This 1990 release of mostly original songs confirms the promise of the earlier albums of this city girl gone country. Ranging from raucous and highly danceable cuts such as Right Now and Down at the Twist and Shout to the plaintive hill sound of The More Things Change, these songs are about looking for love and love lost. Shawn Colvin makes a guest appearance on The Moon and Saint Christopher. Strongly suggested.

Shooting Straight in the Dark is Mary Chapin Carpenter's third studio album. It was a #11 Country Album on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Four of its tracks became Billboard Hot Country Songs hits: "You Win Again" at #16, "Right Now" at #15, "Down at the Twist and Shout" at #2, and "Going Out Tonight" at #14. Members of the Cajun band BeauSoleil provide guest instrumentation on "Down at the Twist and Shout".

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.

*Peter Bonta – keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar, bass guitar

*Jimmy Breaux – Accadian accordion, Cajun yells

*Mary Chapin Carpenter – lead vocals, acoustic guitar

*Jon Carroll – piano, acoustic guitar

*Shawn Colvin – background vocals

*Mike Cotter – background vocals

*Don Dixon – bass guitar, background vocals

*Michael Doucet – fiddle, Cajun yells

*John Jennings – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, background vocals, Cajun yells

*Marti Jones – background vocals

*Robbie Magruder – drums

*John McCutcheson – hammer dulcimer

*Mark O'Connor – fiddle

*Dave Palamar – drums

*Herb Pedersen – background vocals

*Rico Petruccelli – bass guitar

*Matt Rollings – piano

*Vince Santoro – drums

*Billy Ware – percussion, Cajun yells

Production

*Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings - production

*Bob Dawson, Jim DeMain - engineering

Chart performance

References

Category:Mary Chapin Carpenter albums

Category:Columbia Records albums

Category:1990 albums

This text has been derived from Shooting Straight in the Dark on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0