Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter poses with Lt. Max J. Wildermuth during a USO show
Background information
Born	February 21, 1958
Origin	Princeton, New Jersey
Genre(s)	Country
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1987 - Present

Mary Chapin Carpenter (born February 21, 1958 in Princeton, New Jersey) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning country/folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, with a diverse musical style that is sometimes said to be "unclassifiable."^{[citation needed]} Download high resolution version (1800x1440, 314 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nassau Street, Princetons main street. ... For the Bon Jovi album, see New Jersey (album) Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parts of the guitar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nassau Street, Princetons main street. ... For the Bon Jovi album, see New Jersey (album) Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards, commonly referred to as the Grammys) are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievements in the record industry. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. ...

Biography

Childhood

Carpenter, the daughter of a Life Magazine executive, spent two years in Japan as a child, moving to Washington, D.C. in 1974. She attended Princeton Day School, a private coeducational day school, before graduating from the Taft School in 1976. Carpenter has described her childhood as a "pretty typical[ly] suburban," with her musical interests defined chiefly by whatever albums her older sisters had lying around.^[1] This included records by The Mamas & the Papas, the Beatles, and Judy Collins, along with some Woody Guthrie albums of her mother's. A cover of Life Magazine from 1911 Life has been the name of two notable magazines published in the United States. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ... The Taft School is a top private coeducational prep school in Watertown, Connecticut founded by Horace Dutton Taft in 1890. ... The Mamas & the Papas (credited as The Mamas and the Papas on the debut album cover) were a leading vocal group of the 1960s. ... The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington) is an American folk and standards singer. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Carpenter spent much of her time in high school playing the guitar and piano; in fact, while at Princeton Day School, legend has it that "classmates threatened to cut her guitar strings if she played 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' one more time."^[2] The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ... Leaving on a Jet Plane was a song written by John Denver in 1967 during a layover at an airport in Washington and was recorded by the Chad Mitchell Trio that year. ...

Early Performing and Alcoholism

Despite her interest in music, Carpenter says she never considered performing publicly until, shortly after graduating from Taft, her father suggested it. "He said, `There's a bar down the street, they have open-mike sessions, why don't you go out and play at one of those things?'" Carpenter recalled for Rolling Stone in 1991. "That was the first time it occurred to me, frankly."^[1] She added that the audience was "polite," but that she "wanted to throw up." The Taft School is a top private coeducational prep school in Watertown, Connecticut founded by Horace Dutton Taft in 1890. ... This article is about the magazine. ...

Carpenter graduated from Brown University in 1981 with a degree in American Civilization. She considered music a hobby at first, and, despite playing some summer sets in Washington's vibrant 80s music scene for extra money, kept on thinking she'd eventually get a "real job.".^[1] At those gigs, most played in bars, Carpenter developed a serious drinking problem. "I had a big problem," she later recalled. "It was awful. I had to make a lifestyle change in a drastic way. It's still so painful to me to think about how I was."^[1] Brown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island. ...

Thinking that music was part of the problem, Carpenter stopped performing and began interviewing for regular work, though when someone offered her a position she "panicked," and became determined "to go back into music but [to] change some things."^[1] She decided to play only original material, rather than covers, and she also quit drinking. Within a few years, Carpenter had landed a manager and recorded a demo tape that led to a deal with Columbia Records. Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ...

Hometown Girl and "Is She Country?"

Carpenter's first album, Hometown Girl, was released in 1987. It was produced by Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter John Jennings, with whom she had been performing in the D.C. area, and who has remained a long-time collaborator. Though songs from Hometown Girl got play on public and college radio stations, it wasn't until Columbia started promoting Carpenter as a "country" artist that she found a wider audience.^[3] As Time critic Richard Corliss wrote, "She didn't go country; country went her." John Jennings (1880-1956) was for over a decade a member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee. ... A pocket watch, a device used to keep time There are two distinct views on the meaning of time. ...

