Details
Track Listing
1. Why Walk When You Can Fly
2. House of Cards
3. Stones in the Road
4. Keeper For Every Flame, A
5. Tender When I Want to Be
6. Shut up and Kiss Me
7. Last Word, The
8. End of My Pirate Days, The
9. John Doe No. 24
10. Jubilee
11. Outside Looking In
12. Where Time Stands Still
13. This Is Love
Album Notes
Personnel: Mary-Chapin Carpenter (vocals, acoustic guitar); John Jennings (acoustic & electric guitars, baritone guitar, piano, Hammond C-3, cowbell, percussion, background vocals); Steuart Smith (electric guitar); Paul Brady (tin whistle, background vocals); Jon Carroll (accordion, piano); Benmont Tench (piano, Hammond C-3); J.T. Brown (bass); Kenny Aronoff (drums, percussion); Robbie Magruder (drums); Alan O'Bryant (background vocals); Robin & Linda Williams.
Producers: John Jennings, Mary-Chapin Carpenter.
Recorded at Bias Studios, Springfield, Virginia.
STONES IN THE ROAD won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Country Album, and "Shut Up And Kiss Me" won the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. "Shut Up And Kiss Me" was also nominated for Best Country Song.
With STONES IN THE ROAD, Mary-Chapin Carpenter secures her title as country music's most successful anomaly. The former Ivy-League folkie has succeeded in creating a hit album that has virtually none of the attributes generally accepted as "country" music. And that is good news for both Mary-Chapin and country music; their audience has expanded beyond Opryland.
From the flowing piano intro on "Why Walk When You Can Fly" to Carpenter's dramatic cabaret/pop reading of "Where Time Stands Still," the listener journeys through a multi-genre world of loss, love, discovery, and eventual triumph. Her vocals are deceptively tough, rich, and passionate, especially in "House Of Cards" and "Last Word."
More deeply reflective than previous albums, STONES still has fun. "Shut Up And Kiss Me" is a playful and sexy romp, with hooks galore. The album's centerpiece, "John Doe No. 24," a contemplative ballad based on a nameless mute's obituary, is framed by Branford Marsalis' ethereal saxophone.
The razor-sharp insights of Mary-Chapin are plentiful throughout this literate album which not only expands the boundaries of country music, it explodes them into glittery STONES IN THE ROAD.
Industry Reviews
Satisfactory - ...Carpenter's band gets real power out of a modestly rootsy hot country groove, and it's hard to resist hearing a strong, self-confident female...
Spin (12/01/1994)
4 Stars - Excellent - ...continues to work her blend of country, pop, and '70s confessional songwriting...a supremely confident album from someone who's on a roll and knows it...
Q (11/01/1994)
...Carpenter sounds like someone who sits down and thinks about it--a lot--before committing it to song. Not since the heyday of Gordon Lightfoot has a singer-songwriter been so damn reasonable... - Rating: B
Entertainment Weekly (10/07/1994)
...she has lived up to initial expectations without neglecting the creative expansion necessary to separate the real artists from the pack....Carpenter's forte is taking a commonplace conceptual phrase...and setting it to music in a way that no one will escape from being affected...
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