5 Questions: Mary Chapin Carpenter

By JIM PATTERSON Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Leave it to Mary Chapin Carpenter to take something
as hackneyed as a greatest hits album and make it intriguing.

On the new ``Party Doll and Other Favorites'' album (Columbia), Carpenter
dipped into the vaults for some surprises.

For instance, ``Can't Take Love for Granted'' is a rocking performance from
``The Late Show With David Letterman,'' with Letterman's introduction
included. ``Down at the Twist & Shout'' comes from Super Bowl XXXI, where
Carpenter performed, and is superior to the familiar single.

Title song ``Party Doll'' is a vulnerable tune written by well-known
sensitive New Age guy Mick Jagger. Another of the 17 selections is a number
from a John Lennon tribute album that's become a wedding standard.

There's even an occasional original version of a greatest hit here and
there.

``My manager calls it a box set without the box,'' Carpenter said with a
laugh. ``I didn't want some generic greatest hits package.''

Carpenter, 41, a native of Princeton, N.J., hit it big in 1991.

She has crafted breezy hit singles like ``Shut Up and Kiss Me.'' She has
made deeply felt concept albums like ``Stones in the Road.'' And she
introduced stellar singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams to the mainstream via
her hit version of Williams' ``Passionate Kisses.''

Tired at the end of a day of interviews at a Nashville studio, Carpenter
rallied to promote her new album and tour.

1. On the ``Party Doll'' album, you follow John Lennon's ``Grow Old With
Me'' with ``He Thinks He'll Keep Her.'' The first is a hymn of marital
devotion, and the latter is about a woman getting out of a stifling
marriage. Was that intended as an editorial comment?

Carpenter: (groans loudly) No, no. Sequencing is the bane of my existence! I
almost got to the point where I felt like drawing them out of a hat.

2. I understand you resisted the idea of a compilation album. Why?

Carpenter: I kind of resisted at first. A lot of record companies put out
greatest hits on artists who've had one or two records out, and then the
next record is a greatest hits album. I was confused by that. It seemed to
point at some demise of an artist or something. I didn't want to have
anything to do with it, if that's what it meant. ...

I just thought, there's a way to do this that's not formula. And that's when
I started rustling through the files and saying, 'What have we got here?'

While I would put certain hits on it to satisfy that part of it, why can't I
put alternative versions of those songs? I was able to do that in most
cases, as well as get the rights to put songs on there that I'd never been
able to put in one place before - soundtracks, benefit albums, outside
projects.

That's what my intent was, and I'm really, really proud of this record.

3. ``Passionate Kisses'' is included on the CD, of course. Do you ever feel
guilty at having that hit instead of Lucinda Williams, who wrote it and is
an artist who deserves more recognition?

Carpenter: There's no justice in this world, is there? You know, that's how
I feel about it. I feel privileged to have been able to sing that song and
inhabit it. ...

I certainly think that her profile has grown by leaps and bounds and
cartwheels, but let's face it - many more people need to know about Lucinda
Williams than know about her. I don't know why some people get more
attention than others. But I would trust that Lucinda knows that the people
who love her music are completely and utterly devoted to what she does. I
hope it fills her tank.

4. If a greatest hits compilation doesn't signal the demise of an artist, it
should at least signal a new beginning. When will you have a new album and
where are you going musically?

Carpenter: (guffaws) I hadn't even thought about that! I sort of figure you
don't really know until you get there. It takes me, on the average
historically, 12,000 years to make a record. You know, slow and steady. I'm
always writing. When it's time to make a new record, I guess I will. I don't
mean to sound flaky, it's just that, right now, all I'm thinking is 'Well,
I'm going to go on tour.'

There's a lot of projects that I want to do. I want to do an acoustic
record. I want to do my own little tribute album, of songs that I've
absolutely adored. Actually, I could probably merge the two.

And then, Shawn Colvin and I have talked for years about doing a duet
record. There's tons of stuff that I want to do, and I've just got to get my
butt in gear and do it.

5. You're going to ruin Mick Jagger's image by reminding everybody he can
write such a sensitive song.

Carpenter: Absolutely. Jerry (Hall, his estranged wife) will have to ask for
more money.

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