Listening to Now: Mary Chapin Carpenter - "This Shirt"

By Richard K. Barry

Mary Chapin Carpenter's song "This Shirt" has always been one of my favourites. I first heard Ms. Carpenter at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in the late '80s. She was giving away a promotional record on site. Yes, a piece of vinyl. It contained a handful of tunes from her first release, Hometown Girl.

At the time she was a folk act but went on, of course, to have considerable success as a country performer. Perhaps the instrumentation changed a bit, but it really was all the same music. Funny thing about great folk acts that cross over and enjoy popular success is that you wish then well but you feel sad that they are no longer your little secret. Of course being anyone's little secret doesn't do a performer much good. 

She has something like 8 or 9 albums (not counting compilations). I remember the early ones best, but I'm sure they're all great. You can find her full discography here.

"This Shirt" is from her second album, State of the Heart (1989).

 

(Cross-posted at Hogtown Hipster.)