Carnival Ride
Encyclopedia
Carnival Ride is the second studio album from American country pop
artist Carrie Underwood
. It was released in the United States
on October 23, 2007. It has been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. The album includes the singles "So Small
", "All-American Girl
", "Last Name
", "Just a Dream", and "I Told You So
", the first three of which were co-written by Underwood. The album was Underwood's first to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200 Chart, selling 527,000 copies. It has sold 3,217,000 copies as of September 2011 in the U.S.
The album appeared on the Billboard Year-End Charts for 2009 at #74.
Two of this album's tracks have been previously recorded by other artists. "Flat on the Floor" was previously cut by singer Katrina Elam
on her unreleased 2007 album Turn Me Up, and was a #52 hit on the country charts for her that year. "I Told You So
" is a cover of a song previously cut by Randy Travis
on his 1988 number one album Always & Forever. Travis' version of the song was a Number One hit on the country charts that year. Underwood and Travis recently released "I Told You So" as a duet single on iTunes, and they also performed it on the results show of the eighth season of American Idol
during the Grand Ole Opry week. The duet later went on to win the 52nd Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
The first official review of the album from Allmusic, gave it 4 out of 5 stars, on par with what they gave her debut. The site classified the album as "completely contemporary country", and said "the remarkable thing about Carnival Ride is that it's stronger song for song than Some Hearts." They also praised the album for having "the appearance of a genuine heart, something that no other big country-pop album has had since the glory days of Come On Over
." USA Today
also praised the album for its versatility saying "The songs call for vulnerability (You Won’t Find This), urgency (Flat on the Floor), sympathy (Crazy Dreams, her co-written salute to “the hairbrush singers and dashboard drummers” from whose ranks she sprang), humor (The More Boys I Meet, the tag line of which goes “The more I love my dog”) and extreme role-playing (Last Name’s saga of a bar pickup that turns into an impulsive Vegas marriage). She delivers on all counts." The Boston Herald
gave the album a B, and claimed, "Underwood manages enough spunk to occasionally avoid the cookie-cutter, especially with the curious beat-box-meets-banjo arrangement of "Get Out of This Town" and "Just a Dream," a bona fide [tearjerker] about a young war widow."
’s first number-one album on the U.S. Billboard 200
, selling 527,000 copies in its first week of release. In its second week the album sold less than 190,000 copies. The album also debuted at number 1 on the Top Digital Albums, Top Country Albums, and Top Canadian Albums charts. Carnival Ride made history by becoming the first album by a female solo country artist to have 5 #1's, and only the 3rd country album overall.
The album has sold 3,217,000 copies in the U.S., and has been certified 3× Platinum.
" served as the lead single for the album. It was released on mid-September 2007, two months before the album's official release and debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs
at #20, making it the highest chart debut by a solo country female artist in 43 years of Nielsen BDS history. It eventually held the #1 spot for 3 consecutive weeks. It also became her fifth top 20 hit when it peaked at #17 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100
. "So Small
" has become a cross-over hit, selling 908,000 downloads, certified Gold, and managed to be in top 20.
The second single, "All-American Girl
", was released around December 2007. It also became a success by hitting #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs where it stayed there for 2 weeks and on the Canadian Country Charts where it stayed there for 5 weeks. It also managed to be a top 30 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #27, making it her sixth top 30. As of July 2011, 1,398,000 copies of "All-American Girl" were sold in the USA. The song was certified Platinum. "All-American Girl" is the fourth best-selling song of Underwood's career, behind "Before He Cheats
" with 3,237,000 copies sold, "Jesus Take The Wheel" with 1,883,000 copies sold, and "Cowboy Casanova
" with 1,628,000 copies sold.
The third single, "Last Name
", became Carrie's fastest single to hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs after only 13 weeks of its official release around April 2008. It stayed there for one week. It is also Carrie's sixth top 20 hit, reaching #19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song also won Underwood her third consecutive Grammy award
in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance
category. As of June 2011 the song has sold 1,003,000 copies. "Last Name
' is Underwood's 6th best selling song and also her 6th to top the 1,000,000 sales mark.
The fourth single, "Just a Dream", reached Number One on the country charts for the chart week of November 8, 2008 and stayed there for 2 weeks, becoming her seventh Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and eighth Number One country single overall. It also managed to reach #29 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming her 10th top 30 there. The song also gave Underwood her fourth consecutive Grammy award
nomination in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance
category. The song was certified Platinum on the week ending on September 4, 2011, giving Underwood her 7th Platinum hit.