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.)^[1] 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." The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... This article is about the magazine. ...

Some music critics argue that Carpenter's style covers such a wide range of influences that the question isn't even between "country" and "folk." Corliss described the songs in her album A Place in the World as "reminiscent of early Beatles or rollicking Motown,"^[4] 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,^[5] all elements that wouldn't be commonly found on a country or folk album. A Place in the World is the sixth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and was a #3 Country Album on the Billboard charts. ... The Beach Boys, originally the Beech Boys, a small team of four brothers from the south of Poland, emigrated to America in the early 1950s in search of a fortune to be made in the Arizonian logging industry. When it soon became evident they had been the victims of...

In 2001, Carpenter herself definitively answered the question (though it was a kind of non-answer.) She said, "Lots of times people ask me, 'Are you still a country artist?' I have to tell them I don't know the answer."^[5]

After Hometown Girl

Several years after Hometown Girl, Carpenter released the album that, to date, has been her biggest mainstream success, 1992's Come On Come On. The album's songs had the qualities that would come to identify her work: often humorous fast-paced country-rock songs, tempered by slower and softer songs that often speak to social or relational issues. One of her most widely known singles, from Come On Come On, is "Passionate Kisses" (written by fellow singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams), a song with a rock flavor musically and lyrics listing simple desires such as "a comfortable bed", "food to fill me up", and "time to think". A number of her songs speak to women, urging them on through hard times or troubled relationships. In Come On Come On's "He Thinks He'll Keep Her", co-composed by Carpenter and Don Schlitz, the singer makes the case for strength and self-respect. This was inspired by her indignance at a 1970s series of Geritol television commercials in which a man boast of his wife's seemingly limitless energy and her many accomplishments, concluding, "My wife...I think I'll keep her." Come On Come On is the fourth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. ... Come On Come On is the fourth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. ... Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, and country music singer and songwriter. ... Come On Come On is the fourth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. ... He Thinks Hell Keep Her was a 1992 song written and performed by Mary Chapin Carpenter, which provided the singer-songwriter her first number one U.S. country single. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Geritol is the name of an American vitamin and mineral supplement. ...

Since the success of Come On Come On, Carpenter has performed regularly on TV shows, such as Late Night with David Letterman and Austin City Limits, and at musical events across the country, including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado. She tours frequently and has remained very loyal to her hometown of Washington, DC, returning almost every summer to perform at the popular outdoor venue Wolf Trap. Come On Come On is the fourth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. ... Late Night with David Letterman was a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC hosted by David Letterman. ... Stevie Ray Vaughan performing on Austin City Limits. ... The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Telluride, Colorado. ... Telluride is either: A compound of a metal with the element Tellurium. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center situated in a setting of rolling hills and woods located on 117 acres (47. ...

As of 2006, Carpenter has released 10 solo albums. In addition to her solo work, her career has included a number of collaborations with such artists as Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, and Shawn Colvin. Carpenter is also well-known as a songwriter, writing songs for a variety of artists including friend Trisha Yearwood ("Where Are You Now") and the song "Love Goes On" as a tribute to writer Marjorie Williams, who died of cancer in 2005. Joan Chandos Báez (born January 9, 1941) is an American folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style. ... Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American Grammy-winning and Academy Award-nominated country singer, songwriter, composer, author, actress, and philanthropist. ... Shawn Colvin. ... Trisha Yearwood Trisha Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is a country music singer. ... Marjorie Williams (January 13, 1958 – January 16, 2005) was born in Princeton, New Jersey to a scientist-turned-homemaker mother and a father who was an editor at Viking Press. ...

