Mary Chapin Carpenter
Encyclopedia
Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music
artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C.
clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records
, who marketed her as a country singer. Carpenter's first album, 1987's Hometown Girl
, did not produce any singles, although 1989's State of the Heart
and 1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark
each produced four Top 20 hits on the Billboard country singles charts.
Carpenter's most successful album to date remains 1992's Come On Come On, which yielded seven charting country singles and was certified quadruple platinum
in the U.S. for sales exceeding four million copies. She followed it with Stones in the Road
(1994) and A Place in the World
(1996), which both featured hit singles. In the 2000s, Carpenter's albums departed both thematically and musically from her early work, becoming less radio-friendly and more focused on societal and political issues. Her most acclaimed and most topical album to date, The Calling
, was released in March 2007. She followed that with The Age of Miracles
in April 2010.
Carpenter has won five Grammy Award
s and is the only artist to have won four consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
, which she received from 1992 to 1995. As of 2005, she had sold more than 12 million records.
Carpenter has performed on television shows such as Late Night with David Letterman
and Austin City Limits
and on radio shows such as The Diane Rehm Show
. She also tours frequently, returning to Washington almost every summer to perform at the popular outdoor venue Wolftrap.
, to Chapin Carpenter Jr., a Life Magazine executive, and Mary Bowie Robertson. Carpenter lived in Japan
from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Washington, D.C.
She attended Princeton Day School
, a private coeducational prep school
, before graduating from The Taft School
in 1976.
Carpenter described her childhood as "pretty typical[ly] suburban," with her musical interests defined chiefly by her sisters' albums of artists such as The Mamas & the Papas
, the Beatles, and Judy Collins
. When Carpenter was 16 her parents divorced, an event that affected Carpenter and that she wrote about in her song "House of Cards." Carpenter spent much of her time in high school playing the guitar and piano; while at Princeton Day School, her "classmates threatened to cut her guitar strings if she played "Leaving on a Jet Plane
" one more time." Despite her interest in music, Carpenter never considered performing publicly until, shortly after graduating from Taft, her father suggested that she perform at a local open-mike bar, a stressful experience for the shy Carpenter, who recalled, "I thought I was going to barf."
Carpenter graduated from Brown University
in 1981 with a degree in American Civilization
. Carpenter played some summer sets in Washington's music scene, where she met guitarist John Jennings
, who would become her producer and long-time collaborator. However, she considered music a hobby and planned on getting a "real job." She briefly quit performing, but after several job interviews decided to return to music. Carpenter was persuaded by Jennings to play original material instead of covers. Within a few years, she landed a manager and recorded a demo tape that led to a deal with Columbia Records
.
, was produced by John Jennings and was released in 1987. Though songs from Hometown Girl got play on public and college radio stations, it was not until Columbia began promoting Carpenter as a "country" artist that she found a wider audience. For a long time, Carpenter was ambivalent about this pigeonholing, saying she preferred the term "singer-songwriter
" or "slash
rocker" (as in country/folk/rock). She told Rolling Stone
in 1991, "I've never approached music from a categorization process, so to be a casualty of it is real disconcerting to me".
Some music critics argue that Carpenter's style covers a range of influences even broader than those from "country" and "folk." Time
critic Richard Corliss
described the songs in her album A Place in the World
as "reminiscent of early Beatles or rollicking Motown," and one reviewer of Time* Sex* Love* noted the "wash of Beach Boys-style harmonies...backwards guitar loops" and use of a sitar on one track, all elements not commonly found on a country or folk album.
After 1989's State of the Heart
, Carpenter released Shooting Straight in the Dark
in 1990, which yielded her biggest single up to that point, the Grammy Award
-winning "Down at the Twist and Shout". Two years later, Carpenter released the album that, to date, has been her biggest popular success, Come On Come On (1992). The album went quadruple platinum, remaining on the Country Top 100 list for more than 97 weeks, and eventually spawned seven charting singles. Come On Come On was also critically acclaimed; The New York Times
s Karen Schoemer wrote that Carpenter had "risen through the country ranks without flash or bravado: no big hair, sequined gowns, teary performances....Enriched with Ms. Carpenter's subtlety, Come On Come On grows stronger and prettier with every listen."
