Deana Carter: Did I Shave My Legs for This? (1995)

 |   |  1 min read

Deana Carter: Did I Shave My Legs for This? (1995)

Country music most often tells character stories, and Deana Carter -- named for Dean Martin -- nailed it with this title track from her '95 debut album.

And when success came it had been hard won: She'd tried her hand in music without much success, tended bar and cleaned urinals, and graduated from university in Tennessee as a rehab therapist.

But her demos caught the attention of Willie Nelson and that lead her to a studio, a series of number one country songs lifted from the album, and The New York Times Magazine predicting she would succeed Dolly Parton and Shania Twain and country music's next sex symbol.

"Al I can do is look down at my breasts and go, 'Wow, Dolly and Shania have got me beat." she responded.

She was a witty straight talker, and while this song is awash with country cliches (the lover's promise Vs the reality of married life, the trailer and debt, walking out the door . . .) it does enjoy the one thing that country music does so well: it has a great, economic and loaded title which resonates with its audience.

Her subsequent career didn't quite live up to that initial flush of success as she label-hopped (her single Fuck Texas -- about the battle of the sexes in that state -- failed to chart, which can hardly have been a surprise).

She has been married and divorced a couple of times and her last album was in 2013.

For more one-off, oddities or songs with an interesting backstory see From the Vaults.

Share It

Your Comments

Keith Shackleton - Apr 27, 2024

Great record. See also Danni Leigh and the 29 Nights album from 1998. Ripper of an opening track 'If The Jukebox Took Teardrops", with a paint stripper of a guitar solo from Brent Mason. Yeehaw!

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Young Guv: Couldn't Leave U If I Tried (2022)

Young Guv: Couldn't Leave U If I Tried (2022)

A recent disc which came with a copy of a British music magazine alerted us to the power pop charms of Brooklyn-based Young Guv who on this song – which opened his 2022 album Guv III –... > Read more

Eddie and the Hot Rods: Teenage Depression (1976)

Eddie and the Hot Rods: Teenage Depression (1976)

As their name suggests, Eddie and the Hot Rods were never really part of the UK punk scene although -- like fellow pub rockers Dr Feelgood -- they were often lumped in with it during the late... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

LED ZEPPELIN REVISITED, PART TWO (2014): Another turn of the Page

LED ZEPPELIN REVISITED, PART TWO (2014): Another turn of the Page

In a recent interview – although more a passing comment it seemed – Jimmy Page indicated he was keen to get some new music together. That would be smart because 70 year old Page... > Read more

EPs by Yasmin Brown

EPs by Yasmin Brown

With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column by the informed and opinionated Yasmin Brown. She will scoop up some of those many EP releases, in... > Read more