Changes in Carpenter's Recent Work

One common theme in Carpenter's 2000s-era music is that of taking life at one's own pace, rather than rampant goal-driven materialism, such as "The Long Way Home" from her 2001 album Time*Sex*Love, which pokes fun at a man who "retire(s) at thirty to his big-ass house next to the putting green." That album had a different feel musically, incorporating elaborate orchestra melodies, but with the characteristic lyrical depth. Understandably, it had less broad appeal than her earlier work. Carpenter says that this came as a surprise to her, though--explaining 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." ^[5] 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

More recently, Carpenter has referred to her Come On Come On recording period as the time "when I was having songs on the airwaves,"^[6] though, like the characters in her songs, that kind of goal-driven materialism doesn't seem to matter much to her anymore. (This is in stark contrast to the artist who, in 1991, was described by Rolling Stone as someone who "clearly wants broader pop success.") Come On Come On is the fourth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. ... This article is about the magazine. ...

In 2001, she explained that, "When I think of the artists I admire and seek out musically…. It's because I'm curious about where they're going to go the next time they have a chance to put a record out. It's not about where I find them on the radio dial, or how many records they're selling. It's more a sense that I've connected with what they have to say and it ends up being more than just a momentary connection; I want to continue to see what they have to say."^[6]

Carpenter's latest album, Between Here and Gone, was released in 2004. Carpenter is currently working on a new album entitled The Calling, scheduled to be released on March 6, 2007 by Rounder Records' rock/pop imprint Zoë. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rounder Records is a Cambridge, Massachusetts based independent record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin, and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students. ... Zoë Records is an independent record label in the United States. ...

Personal life

Carpenter was married in 2002 in Virginia to a contractor, Tim Smith. They currently reside on a farm near Charlottesville, Virginia and call their home "Elysium." 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. Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ... A general contractor is an organization or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction of a building, road or other facility. ... Look up care in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Official Habitat for Humanity logo Habitat for Humanity is an international, Christian, non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building quality, low-cost, affordable housing. ... Minefield redirects here. ...

Awards

• Grammy Awards
  • 1994: Grammy Award for Best Country Album winner - Stones In the Road
  • 1991-1994: Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance

• Country Music Association Awards
  • 1992 and 1993: Country Music Association (CMA) Female Vocalist of the Year

• Academy of Country Music Awards
  • 1992: Academy of Country Music Top Female Vocalist
  • 1989: Academy of Country Music Top New Female Vocalist

1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... The Grammy Award for Best Country Album has been awarded since 1995. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965. ... Media:rofl. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Media:rofl. ... The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California. ...

Trivia

• Broadway star and Tony Award winner Betty Buckley very much enjoys the music of Mary Chapin Carpenter and covers her songs during her shows. In a story the two singers often share during their live shows, Carpenter once went to one of the Broadway star's performances and afterwards presented her with a personal letter. Ms. Buckley keeps the note in a frame and has said that getting it was "one of the highlights of my life."^{[citation needed]}
• Carpenter's lyrics have been used for two children's books published by Harper Collins, "Halley Came to Jackson" (from the 1990 Shooting Straight in the Dark album) and "Dreamland." The book "Dreamland" was intended to help children deal with war and violence and the song appears on an accompanying lullaby collection "Till Their Eyes Shine," along with contributions from Gloria Estefan and Carole King.

What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American theater, film, and television actress. ... 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shooting Straight in the Dark is Mary Chapin Carpenters third album. ... Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García on September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning Cuban-American singer and songwriter. ... Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. ...

Discography

Albums

Mary Chapin Carpenter on the cover of her most successful album, Come On Come On

• Hometown Girl (released February 1987)
• State of the Heart (released June 13, 1989)
• Shooting Straight in the Dark (released October 9, 1990)
• Come On Come On (released June 30, 1992)
• Stones in the Road (released October 4, 1994)
• A Place in the World (released October 22, 1996)
• Party Doll and Other Favorites (released May 25, 1999)
• Time* Sex* Love* (released May 29, 2001)
• The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter (released November 4, 2003)
• Between Here and Gone (released April 27, 2004)
• The Calling (to be released March 6, 2007)

Cover of Mary Chapin Carpenter hit album Come On Come On, taken from Amazon. ... Cover of Mary Chapin Carpenter hit album Come On Come On, taken from Amazon. ... State of the Heart is singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenters second album. ... Shooting Straight in the Dark is Mary Chapin Carpenters third album. ... Come On Come On is the fourth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. ... Stones in the Road is the fifth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and her first and only #1 Country Album on the Billboard charts. ... A Place in the World is the sixth album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and was a #3 Country Album on the Billboard charts. ...

