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Carlene Carter is perhaps best known for her ties to June Carter and Johnny Cash. June was Carlene's mother, and Johnny Cash would later go on to become Carlene's stepfather. Carlene has also been notorious for her troubled, hard-living personal life including numerous marriages, not to mention her association with the late Howie Epstein. She had some major commercial success with her early '90s comeback, but her excellent early work seems to have been badly overlooked.
In October of 2005, Wounded Bird Records reissued Carlene Carter's first four albums. Seemingly to make them more appealing, they released twofers instead of each album on a single CD. However, being the sly marketers that they are, Wounded Bird clearly took into account that there has previously been a CD released that paired her 3rd and 4th albums, "Musical Shapes" and "Blue Nun" respectively, onto a single CD. So, what they have done is paired her 1st and 4th albums onto one disc, and paired her 2nd album "Two Sides to Every Woman" with 1980's "Musical Shapes".
Anyway you look at it, this pairing of "Two Sides to Every Woman" and "Musical Shapes" makes for a CD that contains a wealth of great music. In particular, 1979's "Two Sides to Every Woman" is real stunner that can't be missed if you take country-flavored rock & roll seriously--it's a little-known classic that puts the likes of such future "country rockers" as Shania Twain to absolute shame. Not only does it happen to have one of the sexiest album covers of all time, but Carlene clearly upped the ante from her debut, and "Two Sides..." simply kicks ass all over the place--it's got the stomping "Swap Meat Rag"; the raging uptempo rocker "Lies" (written by Roger Troy & Nick Gravenites); the haunting minor-keyed ballad "Gold Hearted Lady"; and the roaring, ultra-catchy title track which sounds kind of like a disco-rocker with its catchy beat and string arrangement, but it rocks out devastatingly and has an infectious, impassioned Carlene vocal. The album also has the fun, lighthearted, rolling pop-rocker "Do It In A Heartbeat"; the sassy, riffy country-rocker "One Good Lover"; the memorable, tender and reflective "Old Photographs"; and the fine ballad "It's No Wonder (Why I Love Him)". The closing track is a version of the Elvis Costello composition "Radio Sweetheart" which has one of those damn endlessly-repeated fadeouts so characteristic of early Costello, but at least in this case it serves as a respectable 'anthemic' finale to the album.
Meanwhile, the "Musical Shapes" album sounds like a more natural follow-up to Carlene's debut. Perhaps that shouldn't come as a big surprise, as "Musical Shapes" marks something of a return to the aesthetics of the first album after deviating significantly with the musicians used on "Two Sides...". Where the first album has the producing of Brinsley Schwarz and performance/ vocal contributions from Graham Parker and Nick Lowe, "Musical Shapes" not only has Lowe producing, but features the Rockpile crew (Lowe, Dave Edmunds, etc.) providing pretty much all of the musical backing throughout, two songs excepted. Carlene and Nick were married by the time "Musical Shapes" came out, and Nick continued to produce for Carlene on her following album as well. "Musical Shapes" is a respectable album, but I find it to be painfully unexciting when compared to its predecessor, the venemous "Too Bad About Sandy" being the big exception. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Dave Edmunds/Nick Lowe/Rockpile, but I think it's fair to say that Rockpile were ever so slightly past their prime by the time "Musical Shapes" was recorded, and the result is a disappointment. There's too much routine country-western fluff here like the wimpy "Foggy Mountain Top", and even the Carlene/Dave Edmunds vocal duet "Baby Ride Easy", which doesn't really fly despite their fine harmonizing. I also find the cover of "Ring of Fire" to be misguided and pointless. Still, "Cry" and "Madness" make for a solid album-opening one-two punch, the aforementioned "Too Bad About Sandy" rocks out, and the rockabilly-flavored "The Very First Kiss" is undeniably catchy and enjoyable.
"Two Sides to Every Woman" in its entirety hasn't been released officially on CD prior to this, and it's an absolute must for any serious listener, containing some of the hardest-rocking country music you could imagine. Adding "Musical Shapes" makes this CD even more valuable. Overall, a superb twofer.
