- Blue Plate Music,
- BPM-003CD
- MCC sings:
- You Never Had It So Good (live)
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These are unique Mary Chapin Carpenter recordings that do not appear on any of her own albums. These collections include benefit albums, movie soundtracks, artist tributes and other collections of songs by multiple artists.
| The Best of Mountain Stage Vol. 3 (1992) | |||
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This is a live recording from the "Mountain Stage" radio program. On this acoustic performance, MCC is accompanied only by Pete Kennedy on guitar.
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| Country Music for Kids (1992) | |||
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This is a studio recording from a Disney collection. The song was written by Vince Gill and Guy Clark, and it is an essential track for any MCC fan. |
Unfortunately, this CD is out-of-print and I cannot locate it at several online retailers of used discs, so it might be rather scarce.
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| 'Til Their Eyes Shine... The Lullaby Album (1992) | |||
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This is another collection of songs for children, although this time these are all lullabies. "Dreamland" has since appeared on the compilation Party Doll and Other Favorites, but this whole album is so good that it is worth checking out. |
Also appearing on this album are Rosanne Cazh, Emmylou Harris, Maura O'Connell, Laura Nyro, Carole King and several others. In 1996, a children's book was published using the text of "Dreamland," with illustrations by Julia Noonan.
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| Planet Bluegrass: The 1992 Telluride Bluegrass Festival (1993) | |||
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This is a 2-CD set of highlights from the 1992 Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado. The very last track on the set is "The Moon and St. Christopher," performed by MCC with John Jennings and Shawn Colvin. MCC also sings harmony vocals for Shawn Colvin on this CD. |
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| Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert (1993) | |||
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This is a 2-CD set of a live concert given in honor of Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary in the music business. The power trio of MCC, Rosanne Cash and Shawn Colvin have a fun time with this upbeat number. |
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| Steppin' Country (1993) | |||
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This is a somewhat unusual item, in that it contains remixes of two songs, calling them "extended club mixes." They are indeed different from the original album mixes.
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| Columbia Records Radio Hour, Volume 1 (1994) | |||
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Sony Music/Columbia |
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The Columbia Records Radio Hour was a radio program on which Columbia Records artists would perform live in front of a studio audience. This collection contains songs from eight different artists, including this track by MCC. MCC also sings harmony vocals on a Shawn Colvin track ("Shotgun Down the Avalanche"). This CD appears to be out-of-print, but it should be easy to find.
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| Red Hot + Country (1994) | |||
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"Willie Short" is studio recording, and was written by John Jennings. This CD was sold to benefit AIDS research. This CD is out-of-print, but copies should be easy to find.
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| Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture Dead Man Walking (1995) | |||
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This is not the score to the film of the same name, but rather songs that were either used in or inspired by the film. MCC's track is outstanding, but so is much of the rest of the album -- other artists include Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett, Michelle Shocked, Steve Earle and more. As a side note, the book Dead Man Walking was written by Sister Helen Prejean, who I photographed for her most recent book's dustjacket. To see a photo of her, click here. |
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| Live at the World Cafe, Vol. 2 (1995) | |||
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This is a live, in-studio acoustic performance of "I Am a Town" from Philadelphia radio station WXPN. This CD is out-of-print and somewhat difficult to find.
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| Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon (1995) | |||
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This tribute to John Lennon contains the studio recording of "Grow Old With Me," which has subsequently appeared on MCC's album Party Doll and Other Favorites.
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| Not Fade Away [Remembering Buddy Holly] (1996) | |||
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This CD is a tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. MCC sings "Wishing" with Kevin Montgomery, whose father was one of the writers of the song.
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| The Best of Austin City Limits: Country Music's Finest Hour (1996) | |||
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This is a live recording of "I Feel Lucky" from the television show Austin City Limits,, recorded in 1992. This CD appears to be out-of-print, and may be difficult to find.
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| Live at the Iron Horse, Vol. 1 (1997) | |||
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This CD contains a live acoustic performance of "I Am a Town," recorded at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusettes. John Jennings accompanies her on guitar. I believe it was recorded in 1994.
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| My Best Friend's Wedding (Original Motion Picture Sountrack) (1997) | |||
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This is a studio recording of the classic Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "I'll Never Fall In Love Again."
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| The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute (1997) | |||
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This is studio recording of an old country song.
