Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter

Personnel includes: Mary-Chapin Carpenter (vocals, acoustic guitar); John Jennings (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Peter Bonta (acoustic guitar); Steuart Smith, Mike McAdam (electric guitar); Lee Roy Parnell (slide guitar); Mark O' Connor, Michael Duocet (fiddle); Beaumont Tench (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); John Jarvis, Matt Rollings (piano); Steve Nathan (Hammond B-3 organ); John Carol (keyboards); J.T. Brown (bass, background vocals); Don Dixon, Glenn Worf, Rico Petrucelli (bass); Edgar Meyer (double bass); Dave Mattacks (drums, percussion); Kenny Aronoff, Robbie Magruder (drums); Tom Roady (percussion); Trisha Yearwood, Shawn Colvin, The Indigo Girls, Garrison Starr (background vocals).
Producers: Mary-Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings, Blake Chancey, Mark Isham.
Compilation producer: Gregg Geller.
Recorded between 1989 & 2001. Includes liner notes by Jay Orr.
The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter takes hits from six albums she recorded for Columbia, omitting material from her first album, Hometown Girl. Since the majority of these songs appealed to both pop and country audiences, they achieved wide crossover popularity. The 16 cuts include the original versions of Carpenter's Top Ten hits "I Feel Lucky," "Passionate Kisses," "Down at the Twist and Shout," "Quittin' Time," and her first number one hit, "He Thinks He'll Keep Her." While the majority of these tracks are also included on Party Doll and Other Favorites, the difference is Essential contains the radio versions, not alternate takes or live tracks. Both discs are recommended to fans of Carpenter's modern folk/country hybrid. ~ Al Campbell