Mary Chapin Carpenter--opinions?

Did anyone catch her interview on NPR this morning? I've never heard her music before. Her new recording sounded beautiful.

Sadly, I was busy doing something else so I kept missing sentences in her interview so it didn't make much sense to me. But I was impressed, and that's not really the kind of music that I am interested in.

It sounds more somber and sorrowful. Beautiful.

Overplayed a lot a while back. She was a country singer, though not very country. I imagine she's moved on by now. Good writer, good singer. "I feel lucky" gets played a lot still.

And to tell the truth, I don't listen to commercial radio at all. So I don't think I've ever heard anything by her before.

Her lyrics and music, as well, have a much broader range and deeper perspective than a typical country tune. I've always considered her music to be more folksy than country. Unfortunately, artists such as she usually get pigeonholed into the country genre and relegated to country stations, if they get radio time at all. It seems most of my favorites are those that don't get much radio time, unless it's on stations like WXPN (out of Philly).

I don't listen to country music, but I've been a fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter for years. I think my favorite song is "I take my Chances"

"I sat alone in the dark one night, tuning in by remote.
I found a preacher who spoke of the light, but there was brimstone in his throat.
He'd show me the way according to him in return for my personal check.
I flipped the channel back to CNN, and I lit another cigarette.

I take my chances. Yes, forgiveness doesn't come with a debt.
I take my chances. I take my chances every chance I get."

Dianne Sawyer was doing the story of a very brave abortion doctor who had been threatened daily. It was soon after the death of an abortion doctor in Boston and Primetime was exposing some of the fundie hate in America. (This was back in the day when media were allowed to cover such things)

They played this song in the background of the story, very powerful.

There is a lot of garbage on commercial country radio, mainly because Nashville record execs think that the way to sell music is to make it sound like everything else that's sold in the last few months, and because they pay so little that they wind up with amateur talent songwriters.

But the ones who emerge from that mess are good, and the genre itself is good. CMT used to play a full range of artists, from the mass produced bubble gum stuff to the offbeat indie stuff. When they started doing this, counry flourished for a while, with people like Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, and yes, Mary-Chapin Carpenter. Unfortunately, the Nashville execs drug the industry back down.

But under the country umbrella are people like Lyle Lovette, Willie Nelson, Gretchen Peters, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, the artists I mentioned above, George Straight (who can be either the best or worst of the industry), Dwight Yoakum, etc, plus a lot of lesser acts who come and go.

There's nothing wrong with the genre, just with the marketing. THe same thing happened to rap/hip hop during the 80s, with the industry only hyping the gangsta slapaho stuff and ignoring the better social commentary.

Mary-Chapin's first song was "Twist and Shout" and was backed up by a zydeco band. She's teamed up with LeRoy Parnell, Dolly Parton, Patty Loveless, and others. She sings about Lyle Lovette and Dwight Yoakum. She's part of the genre, so adjust your thinking of country to include her. Kick out Keith Worley if it makes you feel better, he's not country, he's just bad.

I don't think it's as bad as you do, but I agree that those originals you mentioned are still among the best.

She very rarely gets as country as "I Feel Lucky." But that's fine with me - Mary Chapin is a fave.

I have a wide selection of country music. My beef isn't with the genre itself, but the way it's packaged and mass marketed. You are also correct that this same method is applied to most genres that get a lot of airplay. It seems that, in most cases, the music 'industry' panders to the lowest common denominator and any artist who moves the least bit outside of that loses out on airplay. I discovered some of my favorite artists via CMT, MTV, VH1, when, in their early days, they prided themselves on showcasing new and underappreciated artists.

I still think Mary strays into folk more often, and more consistently, than most of the others you mentioned.

They saw that a certain sound was marketable and ran with it. In many cases, this sound is nice IMO. But any artist that dares to do something different does have a hard time getting play. Therefore, there was a massive overload on that sound. And artists like Chris Cagle and Aaron Lines were bad enough to be parodies of the sound.

if you don't already...I discovered the station recently, and I love it. If you're in the Philly area, it's 88.5 on the dial. They have a HUGE variety. They are a pleasant anomaly in radio world.

Mary-Chapin does stray into folk, and that nebulous "Adult contemporary" region, but I think it's straying, not living. Willie wanders into folk, jazz and blues (Is there a more talented musical artist? I don't believe there is.), Lyle into blues and gospel, Waylon and many others into rock. But it's all country at heart.

Not that it matters. I'm only concerned about the labels because I saw a couple of posts that said basically, "Country sucks, so if these country artists don't suck, they can't be country." That's like saying jelly beans taste bad, so only black ones are really jelly beans, and the rest are something else because they don't taste bad. Personal gripe of mine. Minor one, but hey, we've all got our little failings! :-)

starting with "Down at the Twist and Shout" released in 1990.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000272Q/002-0010613-3915227?v=glance

in Bethesda, IIRC.

I had a friend who loved going there. I wanted him to take me, but it closed down before I got to go. :cry:

I'm enjoying it much more than her last one. I have about all of them but one or two. I really love her talent.

Her last one, while still good, is my least favorite of hers. I'd give it a B+. Is there any of that hooky stuff like "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" on her new one? It's fine if there isn't. She knows how to make beautiful music and non-ballads that seep in.

I've only had one listen, so far, and it was at work with distractions. I can tell you that she seems to have recovered her lyricism, which was much less evident on her last cd. The music itself is also not as moody as it was on her last one. Her lyrical wit is what drew me to her music in the first place, and if you are of the same bent, you'll enjoy this one.

Thanks! :hi:

Wonderful singer-songwriter. Too famous now to see in the small venues so great for her type of music.

I think its Brown... definitely one of the power-schools.

2 smart 2 B country...

Listen to the Stones in the Road album. Especially John Doe #24, Jubilee and Pirate Days.

She's wonderful.

she's a D.C. favorite.

n/t

I don't like country either; and don't consider her country. Her music is completely original and usually haunting. Two snaps up and around the world for MCC!

A very good show. I've always thought highly of her.

Commander Cody opened. Amusing.

LOL....that brings back memories! :hi:
Not all of them sober ones.

My wife's a bigger fan than I am, but I think she's quite good. Her version of Springsteen's "My Love Will Not Let You Down" kicks Bruce's ass.

really came full blown when she recorded Lucinda William's song "Passionate Kisses."