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| Heritage (1997) | |||
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This is an interesting collection of old folk and country tunes done by some of today's top folk and country artists. MCC does a somewhat unusual version of "Pretty Polly," with an ethereal, new age-y sort of sound. It's also quite long, at eight minutes 42 seconds!
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| Tribute to Tradition (1998) | |||
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This is another collection of old-timey country songs. MCC's contribution is a studio recording of the lively "Oh, Lonesome Me." This is a rare case of MCC performing without any of her usual sidekicks -- Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Chet Atkins and Steve Wariner provide the supporting instruments on this track.
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| Alive at Twenty-Five: The Telluride Bluegrass Festival Silver Anniversary (1999) | |||
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Yet another live version of "I Am a Town" -- it's a lovely song, but it would be nice if these compliation producers would be a little more original in their song selections... At any rate, this is from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's 25th anniversary 2-CD set.
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| And So This is Christmas (1999) | |||
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This compilation was exclusive to Target stores only during the Christmas season of 1999, and it contains a wide variety of artists (including Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Babyface, Harry Connick, Jr., Ricky Martin and Shawn Colvin). The song "Bells Are Ringing" is a fantastic new MCC/John Jennings composition and is one of my favorite MCC tracks of all time. This CD also includes a Shawn Colvin song ("I Don't Need Anything This Christmas") that has never appeared anywhere else. Unfortunately, due to the limited original availabilty of this CD, it is not widely available, but used copies can usually be found at Amazon.
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| Music from the Motion Picture Steal This Movie (2000) | |||
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Yes, this is MCC singing the classic Donovan song "Mellow Yellow." It's an amusing cover, and on it MCC is joined by Jon Carroll and John Jennings.
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| Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe (2000) | |||
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Continuing in the tradition of doing traditional old-time country songs, MCC provides a studio recording of "Blue Night," accompanied by John Jennings, Ricky Skaggs and others.
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| Concerts for a Landmine Free World (2001) | |||
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This is a CD of highlights from a series of concerts given in December 1999 and December 2000, with proceeds benefitting the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World. The concerts were organized by Emmylou Harris, who appears on the CD along with artists such as Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Guy Clark, Bruce Cockburn, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and others. On this CD, Chapin sings "This Shirt."
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| Christmas: 16 Biggest Hits (2001) | |||
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The rare track "Bells Are Ringing" is also available on this album of new and old country Christmas songs. Other artists on this CD are as diverse as Gene Autry, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Billy Gillman, Shelby Lynne, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Joe Diffie and quite a few others.
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| Music From and Inspired By We Were Soldiers (2002) | |||
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This movie soundtrack contains a new studio recording of a song called "My Dear Old Friend," written by Patty Griffin. The track was produced by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Blake Chancey.
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| Ricky Skaggs and Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe (2002) | |||
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This is a re-packaging of Big Mon, originally released in 2000. There is *one* new track on this new CD -- it happens to have a vocal by Chapin. The song is "Uncle Pen," and Chapin shares the lead vocal on verse three with Charlie Daniels. Other than this one addition, the songs are exactly the same as on the previous release, so if you don't already have Big Mon, get this version and not the other...
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| Going Driftless: An Artist's Tribute to Greg Brown (2002) | |||
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This is an all-female tribute to singer/songwriter Greg Brown, to benefit the Breast Cancer Fund of San Francisco. Chapin sings "Spring & All," accompanied by John Jennings. Other artists on this album include Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson, Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent, Lucy Kaplansky and several others.
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| Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash (2002) | |||
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This tribute album contains a recording of MCC singing with Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris on the song "Flesh and Blood." The three of them had performed this song live on a TV tribute to Johnny Cash about two years before, but this is a new studio recording.
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| Today's Christmas (2004) | |||
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Finally available commercially after at least 13 years is MCC's spectacular Christmas song "Christmastime in the City." This is a 3-CD collection containing Christmas music from many different Sony Music artists.
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| The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village (2009) | |||
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It's been a while since we've had a new non-album track - and this is a good one. This is the classic Eric Andersen song from the heyday of the folk scene in the Village.
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| Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Concert (2010) | |||
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This is a concert recording of various artists (including Steve Martin) singing in honor of Rounder Records' 40th anniversary. MCC closes the concert with her songs, followed by the big group singing the medley of gospel songs.
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