Lisa asked about Deana Carter, and if I could talk about her from the late 1990's. Her chart success was short, but what an album, what memories we all have of her monster song, Strawberry Wine. I proudly played all her songs for years!
Deana Carter of course, was from the famous Carter family and you would think an easier path to recording greatness would be a given. But that's not the way it went. She started young, and had a few small albums at a very young age, but she stopped and went to college for a degree and performed for fun rather than a job while there. She eventually made a demo tape that Willie Nelson somehow heard and gave her an invitation to Farm Aid in 1994.
Strawberry Wine - HUGE!
But the big Deana Deal was 1996, and what a year for her. The album, Did I Shave My Legs For This, hit the charts and exploded with insane success. It topped the charts and sold over 5 million copies. That's huge for any album, for anyone, at anytime. And the lead single, Strawberry Wine, (Official Video worth a watch) became an anthem for every generation, and is permanently solidified in the memory banks of now grown adults, parents, and younger grandparents everywhere. The success of that single is hard to explain unless you lived through it.
This Song Was So Great, Loved IT!
Strawberry Wine to me is a powerful, gritty, honest, 100% immersible song that chronicles a pivotal moment, or a specific time in everyone's life. We all put ourselves inside the song and felt the same things Deana did when she recorded it. It is about as good of a written song as there is. Her stylistic approach on that gem was perfect, as she was born to sing it. It was nominated for about everything, and did win the 1997 CMA Single and Song Of The Year. I remember it so well, it was the same year I won my CMA Award and I was in the front row at the CMA's in Nashville when she jumped into Ricky Skagg's arms in her bare feet to accept the award. It was a moment of sheer joy!
Strawberry Wine was nominated in 1998 for the ACM Song and Single but didn't win. The album had a bunch of nominations, as did she personally, but only the two wins from the CMA. I was always stunned by that. That song which was written by one of Nashville's very best songwriters, Matraca Berg, the absolute right person recorded it, and it is a classic. Fans will remember the words to that song their whole lives, as it perfectly spoke to them. (BTW that song still sells a ton of digital downloads every year)
Yet, Another Number One!
As great as Strawberry Wine is and was, I also loved the other two BIG songs on that album, We Danced Anyway, (Official Video worth a watch) and How Do I Get There. (Both went number one). Deana Carter with her unique sound and voice, and her huge success seemed poised to really take off and go on a long run. But that is harder sometimes than we think.
I always loved her music, and I always loved who she was. Her incredible, but non-intimidating beauty and image, her fun and free spirit on stage with a big perfect smile performing in bare feet, complete with lots of energy. And I always thought she sang songs perfect for her. But the huge charting success that was Strawberry Wine, was never quite recaptured. Although the next album, Everything's Gonna Be Alright was really good, it failed to live up to the first success. But how could it, as album #1 was such a gigantic hit. AND it should be pointed out, it did go "gold" which is 500,000 sold, and that's no small feat either. Keep in mind, only 37 albums in Country Music History have sold more than her first album!
Second Album - I Always Loved This Song!
Sometimes big success real quick in the long run is really tough. I have always maintained that the first album is "easy." (Meaning sometimes they have good success) - as a lifetime of work, writing, dreaming and waiting goes into the debut album, and a much shorter time frame into the second album. The second album is the hard one, because you have to do it all over again, and it can decide how long you are around - and there is enormous pressure. Shows you how tough it is to do it many times over.
But NO one can deny that for a time, Deana Carter was way on top. She still records, plays and had Grammy nominations as recently as 2011 and 2012. There is also a LOT to learn from Deana Carter. She sang GOOD songs, that made you feel good, that said something, and took you someplace. Her presence, image, and videos were inviting and made you want to know her. She was also a part of the decade where the women in our format were having incredible success, and I feel really great song choices were at the heart of that. I always think there is room for a Deana Carter. Someone who is just flat out good.
We all will remember 1997 and 1998 - Strawberry Wine.
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