Farawayhills
Well-known member
This video (from about ten years ago) was was shown on TV here, fairly randomly, in a mixed Country compilation show. Carrie was returning to American Idol, to perform as part of their "Grand Ole Opry week", which was probably included because Randy Travis was acting as a mentor on the show in its 8th season.
The original song (written by Randy) dates from 1987 (twenty years before Carrie revived it on "Carnival Ride".) At that time, Randy was recording independently, under the name "Randy Ray", and was considered "too Country" for radio, but the album which included this song (his second) was instrumental in getting him a record deal with Warner, which led to the "Neo-traditional" Country Music radio phase, which remained popular for several years.
I'll always regard Carrie's interpretation as one of the best of her earlier performances. It shows what I think are the two aspects that most define her as a Country singer. One is the traditional feel that places her as the contemporary representative of a long stream of influence in female Country singing. That traditional feel in vocal interpretation is most evident in songs like this, "Don't Forget to Remember Me", or "Remember When", which are stylistically only a minority of her tracks - but it is also noticeable throughout much of her work, including songs which show more mixed influences. It is, for example, evident in several of the songs on her latest album, including the title track, which she wrote in traditional Waltz time. The fairly constant care to make reference to Country Music tradition in at least parts of many of her songs is something that marks Carrie off from many of her radio contemporaries (both male and female), who tend to pay less attention to this aspect.
The other aspect is the special quality of her power singing, especially in her choruses. While this also has a long tradition in the genre, Carrie's special gift in this area is almost unique, In the video, you can tell that Randy approves of her interpretation and admires the way she can bring the lyric to a climax.
The original song (written by Randy) dates from 1987 (twenty years before Carrie revived it on "Carnival Ride".) At that time, Randy was recording independently, under the name "Randy Ray", and was considered "too Country" for radio, but the album which included this song (his second) was instrumental in getting him a record deal with Warner, which led to the "Neo-traditional" Country Music radio phase, which remained popular for several years.
I'll always regard Carrie's interpretation as one of the best of her earlier performances. It shows what I think are the two aspects that most define her as a Country singer. One is the traditional feel that places her as the contemporary representative of a long stream of influence in female Country singing. That traditional feel in vocal interpretation is most evident in songs like this, "Don't Forget to Remember Me", or "Remember When", which are stylistically only a minority of her tracks - but it is also noticeable throughout much of her work, including songs which show more mixed influences. It is, for example, evident in several of the songs on her latest album, including the title track, which she wrote in traditional Waltz time. The fairly constant care to make reference to Country Music tradition in at least parts of many of her songs is something that marks Carrie off from many of her radio contemporaries (both male and female), who tend to pay less attention to this aspect.
The other aspect is the special quality of her power singing, especially in her choruses. While this also has a long tradition in the genre, Carrie's special gift in this area is almost unique, In the video, you can tell that Randy approves of her interpretation and admires the way she can bring the lyric to a climax.