The songs of Come On Come On had the qualities that would come to identify her work: humorous, fast-paced country-rock songs with themes of perseverance, desire, and independence, alternating with slow, introspective ballads that speak to social or relational issues. "Passionate Kisses
", a cover of fellow singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams
's 1988 song, was the album's third single. Carpenter's version peaked on the U.S. Country
chart at #4, and was the first of Carpenter's songs to cross over to mainstream pop and adult contemporary charts, charting at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100
and at #11 on Adult Contemporary
.
The sixth single on Come On Come On, "He Thinks He'll Keep Her
", was Carpenter's biggest hit off the album, charting at #2 on Billboard's Country chart and at #1 on Radio & Records
's Country chart. Written by Carpenter and Don Schlitz
, the fast-paced song follows a 36-year-old homemaker who leaves her husband, and was inspired by a 1970s series of Geritol
commercials in which a man boasts of his wife's seemingly limitless energy and her many accomplishments, then concludes by saying, "My wife...I think I'll keep her." Carpenter said, "That line has always stuck with me. It's just such a joke." The single received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year
.
, who recorded "Stones in the Road" for her 1992 album Play Me Backwards
after hearing Carpenter sing it live. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper
co-wrote "Sally's Pigeons
" with Carpenter and released it on her 1993 album Hat Full of Stars
. Country singer Wynonna Judd
recorded Carpenter's composition "Girls With Guitars" on her 1993 album Tell Me Why
. Judd released the song as a single in 1994, in what Carpenter called "the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me as a songwriter," and it peaked on the U.S. Country
chart at #10. Later, Carpenter co-wrote "Where Are You Now," which Trisha Yearwood
recorded on her 2000 album Real Live Woman
; the song peaked on the Country chart at #45. In the 1990s, Carpenter also duetted with Shawn Colvin
, a "longtime recording pal", and sang backup in Radney Foster's "Nobody Wins," Dolly Parton
(on Parton's 1993 single "Romeo"), and Joan Baez
on a 1995 live recording of "Diamonds & Rust
." Carpenter also performed a number of concerts with Baez and the Indigo Girls
as The Four Voices, during the mid- to late-1990s.
Carpenter followed Come On Come On with 1994's Stones in the Road
, at which point USA Today
wrote that "without sounding anything like a country star was previously expected to sound, [Carpenter]'s one of the genre's biggest stars." Stones in the Road sold only around two million copies, but was a crossover success with non-country audiences. Also in 1994, Carpenter contributed the song "Willie Short" to the AIDS
benefit album Red Hot + Country
produced by the Red Hot Organization
. Carpenter's sixth album, A Place in the World
, was released in 1996 to "raves" from publications as varied as Time
, People
, Elle
, the New York Post
, and USA Today
. The Boston Globe
found the album more "philosophical [and] heady" than her previous work, and quoted Carpenter as saying, "[A]ll I've wanted to get out of songwriting is a sense of growth....I'm not shying away from any issues or subjects. I don't feel there's anything I can't address."
In 1996, Carpenter's cover of the John Lennon
song "Grow Old With Me
," from the Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero, became an Adult Contemporary chart hit. The song "10,000 Miles" was the signature track in the 1996 family film Fly Away Home
.
In 1998, Carpenter was signed to write the music and lyrics for a planned Broadway musical
adaptation of the 1953 western film Shane. Producers proposed Shane to Carpenter after Dolly Parton
, and then Garth Brooks
, left the project. According to Carpenter, the producers singled out "songs like 'I Am a Town' and 'John Doe No. 24,' songs that are story songs, very character driven, as the key that made them want to see if this was something I was interested in. I was surprised by that, and intrigued." Carpenter left the project in 2000.
wrote that Carpenter was "harder than ever to define stylistically," and described the album as a departure, "essentially a concept album about middle age." In songs such as "The Long Way Home," Carpenter espoused taking life at one's own pace, rather than indulging in rampant goal-driven materialism.
