Deana Carter

One Liner: "Strawberry Wine" 4LYFE

Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Nashville, born and raised.

Saturday

Thoughts:  YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS.  "Strawberry Wine" is a damn jam.  Couldn't have told you that this was the name of the lady who sang that song, but I would pay real money to be able to belt out that chorus in a crowd of people.  "We Danced Anyway" is also a classic.  These must have been camp songs.  I can't recall, but I don't know how else I would know them so well without knowing who sang them.

She was born in Nashville, the child of singer Fred Carter, Jr.  I don't know anything about him, but apparently he was a Louisiana-born dude who worked with huge acts like Roy Orbison, Conway Twitty, and The Band.  He became part of the A Team in Nashville, playing session roles on massive albums like Bridge over Troubled Water, Nashville Skyline, and others.  Deana didn't immediately find success with her music as a teenager, so around 1984 she enrolled at the University of Tennessee, joining a sorority and later graduating with a degree in rehabilitation therapy.  She actually went into work in that field, before deciding she wanted to pursue her music.

Willie Nelson then heard a demo and invited her to play with Farm Aid, which got some folks to notice her.  Then, in 1995, her debut album exploded in a massive way.  Did I Shave My Legs For This ended up going five times platinum and producing three number one hits.  I'm going to provide you with the key songs from that album, because I think they jam.  First, the major single, "Strawberry Wine."   143.6 million streams.

That chorus is the damn business.  It also doesn't hurt her cause at all that she is gorgeous.  Which is sort of funny, in that John Anderson looks like some sort of hobo train conductor at the same time and is having similar success.  Second, I will give you "We Danced Anyway," with 20.6 million streams.

That opening lick sounds like some Hootie and the Blowfish action.  Her voice gets a little more country on that one than in the first.  Good tune though.  Nostalgia inducing for me and makes me happy.  Third, you need to hear the final #1 from this album, "How Do I Get There." 6.4 million streams.

The weakest of those three, but still a solid song.  Makes me think of early Dixie Chicks.  But finally, the title song, which I think is very clever.  5.1 million streams.

Love it.  I mean, it's a horrible story of a dude being an asshole while his lady is doing her best to romance him, but the lyrics are just perfection.  She did some 2021 versions of some of these best songs, and they're sort of annoying.  They add in like 4 or 5 other singers and muddle up the classics.  Most of the "deluxe" album reissues should just leave the album alone!

After that massive success, nothing else ever came close.  1998's Everything's Gonna Be Alright got to Gold status, and she left her label.  She put out a Christmas album, 2003's I'm Just a Girl, and then 2004's The Story of My Life.  None of those did much on the charts.

Her 2007 album The Chain is all covers, and they are well done, usually with a kick ass collaborator on each tune.  "The Boxer," which is a great song, sounds like it has Chris Thile dueting with her, despite no attribution on Spotify (ends up being actual Paul Simon!).  Her cover of "The Weight" again makes me think of Sheryl Crow.  In a good way.  I like Crow.  She even covers "Swingin'" by fellow poster-dweller John Anderson.  I figured she might have switched the gender of the lover on the swing, but not so much.  Oh, he's on the tune too!  She has Dolly, Willie, George Jones, and Shooter Jennings popping up on here.  Pretty fun.  But it also did nothing on the charts.

Her 2013 album Southern Way of Life is sort of fascinating.  Pretty songs, really nice stuff.  But I'd almost categorize it in the niche where Sheryl Crow lives, or like Norah Jones.  "I'll Save My Love For You" could be an indie tune from some New Yorker.  Just an interesting detour from the expected.  

I'm not mad at this!  Feels like she could blow you away with those biggest hits, and then do a couple excellent covers and a few of her nice new tunes, and you'd get a great show.