Shooting Straight in the Dark (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

My latest MCC acquisition is her third album, Shooting Straight in the Dark (1990). It's another solid album that displays Carpenter's craft for both singing and songwriting, with the only track on the album on which she doesn't have a songwriting credit being "Right Now." Hits from this album include "Right Now," the Cajun-inspired romp "Down at the Twist and Shout," "Going Out Tonight," and one of my favourites, "You Win Again." As usual, several of the album tracks, including "When She's Gone," "Middle Ground," and "Halley Came to Jackson," are also high quality. Overall, it's another enjoyable experience, listening to this album.

Tracks:
1. Going Out Tonight
2. Right Now
3. The More Things Change
4. When She's Gone
5. Middle Ground
6. Can't Take Love for Granted
7. Down at the Twist and Shout
8. Halley Came to Jackson
9. What You Didn't Say
10. You Win Again
11. The Moon and St. Christopher

Hometown Girl & State of the Heart (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Still on my Mary Chapin Carpenter kick, I saw a budget priced compilation that grouped these two albums, her first two, for pretty cheap. They're each on a separate disc, but housed in one CD case and without the original (or much of any) liner notes. Still, it was an easy way to get two albums I wanted.

Hometown Girl was her debut album from her 1987. It's quite good and it's interesting to hear her direction early on. Most of the tracks were penned by her. There's also a very nice version of Tom Waits's "Downtown Train," which would be a huge hit for Rod Stewart only about three years after this one was released.

State of the Heart (1989) contains her first big chart successes, including "How Do," "Never Had It So Good," and "Quittin' Time." "Quittin' Time" is the only track that doesn't feature a writing credit for MCC. It's another solid album that hangs together well. Based on the albums I have so far, I have to imagine that Carpenter takes great care in crafting all of her albums, and that's a kind of artistry that deserves respect.

Tracks on Hometown Girl:
1. A Lot Like Me
2. Other Street and Other Towns
3. Hometown Girl
4. Downtown Train
5. Family Hands
6. A Road Is Just a Road
7. Come On Home
8. Waltz
9. Just Because
10. Heroes and Heroines

Tracks on State of the Heart:
1. How Do
2. Something of a Dreamer
3. Never Had It So Good
4. Read My Lips
5. This Shirt
6. Quittin' Time
7. Down in Mary's Land
8. Goodbye Again
9. Too Tired
10. Slow Country Dance
11. It Don't Bring You

A Place in the World & Stones in the Road (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Having thoroughly enjoyed my first round of Mary Chapin Carpenter acquisitions, I went ahead and got two more albums from her catalogue: A Place in the World (1996) and Stones in the Road (1994). While I wouldn't call either quite as consistent as Come On Come On, they're both solid albums worth owning. I would recommend trying COCO first, and should you find you enjoy it, then continue with more of MCC's albums.

Standouts from A Place in the World include "Keeping the Faith," "I Want to Be Your Girlfriend," "Let Me Into Your Heart," and "What If We Went to Italy." Standouts from Stones in the Road include "House of Cards," "A Keeper for Every Flame," "Shut Up and Kiss Me," and "The Last Word."

Track listing for A Place in the World:
1. Keeping the Faith
2. Hero in Your Own Hometown
3. I Can See It Now
4. I Want to Be Your Girlfriend
5. Let Me Into Your Heart
6. What If We Went to Italy
7. That's Real
8. Ideas Are Like Stars
9. Naked to the Eye
10. Sudden Gift of Fate
11. The Better to Dream of You
12. A Place in the World

Track listing for Stones in the Road:
1. Why Walk When You Can Fly
2. House of Cards
3. Stones in the Road
4. A Keeper for Every Flame
5. Tender When I Want to Be
6. Shut Up and Kiss Me
7. The Last Word
8. The End of My Pirate Days
9. John Doe No. 24
10. Jubilee
11. Outside Looking In
12. Where Time Stands Still
13. This Is Love

The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter

At the same time I bought Mary Chapin Carpenter's Come On Come On, I also picked up The Essential. I might not have done so had I know just how much I'd love that album as a whole. Anyway, the tracks on here are awesome, as I'm quickly determining is a good word for MCC. However, while it may contain some essential tracks, I would say that I (and others) would be better off just buying her albums. This is a nice stopgap until I can get around to getting the actual albums from which these tracks come, but it's not a complete enough collection. Just knowing the tracks it left off from Come On Come On is enough for me to determine that.

So, as far as my conclusion: The music on here is all top notch. However, my recommendation would be to skip over this disc and go straight to collecting MCC's catalogue.

Tracks:
1. Stones in the Road
2. The Long Way Home
3. Shut Up and Kiss Me
4. I Take My Chances
5. I Feel Lucky
6. Almost Home
7. Halley Came to Jackson
8. I Am a Town
9. Quittin' Time
10. Down at the Twist and Shout
11. He Thinks He'll Keep Her
12. Only a Dream
13. Late for Your Life
14. The Hard Way
15. Passionate Kisses
16. 10,000 Miles

Come On Come On (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Mary Chapin Carpenter's "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" is one of my favorite songs of all time, full stop. However, it was also about the only thing I really knew of her for quite a while. Therefore, I was overdue for picking up some of her material. The first of hers that I've bought is Come On Come On, the 1992 album that spawned "He Thinks He'll Keep Her."

Now, oftentimes, when I've built up lofty expectations for an album based on one great song, I'm somewhat disappointed by the actual album (e.g., my recent post about Kate Nash's Made of Bricks.) Therefore, it is somewhat surprising that I can say that this album actually exceeded my expectations. There is not a single track on here that I would remove. Mary Chapin Carpenter tackles a variety of material, yet she does it all flawlessly, and the album itself hangs together beautifully. It is a work of art in whole, not just a collection of individual songs that don't work with one another.

I know it sounds like a bit of a raving thing to say, but this is one of those albums that I think belongs on the list of essentials for all music lovers.

Tracks:
1. The Hard Way
2. He Thinks He'll Keep Her
3. Rhythm of the Blues
4. I Feel Lucky
5. The Bug
6. Not Too Much to Ask
7. Passionate Kisses
8. Only a Dream
9. I Am a Town
10. Walking Through Fire
11. I Take My Chances
12. Come On Come On