Time*Sex*Love sold fewer copies than Carpenter's earlier work, and yielded only one charting single, "Simple Life," which peaked on the U.S. Country
chart at #53. Carpenter explained that, "When the record was released, I really believed there were several radio-friendly songs...it has been since proven to me that is not exactly the case."
In 2004, Carpenter released Between Here and Gone
, a somber album that addressed events such as the events of September 11
and the death of singer-songwriter Dave Carter
. The album received some of the best reviews of Carpenter's career.
Carpenter's ninth studio album, The Calling
, was released in 2007 by Rounder Records
' rock/pop imprint Zoë
and featured commentary about contemporary politics, including reactions to the impact of Hurricane Katrina
("Houston") and the agreement with the Dixie Chicks
("On With the Song"). In less than three months after its release, The Calling sold more than 100,000 copies in the US, without benefit of any substantial airplay on commercial country radio. This was followed by a Christmas album
, Come Darkness, Come Light, which mixed original and traditional material, also on the Zoë label.
Carpenter's latest studio album, The Age of Miracles
was released on April 27, 2010. It debuted at #28, her highest peak since 1996.
In late 2011, Carpenter announced via Facebook and Twitter that she is hard at work on a follow-up album to "Age of Miracles." The beginning recording sessions were recorded at AIR Studios in London, England. The new album is rumoured to mimic her "Time*Sex*Love" album, a favorite amongst fans. The album is set to drop in 2012.
, the media made much of Carpenter's single status throughout the nineties; in a 1994 profile, Entertainment Weekly
even dubbed her "a spokes-singer for the thirtysomething single woman." Carpenter has since married contractor Timmy Smith. Throughout her career, she has actively supported various charities, including CARE
and Habitat for Humanity, and has conducted fundraising concerts for such causes as the elimination of landmines
.
Carpenter has struggled with periods of depression
since childhood. While on tour with her album The Calling in spring 2007, Carpenter experienced severe chest and back pain. She continued to perform until a bout of breathlessness took her to the ER
, where she learned she had suffered a pulmonary embolism
. Cancelling her summer tour to recover, Carpenter "felt that [she] had let everyone down" and fell into a depression before rediscovering "the learning curve of gratitude." Carpenter spoke about the experience on National Public Radio's This I Believe
program in June 2007.
Carpenter was the author of a biweekly column in the Washington Times from December 2008 to March 2009 in which she discussed topics related to music and politics.
Country Music Association
Grammy Awards
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, who marketed her as a country singer. Carpenter's first album, 1987's Hometown Girl
Hometown Girl
Hometown Girl is the debut album from American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released on July 30, 1987 on Columbia Records. The album did not produce any chart singles...
, did not produce any singles, although 1989's State of the Heart
State of the Heart (Mary Chapin Carpenter album)
State of the Heart is singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter's second album. It is much more country sounding than her preceding basically folk début Hometown Girl. State of the Heart eventually rose to the #28 position on the Billboard Country Albums chart, with four of its tracks finding places...
and 1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark
Shooting Straight in the Dark
Shooting Straight in the Dark is Mary Chapin Carpenter's third studio album. It was a #11 Country Album on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Four of its tracks became Billboard Hot Country Songs hits: "You Win Again" at #16, "Right Now" at #15, "Down at the Twist and Shout" at #2, and "Going Out...
each produced four Top 20 hits on the Billboard country singles charts.
Carpenter's most successful album to date remains 1992's Come On Come On, which yielded seven charting country singles and was certified quadruple platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in the U.S. for sales exceeding four million copies. She followed it with Stones in the Road
Stones in the Road
-Personnel:As listed in liner notes.*Kenny Aronoff – drums*Paul Brady – tin whistles, background vocals*J. T. Brown – fretless bass, bass guitar*Mary Chapin Carpenter – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar*Jon Carroll – piano, accordion...