Singles

Country Tracks chart, chart of country music hit songs. ... See also: 1989 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1989 Record labels established in 1989 other events of 1989 list of years in music 1980s in music // January 5 - Madonna files for divorce from Sean Penn after three-and-a-half years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. ... See also: 1989 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1989 Record labels established in 1989 other events of 1989 list of years in music 1980s in music // January 5 - Madonna files for divorce from Sean Penn after three-and-a-half years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. ... See also: 1989 in music, 1990 in British music, other events of 1990, 1991 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // January 21 - MTVs Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze February 6 - Billy Idol is involved in a serious motorcycle accident... See also: 1989 in music, 1990 in British music, other events of 1990, 1991 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // January 21 - MTVs Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze February 6 - Billy Idol is involved in a serious motorcycle accident... See also: 1989 in music, 1990 in British music, other events of 1990, 1991 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // January 21 - MTVs Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze February 6 - Billy Idol is involved in a serious motorcycle accident... See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... See also: 1992 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1992 Record labels established in 1992 other events of 1992 list of years in music 1990s in music // 1992 was a pivotal year in the development of music. ... Joe Diffie was born Dec. ... See also: 1992 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1992 Record labels established in 1992 other events of 1992 list of years in music 1990s in music // 1992 was a pivotal year in the development of music. ... See also: 1993 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1993 Record labels established in 1993 other events of 1993 list of years in music 1990s in music // January 8 - The U.S. Postal service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. ... See also: 1993 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1993 Record labels established in 1993 other events of 1993 list of years in music 1990s in music // January 8 - The U.S. Postal service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. ... See also: 1993 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1993 Record labels established in 1993 other events of 1993 list of years in music 1990s in music // January 8 - The U.S. Postal service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. ... See also: 1993 in music, other events of 1994, 1995 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music. // Events January 29 - The Supremes Mary Wilson is injured when her jeep hits a freeway median and flips over just outside of Los Angeles, California. ... See also: 1993 in music, other events of 1994, 1995 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music. // Events January 29 - The Supremes Mary Wilson is injured when her jeep hits a freeway median and flips over just outside of Los Angeles, California. ... See also: 1993 in music, other events of 1994, 1995 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music. // Events January 29 - The Supremes Mary Wilson is injured when her jeep hits a freeway median and flips over just outside of Los Angeles, California. ... See also: 1994 in music, other events of 1995, 1996 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // January 18 - Jerry Garcia wrecks his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California. ... See also: 1994 in music, other events of 1995, 1996 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // January 18 - Jerry Garcia wrecks his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California. ... See also: 1995 in music, other events of 1996, 1997 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // January 8 - Madonnas stalker, Robert Hoskins is found guilty and convicted on five charges of assault, stalking, and threatening to kill the singer. ... See also: 1996 in music, other events of 1997, 1998 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert (the day after his birthday) at Madison Square Garden, with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic... See also: 1998 in music, 1999 in British music, other events of 1999, 2000 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 7 After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation. ... See also: 2001 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 2001 Record labels established in 2001 other events of 2001 list of years in music 2000s in music // January 1 Comeback of Guns N Roses in House of Blues Hum disbands. ...

References

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Internet Movie Database
• Mary Chapin Carpenter — Official site.
• Lyrics
• Guitar chords
• Interview with Mary Chapin Carpenter on her song "Grand Central Station" about a clean-up worker at Ground Zero in New York City (May 6, 2004)
• Interview with Mary Chapin Carpenter at NPR featuring songs from Between Here and Gone (Thanksgiving Special, November 24, 2004)