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Page 6, PHOENIX, May 23, 1974 Heights Now onIThe Chapins jMusical Map IBY EILEEN BLAIRNearly every group, movement or place under the sun has their favorite sons, and for Brooklyn Heights, the Chapin brothers have surely earned that status by putting their neighborhood on the musical map. Their course traces from schooldays at P.S. 8 and Brooklyn Tech and Sundays in %u2022the Grace Church Choir to a summer gig at the Village Gate in the early 70%u2019s, at which point Harry, Tom and Steve Chapin%u2019s musical destiny asserted itself.For Harry Chapin, household-word status was insured with the success of his song,Harry Chapinalbums for Electra Records. Tom and Steve joined up with three other musicians to form %u201c Mt. Airy,%u201d a well-received folk-rock group that has a handle on just about everything, from ragtime to raga.The Chapin brothers (a fourth brother, Jim, less musically inclined than the others, represents the family in academia as a Professor of American Diplomacy at Rutgers) grew up in the Heights where the musical spoons they were born with were polished with extensive music lessons.Harry studied the trum pet, Tom, the clarinet and Steve, the piano, all encouraged by their father Jim, a drummer during the Big Band era. Tom recalls an early musical episode when the brothers took on string instruments for the first time. Harry unearthed a banjo in a relative%u2019s attic and a favorite uncle brought over a Sears & Roebuck guitar fo r Tom. Twanging and picking produced an early Kingston trio sound. Steve's keyboard penchant earned him the right to play the over-a-century old organ at Grace Church, an honor that Mrs. McKittrick, Choir Director at Grace has bestowed only on Steve.None of the Chapins pursued music formally in college. Harry studied architecture and philosophy and went into documentary film making initially after school. Tom took up history and basketball; Steve earned his degree in electrical engineering. But music never stopped being part of their life and, in 1964, the Chapin brothers with their father formed a group and began doing gigs around the Village. When Steve and Tom were drafted soon after, the Chapin musicmaking came to a temporary halt.In 1971, the Chapins united again and rented the Village Gate for a summer gig. Harry was performing solo at that time and the rest of the family formed the second act. The exposure was great, especially for Harry, who went on to hook up with other musicians and to eventually make the impact that landed him a recording contract with Electra.%u2018%u2018Mt. A iry,%u201d also had its beginnings in that 1971 Gatenw on \\ioiir noon to noon sekvic.kH eights Car & Limousine Service Incl.nr.tl and I mu: IK'tunir (.illsZone Flat Ratesol'EN 2t IIIII Its I'EI . 722-7222iftacrame cords %u00a3 beadsr\\i i ^ l r f w \\M s*C k\\tur\\n t \\ / f ii ,s^ y f \\ ; ;;; n iiC j / fibH A N D W O V E N %u00a3 P R IN T E D F A B R IC S%u2022 classes %u2022264 CLINTON STREET W BROOKLYN, N.Y.. TEL. 625-0499mr .-gfc.T VI ^8* 9 k %u25a0%u25a0%u25a0*%u00bbI p pBllj|fg pjr v\\*' %u2019 '\%u201c M t. Airy:%u201d Tom Chapin [guitar, banjo], Ralph D%u2019Onofrlo [drums], Bob Hinkle [guitar, mandolin,trumpet], Steve Chapin [base, piano], Rich Look [keyboards].gig. It was there that Tom Chapin met Bob Hinkle, a musician and fledgling producer. Later, when Hinkle was commissioned by Audio-Fidelity to produce a country based album, he looked up some old friends, namely Tom and Steve Chapin and Eric Weissberg, of %u2018%u2018Dueling Banjoes%u201d fame. The group called itself %u201c Mt, A iry,%u201d after a place in North Carolina Hinkle was familiar with and they produced an album in a record four days. About the time the album was released, the Chapin name, thanks to Harry, was a hot item and %u201c Dueling Banjoes%u201d had just taken off. Audio-Fidelity found themselves with a very marketable prospect: an album with two Chapins and Weissberg.%u201c Mt. A iry%u201d was booked into Folk City to line-around-thebiock crowds. %u201c Mt. A iry%u201d was on the way.The group reassembled after that. Weissberg left and Ralph D%u2019Onofrio and Rich Look came aboard. Tours, the college circuit, gigs at The Bitter End and Philharmonic Hall fo llowed. Lyrics are important to %u201c Mt. A iry%u201d and the group is unusually strong vocally with four lead singers, Tom, Steve, Bob and Rich. The group is now itching to do an album, but are moving slowly to insure hooking up with the right label.Hectic schedule notw ithstanding, Tom Chapin still finds time to host for a Sunday m orning ch ild re n %u2019s show, %u201c Make a W ish.%u201d For threeyears, Tom has sung and talked the award winning show's narration and Harry Chapin writes the songs for the show. Likewise, Steve Chapin finds time to pursue his interest in producing and has just completed an album for Electra. In brother Tom%u2019s words, %u201c Steve is perhaps the best trained musician of us all, and, take it from me, after all I%u2019ve know him nearly all my life.%u201d%u201c Mt. A iry%u201d begins a gig at the Bitter End in the Village, next Wednesday, May 29. The gig w ill be interrupted on Thursday night, however, so that %u201c Mt. A iry%u201d can join Harry Chapin at Town Hall for the New Democratic Coalition benefit concert, a family affair co-ordinated by brother Jim whose forte is politics.BeamePraisesFour TeensMayor Abraham D. Beame presented Civilian Commendations on May 20 to four teenagers who saved a man from an oncoming train at the BMT DeKalb Avenue station in downtown Brooklyn. The four teenage youngsters lifted 27-year-old John Tizzano from the tracks to safety moments before a train rushed into the station.It was shortly before 2 p.m., May 1, 1973, when the youths returning from a summer job hunt in Manhattan, saw Tizzano topple from the platform and onto the southbound local tracks. Witnesses said all four boys spontaneously leaped off the platform to assist the victim who had struck his head on a rail. As the boys were struggling to lift the victim to the platform the RR-4th Avenue train sped into the station. Seconds arterwaras, witn Tizzano safeiy on the platform, the youngsters scrambled to safety as the train swept by.The victim was treated for minor cuts and bruises of the forehead at Long Island College Hospital and released. Two patrolmen from the 84th Precinct who were responding to a report of a%u201c Man down on tracks%u201d arrived just in time tnwitness the closing moments of the rescue.YARDSTICKCreative Needlecrafts - Yarns - Rugs O riginal Designs - Needlecrafts M ounted182 Henry Street\The YWCA of BrooklynPrivate Health Club for Men It WomenFeaturing...%u2022Luxurious heated p o o l-d ista n ce sw im m ing %u2022Gym, Jogging track, Tennis practice,%u2022Table tennis Hand Ball, Paddle Ball,Paddle tennis.F ully equipped exercise room %u2022Total privacy in show ers, lockers, dressing rooms.'P r o f e s s io n a l p e r $O n Ol %u2018iiin fa rv itiin nin conditioning. %u2022SaunaHealth Club DirectorHy Schaffer; 875-1190$150.00 per year.im y u n w i STB w W W %u2022 w\\%u00abia a i i^^uu r' i , ur YVL//-\\ i l e a n t t g i u u30 Third Avenue, Brooklyn,YWC AN. Y. 11217- >'r< -