(1994) and A Place in the World
A Place in the World (album)
A Place in the World is the sixth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and was a #3 Country Album on the Billboard charts. Album tracks that entered the Hot Country Singles chart were "Let Me into Your Heart" at #11, "I Want to Be Your Girlfriend" at #35, and "Keeping the Faith" at #58...
(1996), which both featured hit singles. In the 2000s, Carpenter's albums departed both thematically and musically from her early work, becoming less radio-friendly and more focused on societal and political issues. Her most acclaimed and most topical album to date, The Calling
The Calling (Mary Chapin Carpenter album)
The Calling is the ninth studio album released from country music singer Mary Chapin Carpenter. It is the follow-up album to her 2004 album, Between Here and Gone. The Calling was released on March 6, 2007 on Zoe Records. Carpenter had previously been on Columbia Nashville, this being her first...
, was released in March 2007. She followed that with The Age of Miracles
The Age of Miracles
The Age of Miracles is the tenth studio album released by American music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. The album was released on April 27, 2010 on Zoë Records and was produced by Carpenter and Matt Rollings....
in April 2010.
Carpenter has won five Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s and is the only artist to have won four consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
, which she received from 1992 to 1995. As of 2005, she had sold more than 12 million records.
Carpenter has performed on television shows such as Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
and Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
and on radio shows such as The Diane Rehm Show
The Diane Rehm Show
The Diane Rehm Show is a National Public Radio call-in show based in the United States. In October, 2007, The Diane Rehm Show was named to Audience Research Analysis’ list of the top ten most powerful national programs in public radio – the only talk show on the list...
. She also tours frequently, returning to Washington almost every summer to perform at the popular outdoor venue Wolftrap.
Early life
Carpenter was born in Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, to Chapin Carpenter Jr., a Life Magazine executive, and Mary Bowie Robertson. Carpenter lived in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
She attended Princeton Day School
Princeton Day School
Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton Township, New Jersey, serving students in grades pre kindergarten - 12. The largest division is the Upper School , with an enrollment of approximately 400...
, a private coeducational prep school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
, before graduating from The Taft School
The Taft School
The Taft School is a private, coeducational prep school located in Watertown, Connecticut, USA. The school was founded by Horace Dutton Taft in 1890. It has 570 students, about 470 of whom live on the campus. Taft is a member of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization...
in 1976.
Carpenter described her childhood as "pretty typical[ly] suburban," with her musical interests defined chiefly by her sisters' albums of artists such as The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
, the Beatles, and Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
. When Carpenter was 16 her parents divorced, an event that affected Carpenter and that she wrote about in her song "House of Cards." Carpenter spent much of her time in high school playing the guitar and piano; while at Princeton Day School, her "classmates threatened to cut her guitar strings if she played "Leaving on a Jet Plane
Leaving on a Jet Plane
"Leaving on a Jet Plane" is a song written by John Denver in 1966 and most famously recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. The original title of the song was "Oh Babe I Hate to Go" but Denver's then producer, Milt Okun, convinced him to change the title....
" one more time." Despite her interest in music, Carpenter never considered performing publicly until, shortly after graduating from Taft, her father suggested that she perform at a local open-mike bar, a stressful experience for the shy Carpenter, who recalled, "I thought I was going to barf."
Carpenter graduated from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1981 with a degree in American Civilization
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
. Carpenter played some summer sets in Washington's music scene, where she met guitarist John Jennings
John Jennings (musician)
John Jennings is an American musician: a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer.Among his producer work are 8 albums by Mary Chapin Carpenter, as well as releases by Beausoleil, John Gorka, and Janis Ian...
, who would become her producer and long-time collaborator. However, she considered music a hobby and planned on getting a "real job." She briefly quit performing, but after several job interviews decided to return to music. Carpenter was persuaded by Jennings to play original material instead of covers. Within a few years, she landed a manager and recorded a demo tape that led to a deal with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
.
