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Volume 114, Number 363 - Thursday, November 26, 1998
Mary Chapin Carpenter visits UConn
by John Friedlander
Put divas Madonna, Mariah, Shania, Celine and Mary Chapin Carpenter in a row and what have you got?
A record-setting pop catfight, that's for sure. Every one of them certified multi-platinum sellers, and we're not talking hair color.
You've also got four towering marketing phenoms flashing, squealing, gyrating and chest-thumping their way to super-stardom. Meanwhile, Mary Chapin Carpenter keeps scoring the best emotional-bullseyes in the pop/folk music business.
Last Thursday, Carpenter brought her stripped-down semi-acoustic band to UCONN's Jorgensen Auditorium for a musical therapy session. I'd wager no one left without a pulled heart-string.
Opening her show with Bob Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry," and a promise to deliver "a whole lot of depressing music," Carpenter delivered a masterly set of songs exploring such jolly themes as love taken for granted, battles won and loves lost, missed chances and soured romances. Tucked in with all this angst were songs about magic moments, resilience, passion, optimism, and inspiration.
Though Carpenter was battling a cold and wasn't in top spirits, she delivered her songs with polish and gentle power. Assisted by guitarists John Jennings and Duke Levine and pianist John Carroll, Carpenter didn't just rehash her same old hits. Few selections were immediately recognizable, with most songs getting near total makeovers.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was a wistful, reflective version of "a bummer song by someone else," Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark." Then she turned around and skewered her top-tier pop sell-mates. She explained exactly how she felt about the money, attention and attitude commanded by the four one-name wonders, in a wickedly catty send-up that drew howls of laughter from the obviously adoring audience. Throughout all of this, Carpenter showed an emotional range and honesty that puts her alone in her own category: Real Person Who Happens To Make Marvelous Music.
After years spent on the folk troubadour circuit, and a more recent history of consecutive multi-platinum CDs and sold-out concert tours, Carpenter might be forgiven a bit of star attitude. But it wasn't in evidence Thursday night. She played gracious host to warmup artist Catie Curtis, who delivered a heartfelt and engaging set, and who returned later in the evening to duet on "Almost Home." Then Carpenter delivered a 16 song set filled with both humor and pathos. Casting a spell of soulful, introspective music, she topped it all off with a generous three-song encore.
I'll take heart strings over G-strings, high-notes, or CPR any day.
Song list: "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry," "Halley Came To Jackson," "He Thinks He'll Keep Her," "Wherever You Are," "You Win Again," "Passionate Kisses," "Rhythm Of The Blues," "Why Walk When You Can Cry," "Outside Looking In," "Dancing In The Dark," "Diva," "It Works," "Hard Way," "I Take My Chances," "Ten Thousand Miles," "Almost Home." Encore: "I Feel Lucky," "Down At The Twist And Shout," "I Am A Town."
Players: Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings, vocals and guitars; Duke Levine, electric guitars, mandolin; John Carroll, vocals, piano and accordion.
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Though I wrote this column, the Middletown Press owns it now, including the copyright associated with it. The column appears here by permission, and no other publication is allowed without express permission from the publisher.