Saturday, November 20, 2010

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Mary Chapin Carpenter

Artist:Mary Chapin Carpenter
Song:Down At The Twist And Shout
Album:The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter





Mary Chapin Carpenter had a long run on the country charts in the 90s. Down At The Twist And Shout was her first top five country hit in 1991 and it also won a Grammy. For the most part, she did not cross over to the pop market. She was born Feb. 21, 1958 in Princeton, NJ. Her dad was an executive with Life Magazine. Her family lived in Japan for a couple of years before moving to Washington, DC in 1971. She started writing songs while attending Brown University but was very reluctant to perform. She met guitarist John Jennings in the early 80s and eventually took music more seriously and landed a contract with Columbia in 1987. At first Columbia tried to sell her to the college market as a singer songwriter. But Mary's career didn't take off until Columbia sold her to the country market though Mary is very uncomfortable being labeled as a country singer. But that's where she has had most of her success. Down At The Twist And Shout is from her second CD Shooting Straight In The Dark. It reached #2 on the Country Singles chart and it was her first top five hit. It also won a 1992 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. Her success continued until she took a break in 1996. She returned in 2001 with the CD Time*Sex*Love but after having several Platinum albums, it just didn't sell as well and she left Columbia after her 2004 CD Between Here And Gone. She currently records for Rounder's Zoe label and her latest CD The Age Of Miracles was released in Apr. 2010. This budget comp is a good intro to her music. Here's the video for Down At The Twist And Shout by Mary Chapin Carpenter.

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