Early records and "country" label
Carpenter's first album, Hometown GirlHometown Girl
Hometown Girl is the debut album from American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released on July 30, 1987 on Columbia Records. The album did not produce any chart singles...
, was produced by John Jennings and was released in 1987. Though songs from Hometown Girl got play on public and college radio stations, it was not until Columbia began promoting Carpenter as a "country" artist that she found a wider audience. For a long time, Carpenter was ambivalent about this pigeonholing, saying she preferred the term "singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
" or "slash
Slash (punctuation)
The slash is a sign used as a punctuation mark and for various other purposes. It is now often called a forward slash , and many other alternative names.-History:...
rocker" (as in country/folk/rock). She told Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
in 1991, "I've never approached music from a categorization process, so to be a casualty of it is real disconcerting to me".
Some music critics argue that Carpenter's style covers a range of influences even broader than those from "country" and "folk." Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
critic Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
described the songs in her album A Place in the World
A Place in the World (album)
A Place in the World is the sixth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and was a #3 Country Album on the Billboard charts. Album tracks that entered the Hot Country Singles chart were "Let Me into Your Heart" at #11, "I Want to Be Your Girlfriend" at #35, and "Keeping the Faith" at #58...
as "reminiscent of early Beatles or rollicking Motown," and one reviewer of Time* Sex* Love* noted the "wash of Beach Boys-style harmonies...backwards guitar loops" and use of a sitar on one track, all elements not commonly found on a country or folk album.
After 1989's State of the Heart
State of the Heart (Mary Chapin Carpenter album)
State of the Heart is singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter's second album. It is much more country sounding than her preceding basically folk début Hometown Girl. State of the Heart eventually rose to the #28 position on the Billboard Country Albums chart, with four of its tracks finding places...
, Carpenter released Shooting Straight in the Dark
Shooting Straight in the Dark
Shooting Straight in the Dark is Mary Chapin Carpenter's third studio album. It was a #11 Country Album on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Four of its tracks became Billboard Hot Country Songs hits: "You Win Again" at #16, "Right Now" at #15, "Down at the Twist and Shout" at #2, and "Going Out...
in 1990, which yielded her biggest single up to that point, the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning "Down at the Twist and Shout". Two years later, Carpenter released the album that, to date, has been her biggest popular success, Come On Come On (1992). The album went quadruple platinum, remaining on the Country Top 100 list for more than 97 weeks, and eventually spawned seven charting singles. Come On Come On was also critically acclaimed; The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
s Karen Schoemer wrote that Carpenter had "risen through the country ranks without flash or bravado: no big hair, sequined gowns, teary performances....Enriched with Ms. Carpenter's subtlety, Come On Come On grows stronger and prettier with every listen."
The songs of Come On Come On had the qualities that would come to identify her work: humorous, fast-paced country-rock songs with themes of perseverance, desire, and independence, alternating with slow, introspective ballads that speak to social or relational issues. "Passionate Kisses
Passionate Kisses
"Passionate Kisses" is a Grammy winning song penned by the American Alt Country performer Lucinda Williams and made famous by the 1993 single version by Mary Chapin Carpenter.-Original Release:...
", a cover of fellow singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
's 1988 song, was the album's third single. Carpenter's version peaked on the U.S. Country
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart at #4, and was the first of Carpenter's songs to cross over to mainstream pop and adult contemporary charts, charting at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and at #11 on Adult Contemporary
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
.
The sixth single on Come On Come On, "He Thinks He'll Keep Her
He Thinks He'll Keep Her
"He Thinks He'll Keep Her" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. The song was Carpenter’s first number-one single on the Radio & Records country music charts, although it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.First...
", was Carpenter's biggest hit off the album, charting at #2 on Billboard's Country chart and at #1 on Radio & Records
Radio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
's Country chart. Written by Carpenter and Don Schlitz
Don Schlitz
Donald Alan "Don" Schlitz, Jr. is a country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammys, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards...
