Los Angeles, CA (July 17, 2025)—Even before Luke Combs had his hit with “Fast Car” in 2023, and long before their unexpected duet at the 2024 Grammy Awards, Tracy Chapman and producer David Kershenbaum were in discussions about celebrating the 35th anniversary of Chapman’s debut self-titled album, which was reissued in early April.
Featuring the classic singles “Fast Car,” “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution,” and “Baby Can I Hold You,” the album—long unavailable on vinyl—earned three Grammy Awards in 1989 and went on to become one of the most successful debuts of all time, peaking at Number 1 in multiple countries, including the U.S., and selling more than 20 million copies worldwide.
Kershenbaum, a multi-platinum award-winning producer, renowned for his work with Joe Jackson, Joan Baez and Duran Duran, among others, had also assisted Chapman with her 2015 Greatest Hits compilation CD. They had stayed in touch through the years.
“It was like no time had passed; we picked up right where we left off,” Kershenbaum says. “We work extremely well together. There’s a mutual respect, and we enjoyed the process. Both Tracy and I were committed to making the Anniversary Edition be as good or better than the original, and Tracy was very hands on all the way.
“The original record had such great sound,” he continues. “When the record was first released in 1988, it was available in multiple formats—CD, cassette and vinyl.
“I cut the original album on a Mitsubishi 850 32-track and mixed it on an X-80 digital two-track. The project engineer, Kevin Smith, and I used these digital formats in combination with analog outboard gear and a vintage API mixing console. This process is what I think accounts for the warmth and fidelity and has made that recording sound current even in today’s digital world.
“When preparing a reissue, in many cases the original producer and artist are not involved, and the record company will take the album CD, remaster it, and reprint the original cover as best they can,” Kershenbaum continues. “In this case, we used an original master tape from Bob Ludwig, who was the chief mastering engineer at Masterdisk at the time. To make the new parts for the reissue, we used Bob’s two-track tape with all of his original EQs, levels and compression. We didn’t go back and try to re-EQ the tracks or take the audio off of the CD.”
Classic Tracks: Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”
To cut the lacquer, Chapman and Kershenbaum worked with Kershenbaum’s longtime colleague Bernie Grundman, whom he calls “one of the foremost disc cutters for analog.”
“As the test pressings were received back from the plant, Tracy and I had a process of A/B comparison to hear them against the original release,” he says. Working with Chapman again on this album, he adds, reminded him of why he got into the business to begin with.
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“I’m so proud of the vinyl reissue,” Chapman says. “This 35th Anniversary release marks the culmination of years of planning, going back to 2022 when I first approached the label about the project. I’d envisioned making something that was faithful to the original in the sound of the vinyl and in the look of the package. Working again with studio veterans, David Kershenbaum and Bernie Grundman, I felt assured that the sound quality would be topnotch. It took a bit longer to get there than we thought it would, but I hope old and new fans will find it worth the wait.”
