Deana Carter - Did I Shave My Legs for This?

Deana Carter's debut album may have seemed like the arrival of an overnight sensation, but that was hardly the truth. Carter cracked it finally at 30, after trying since she was 17 as the daughter of kicking country guitar picker Fred Carter. With its ironic odd title and its mix of singer/songwriter folk, new traditionalist country, and pop, Carter came up with a winner. Produced by Chris Farren and Jimmy Bowen, Carter's album features six originals, including the title track, "Count Me In," the amazing opener, "I've Loved Enough to Know," with its hooky guitars, shimmering fiddles, and cascading pianos, the gorgeous "Love Ain't Worth Making" and "Before We Ever Heard Goodbye," and "How Do I Get There." These are the album's strongest tunes, full of passion and sincerity regarding love, its fulfillment and impossibility, as well as its mystery. And the woman can write a hook. There's a radio-friendly rock and pop feel to tracks such as Mac Wiseman's hard country tonkin' "If This Is Love" and Matraca Berg's pedal steel-ringing "Strawberry Wine." That she sold a few million copies of this record to country fans is not surprising at all; that she sold a few million more to AAA radio fans and to those whose musical tastes are dictated by NPR is. Most of these folks bitch like crazy about "young country," and Carter defined it with her very first record in all the best ways: using the country tradition to make fine, well-crafted music that appeals to a broad range of tastes. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Name Credits Beth Middleworth Art Direction, Design Biff Watson Guitar (Acoustic) Brent Rowan Guitar (Electric) Cary Park Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Steel) Chris Driscoe Vocals (Background) Chris Farren Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background), Producer Chuck Jones Guitar (Acoustic) Dan Dugmore Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel) Dann Huff Guitar (Electric) Deana Carter Creative Director, Vocals, Art Direction, Vocals (Background) Denny Purcell Mastering Derek Bason Assistant Engineer Glenn Worf Guitar (Bass) Greg Morrow Drums, Percussion Jimmy Bowen Producer Joe Chaney Guitar (Bass) John Hobbs Piano, Keyboards Larry Franklin Fiddle, Mandolin Lonnie Wilson Drums Maria Smoot Hair Stylist Mark Tucker Photography Marty Williams Engineer Melanie Shelley Make-Up Nancy H. Williams Producer Nashville String Machine Strings, ? Pete Wasner Piano Steve Marcantonio Mixing, Engineer Steve Nathan Organ (Hammond) Susan Bessire Clothing/Wardrobe Susan Levy Art Direction Tim Waters Assistant Engineer Tom Harding Engineer Tony Baker Photography