, the fast-paced song follows a 36-year-old homemaker who leaves her husband, and was inspired by a 1970s series of Geritol
Geritol
Geritol is a US trademarked name for various dietary supplements, past and present. Geritol is currently a brand name for several vitamin complexes plus iron or multimineral products in both liquid form and tablets, containing from 9.5 to 18 mg of iron per daily dose...
commercials in which a man boasts of his wife's seemingly limitless energy and her many accomplishments, then concludes by saying, "My wife...I think I'll keep her." Carpenter said, "That line has always stuck with me. It's just such a joke." The single received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year
Record Of The Year
Record of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
.
Continued 1990s success
In the wake of Come On Come Ons success, Carpenter wrote songs for a variety of artists, including Joan BaezJoan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, who recorded "Stones in the Road" for her 1992 album Play Me Backwards
Play Me Backwards
Play Me Backwards was a 1992 album by Joan Baez. In addition to her own work, she included songs by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Janis Ian. The album marked the first time Baez worked with producers Kenny Greenberg and Wally Wilson, with whom she would continue to work throughout most of the '90s...
after hearing Carpenter sing it live. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
co-wrote "Sally's Pigeons
Sally's Pigeons
"Sally's Pigeons" is a pop song by Cyndi Lauper that was featured on her 1993 album Hat Full of Stars. It was released as the album's second single in some countries, and as its third in others....
" with Carpenter and released it on her 1993 album Hat Full of Stars
Hat Full of Stars
-Album information:Issued in 1993 it deviated from her pop-rock sound of previous projects and delved heavily into alternative music. It also furthered Lauper's growing penchant for writing topical songs about social issues....
. Country singer Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Ellen Judd is an American country music singer. Her solo albums and singles are all credited to the singular name Wynonna. Wynonna first rose to fame in the 1980s alongside her mother, Naomi, in the country music duo The Judds...
recorded Carpenter's composition "Girls With Guitars" on her 1993 album Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why (Wynonna Judd album)
Tell Me Why is a 1993 album by American country music artist Wynonna. Released on MCA/Curb Records in 1993, the album produced the hit singles "Only Love", "Is It Over Yet", "Rock Bottom", and "Girls with Guitars", all Top Ten hits on the Billboard country music charts...
. Judd released the song as a single in 1994, in what Carpenter called "the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me as a songwriter," and it peaked on the U.S. Country
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart at #10. Later, Carpenter co-wrote "Where Are You Now," which Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...
recorded on her 2000 album Real Live Woman
Real Live Woman
Real Live Woman is the eighth album by country singer Trisha Yearwood.The album reached #4 on the Billboard country albums chart. It produced a #16 hit on the Billboard country music charts in "Real Live Woman" and a #45 hit in "Where Are You Now"...
; the song peaked on the Country chart at #45. In the 1990s, Carpenter also duetted with Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
, a "longtime recording pal", and sang backup in Radney Foster's "Nobody Wins," Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
(on Parton's 1993 single "Romeo"), and Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
on a 1995 live recording of "Diamonds & Rust
Diamonds & Rust (song)
"Diamonds & Rust" is a song written and performed by Joan Baez - it was released in 1975, but had been written the previous November.In the song, Baez recounts an out-of-the-blue phone call from an old lover, which sends her a decade back in time, to a "crummy" hotel in Greenwich Village; she...
." Carpenter also performed a number of concerts with Baez and the Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls
The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
as The Four Voices, during the mid- to late-1990s.
Carpenter followed Come On Come On with 1994's Stones in the Road
Stones in the Road
-Personnel:As listed in liner notes.*Kenny Aronoff – drums*Paul Brady – tin whistles, background vocals*J. T. Brown – fretless bass, bass guitar*Mary Chapin Carpenter – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar*Jon Carroll – piano, accordion...
