike Douglas shows, on a little color T.V. at my Grandparents house.

[@DoctorShocktor]

Baited

[@sysiphuscorinth]

There is a still in a video of "What are little girls..." from this, or promo of this time... nice to see the full version...

[@jhmorgan72753]

cool family !!!

[@MartyAcks]

Kind of a catchy tune for the time. Surprised it did not make it on the 1966 Chapin Brothers album.

[@bennattj]

Am I the only one irritated that they aren't together for the first few bars of the intro...but they quickly get synced up...great random find.

[@jeremyschultz9727]

You're not the only one. I caught that too! But just like silk, they slid right back into time.

[@marksicking8123]

You cold have at least mentioned Harry's brothers' names--Tom and Steve. Tom even had a TV show in the early 70's. But Harry was the best and so greatly missed.

[@DoctorShocktor]

Tom was more famous than even that, I think he’ll be fine.

[@Citybuild122]

@@DoctorShocktor Tom is nowhere near as famous as Harry, if that's what you're saying.

[@pommelhorsepommelhorse8731]

Make a Wish

[@ArchieMoore]

Any Chapin Brothers music on here or elsewhere?

[@gymnastix]

This is obviously a tune in the folk music genre, not my favorite style of music. But as I am checking out all the clips from "The Merv Griffin Show" here on You Tube, and do remember Harry Chapin's Top 40 hits ("Taxi," "WOLD," "Cat's in the Cradle," etc.), I thought I'd watch it. None of the Chapin brothers resemble each other in this clip, Harry with a more distinctive appearance than the other two, who are more conventionally good-looking, but also don't look alike. Were they adopted?