, at which point USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that "without sounding anything like a country star was previously expected to sound, [Carpenter]'s one of the genre's biggest stars." Stones in the Road sold only around two million copies, but was a crossover success with non-country audiences. Also in 1994, Carpenter contributed the song "Willie Short" to the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
benefit album Red Hot + Country
Red Hot + Country
Red Hot + Country was the follow-up to No Alternative in the Red Hot Series of compilation albums, a series produced to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues...
produced by the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
. Carpenter's sixth album, A Place in the World
A Place in the World (album)
A Place in the World is the sixth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and was a #3 Country Album on the Billboard charts. Album tracks that entered the Hot Country Singles chart were "Let Me into Your Heart" at #11, "I Want to Be Your Girlfriend" at #35, and "Keeping the Faith" at #58...
, was released in 1996 to "raves" from publications as varied as Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
, Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
found the album more "philosophical [and] heady" than her previous work, and quoted Carpenter as saying, "[A]ll I've wanted to get out of songwriting is a sense of growth....I'm not shying away from any issues or subjects. I don't feel there's anything I can't address."
In 1996, Carpenter's cover of the John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
song "Grow Old With Me
Grow Old with Me
"Grow Old With Me" is one of the final songs written by John Lennon. It was recorded by Lennon as a demo at his home in the Dakota Building in 1980, and later appeared on the posthumous album, Milk and Honey in 1984. It was also considered as a possible reunion single by his former bandmates during...
," from the Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero, became an Adult Contemporary chart hit. The song "10,000 Miles" was the signature track in the 1996 family film Fly Away Home
Fly Away Home
Fly Away Home is a 1996 drama and comedy film directed by Carroll Ballard, the director of The Black Stallion . The film stars Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels and Dana Delany. The story follows a young girl from New Zealand who survives a car crash that results in the death of her mother...
.
In 1998, Carpenter was signed to write the music and lyrics for a planned Broadway musical
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
adaptation of the 1953 western film Shane. Producers proposed Shane to Carpenter after Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, and then Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, left the project. According to Carpenter, the producers singled out "songs like 'I Am a Town' and 'John Doe No. 24,' songs that are story songs, very character driven, as the key that made them want to see if this was something I was interested in. I was surprised by that, and intrigued." Carpenter left the project in 2000.
2000s work
In 2001, Carpenter released her first studio album in five years, Time*Sex*Love. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that Carpenter was "harder than ever to define stylistically," and described the album as a departure, "essentially a concept album about middle age." In songs such as "The Long Way Home," Carpenter espoused taking life at one's own pace, rather than indulging in rampant goal-driven materialism.
Time*Sex*Love sold fewer copies than Carpenter's earlier work, and yielded only one charting single, "Simple Life," which peaked on the U.S. Country
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart at #53. Carpenter explained that, "When the record was released, I really believed there were several radio-friendly songs...it has been since proven to me that is not exactly the case."
In 2004, Carpenter released Between Here and Gone
Between Here and Gone
Between Here and Gone is the ninth studio album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released April 27, 2004. The album reached number five on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, although the album itself produced no chart singles...
, a somber album that addressed events such as the events of September 11
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
and the death of singer-songwriter Dave Carter
Dave Carter
Dave Carter was an American folk singer-songwriter who described his style as "post-modern mythic American folk music." He was one half of the duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, who were heralded as the new "voice of modern folk music" in the months before Carter's unexpected death in July 2002...
. The album received some of the best reviews of Carpenter's career.
Carpenter's ninth studio album, The Calling
The Calling (Mary Chapin Carpenter album)
The Calling is the ninth studio album released from country music singer Mary Chapin Carpenter. It is the follow-up album to her 2004 album, Between Here and Gone. The Calling was released on March 6, 2007 on Zoe Records. Carpenter had previously been on Columbia Nashville, this being her first...
, was released in 2007 by Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
' rock/pop imprint Zoë
Zoë Records
Zoë Records is an independent record label in the United States. It is a part of the Rounder Records group.Zoë predominantly distributes albums by folk rock and alternative pop artists...
and featured commentary about contemporary politics, including reactions to the impact of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
("Houston") and the agreement with the Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
("On With the Song"). In less than three months after its release, The Calling sold more than 100,000 copies in the US, without benefit of any substantial airplay on commercial country radio. This was followed by a Christmas album
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
, Come Darkness, Come Light, which mixed original and traditional material, also on the Zoë label.
Carpenter's latest studio album, The Age of Miracles
The Age of Miracles
The Age of Miracles is the tenth studio album released by American music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. The album was released on April 27, 2010 on Zoë Records and was produced by Carpenter and Matt Rollings....
was released on April 27, 2010. It debuted at #28, her highest peak since 1996.
In late 2011, Carpenter announced via Facebook and Twitter that she is hard at work on a follow-up album to "Age of Miracles." The beginning recording sessions were recorded at AIR Studios in London, England. The new album is rumoured to mimic her "Time*Sex*Love" album, a favorite amongst fans. The album is set to drop in 2012.
Personal life
Despite a series of relationships, including one with John JenningsJohn Jennings (musician)
John Jennings is an American musician: a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer.Among his producer work are 8 albums by Mary Chapin Carpenter, as well as releases by Beausoleil, John Gorka, and Janis Ian...
, the media made much of Carpenter's single status throughout the nineties; in a 1994 profile, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
even dubbed her "a spokes-singer for the thirtysomething single woman." Carpenter has since married contractor Timmy Smith. Throughout her career, she has actively supported various charities, including CARE
CARE (relief)
CARE is a broad-spectrum secular relief, humanitarian, and development non-governmental organization fighting global poverty. It is non-political, non-sectarian and operates annually in more than 70 countries across the globe.One of the organization’s primary focuses in its fight to eradicate...
and Habitat for Humanity, and has conducted fundraising concerts for such causes as the elimination of landmines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
.
Carpenter has struggled with periods of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
since childhood. While on tour with her album The Calling in spring 2007, Carpenter experienced severe chest and back pain. She continued to perform until a bout of breathlessness took her to the ER
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
, where she learned she had suffered a pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...
. Cancelling her summer tour to recover, Carpenter "felt that [she] had let everyone down" and fell into a depression before rediscovering "the learning curve of gratitude." Carpenter spoke about the experience on National Public Radio's This I Believe
This I Believe
This I Believe was a five-minute CBS Radio Network program hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. A half-hour European version of This I Believe ran from 1956 to 1958 over Radio Luxembourg....
program in June 2007.
Carpenter was the author of a biweekly column in the Washington Times from December 2008 to March 2009 in which she discussed topics related to music and politics.
Awards
Academy of Country MusicAcademy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
- 1990 Top New Female VocalistAcademy of Country MusicThe Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
- 1992 Top Female VocalistAcademy of Country MusicThe Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
- 1992 Female Vocalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1993 Female Vocalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
Grammy Awards
- 1992 Best Country Vocal Performance, FemaleGrammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
- "Down at the Twist and ShoutDown at the Twist and Shout"Down at the Twist and Shout" is a single written and recorded by American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. Released in June 1991, it was the third single from the album Shooting Straight in the Dark...
" - 1993 Best Country Vocal Performance, FemaleGrammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
- "I Feel LuckyI Feel Lucky"I Feel Lucky" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. Released in May 1992, it was the first single from the album Come On Come On. The song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...
" - 1994 Best Country Vocal Performance, FemaleGrammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
- "Passionate KissesPassionate Kisses"Passionate Kisses" is a Grammy winning song penned by the American Alt Country performer Lucinda Williams and made famous by the 1993 single version by Mary Chapin Carpenter.-Original Release:...
" - 1995 Best Country AlbumGrammy Award for Best Country AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Country Album has been awarded since 1994. The equivalent award, the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Album was presented in 1965 and 1966...
- "Stones in the Road" - 1995 Best Country Vocal Performance, FemaleGrammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
- "Shut Up and Kiss MeShut up and Kiss Me (song)"Shut Up and Kiss Me" is the title of a song recorded by American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter on her 1994 studio album Stones in the Road. The song served as that album's lead-off single, and became her only Number One hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts; it...
"
External links
- Mary Chapin Carpenter official web site
- Comprehensive Mary Chapin Carpenter Discography