The fifth single, "I Told You So
" was officially released on February 2, 2009. This became Carrie's fourth top 10 all-genre hit, charting at #9 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. On the week of April 10, it climbed up to the top at #1 on the Canadian Country Charts and topping there for one week. The song peaked in the Top 2 of the Hot Country Songs chart, making it only her second country single to not reach #1 on that chart after "Don't Forget To Remember Me
" which also peaked at #2. Underwood rerecorded the song with original artist Randy Travis
, and the song won her and Travis the Grammy Award
for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. It has sold 812,000 copies as of June 2011.
which ran through 2008. It started late January and ended on December 14, 2008. She performed over 137 live shows since the start of the tour, performing to over a million people.
She debuted several of her singles at the Academy of Country Music Awards
and the Country Music Association Awards
.
She also appeared on several shows to promote her album including The Ellen DeGeneres Show
, The Oprah Winfrey Show
, Saturday Night Live
, Live With Regis and Kelly
, The Early Show
, American Idol
, Good Morning America
, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
, The View, and at the Grand Ole Opry
.
A Limited Edition CD/DVD release was made available only at Target
stores. The DVD
includes four live acoustic performances, as well as a four-part interview.
Following this a Platinum musicpass edition was released on January 15, 2008. This release included a previously unreleased track and two music videos.
On October 21, 2008, a 2-disc set was released at Wal-Mart
. The second CD contains five Christmas tracks, of which all were available for radio download on September 29, 2008. "Do You Hear What I Hear" was previously released on the 2007 album Hear Something Country Christmas.
^ "Just a Dream" charted under unsolicited airplay on the Pop 100 for one week in 2007 where it peaked at #96.
Country pop
Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...
artist Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
. It was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 23, 2007. It has been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. The album includes the singles "So Small
So Small
"So Small" is a song composed by fourth-season American Idol winner and country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the first single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in Canada on August 14, 2007, and in the United States on August 28, 2007...
", "All-American Girl
All-American Girl (song)
"All-American Girl" is a song composed by country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007...
", "Last Name
Last Name
"Last Name" is the title of a song composed by country singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted...
", "Just a Dream", and "I Told You So
I Told You So (Randy Travis song)
Carrie Underwood released a cover version of the song on her 2007 album Carnival Ride. It was the fifth and final single released from the album. Her version of the song was featured on the album Now That's What I Call Country Volume 2...
", the first three of which were co-written by Underwood. The album was Underwood's first to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200 Chart, selling 527,000 copies. It has sold 3,217,000 copies as of September 2011 in the U.S.
The album appeared on the Billboard Year-End Charts for 2009 at #74.
Background
Underwood has explained the meaning behind the album's title and theme, saying:Two of this album's tracks have been previously recorded by other artists. "Flat on the Floor" was previously cut by singer Katrina Elam
Katrina Elam
Katrina Ruth Elam is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2004, she released her self-titled debut album that year, charting in the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks with the #29 "No End in Sight" and the #59 "I Want a Cowboy"...
on her unreleased 2007 album Turn Me Up, and was a #52 hit on the country charts for her that year. "I Told You So
I Told You So (Randy Travis song)
Carrie Underwood released a cover version of the song on her 2007 album Carnival Ride. It was the fifth and final single released from the album. Her version of the song was featured on the album Now That's What I Call Country Volume 2...
" is a cover of a song previously cut by Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
on his 1988 number one album Always & Forever. Travis' version of the song was a Number One hit on the country charts that year. Underwood and Travis recently released "I Told You So" as a duet single on iTunes, and they also performed it on the results show of the eighth season of American Idol
American Idol (season 8)
The eighth season of American Idol premiered on January 13, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2009. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show's contestants, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol...
during the Grand Ole Opry week. The duet later went on to win the 52nd Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
Critical reception
Reviews of Carnival Ride have been generally positive. Based from the music review aggregator Metacritic, it has received an average score of 72 out of a 100.The first official review of the album from Allmusic, gave it 4 out of 5 stars, on par with what they gave her debut. The site classified the album as "completely contemporary country", and said "the remarkable thing about Carnival Ride is that it's stronger song for song than Some Hearts." They also praised the album for having "the appearance of a genuine heart, something that no other big country-pop album has had since the glory days of Come On Over
Come on Over (Shania Twain album)
Come On Over is the third studio album recorded by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997. It became the world's best-selling country music album and the best-selling studio album ever released by a female artist in any genre...
." USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
also praised the album for its versatility saying "The songs call for vulnerability (You Won’t Find This), urgency (Flat on the Floor), sympathy (Crazy Dreams, her co-written salute to “the hairbrush singers and dashboard drummers” from whose ranks she sprang), humor (The More Boys I Meet, the tag line of which goes “The more I love my dog”) and extreme role-playing (Last Name’s saga of a bar pickup that turns into an impulsive Vegas marriage). She delivers on all counts." The Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
gave the album a B, and claimed, "Underwood manages enough spunk to occasionally avoid the cookie-cutter, especially with the curious beat-box-meets-banjo arrangement of "Get Out of This Town" and "Just a Dream," a bona fide [tearjerker] about a young war widow."
Chart performance
Carnival Ride became UnderwoodUnderwood
Underwood is a surname of English topographic origin.-History:Deriving from the Old English "under" a preposition meaning "under" or "below", plus "wuda", a wood. The name was originally given to one dwelling at the foot of a wood or literally "below the trees of a forest"...
’s first number-one album on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 527,000 copies in its first week of release. In its second week the album sold less than 190,000 copies. The album also debuted at number 1 on the Top Digital Albums, Top Country Albums, and Top Canadian Albums charts. Carnival Ride made history by becoming the first album by a female solo country artist to have 5 #1's, and only the 3rd country album overall.
The album has sold 3,217,000 copies in the U.S., and has been certified 3× Platinum.
Singles
"So SmallSo Small
"So Small" is a song composed by fourth-season American Idol winner and country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the first single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in Canada on August 14, 2007, and in the United States on August 28, 2007...
" served as the lead single for the album. It was released on mid-September 2007, two months before the album's official release and debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
at #20, making it the highest chart debut by a solo country female artist in 43 years of Nielsen BDS history. It eventually held the #1 spot for 3 consecutive weeks. It also became her fifth top 20 hit when it peaked at #17 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. "So Small
So Small
"So Small" is a song composed by fourth-season American Idol winner and country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the first single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in Canada on August 14, 2007, and in the United States on August 28, 2007...
" has become a cross-over hit, selling 908,000 downloads, certified Gold, and managed to be in top 20.
The second single, "All-American Girl
All-American Girl (song)
"All-American Girl" is a song composed by country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007...
", was released around December 2007. It also became a success by hitting #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs where it stayed there for 2 weeks and on the Canadian Country Charts where it stayed there for 5 weeks. It also managed to be a top 30 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #27, making it her sixth top 30. As of July 2011, 1,398,000 copies of "All-American Girl" were sold in the USA. The song was certified Platinum. "All-American Girl" is the fourth best-selling song of Underwood's career, behind "Before He Cheats
Before He Cheats
"Before He Cheats" is a song written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear and the third wide-release single from Carrie Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts. It was the fifth release from the album overall. It was named the 2007 Single of the Year by the Country Music Association...
" with 3,237,000 copies sold, "Jesus Take The Wheel" with 1,883,000 copies sold, and "Cowboy Casanova
Cowboy Casanova
"Cowboy Casanova" is a country song by American recording artist Carrie Underwood. The song was written by Mike Elizondo, Brett James and co-written by Underwood herself. It was released on September 14, 2009 by Arista Nashville as the lead single from her third studio album, Play On...
" with 1,628,000 copies sold.
The third single, "Last Name
Last Name
"Last Name" is the title of a song composed by country singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted...
", became Carrie's fastest single to hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs after only 13 weeks of its official release around April 2008. It stayed there for one week. It is also Carrie's sixth top 20 hit, reaching #19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song also won Underwood her third consecutive Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
category. As of June 2011 the song has sold 1,003,000 copies. "Last Name
Last Name
"Last Name" is the title of a song composed by country singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted...
' is Underwood's 6th best selling song and also her 6th to top the 1,000,000 sales mark.
The fourth single, "Just a Dream", reached Number One on the country charts for the chart week of November 8, 2008 and stayed there for 2 weeks, becoming her seventh Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and eighth Number One country single overall. It also managed to reach #29 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming her 10th top 30 there. The song also gave Underwood her fourth consecutive Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
category. The song was certified Platinum on the week ending on September 4, 2011, giving Underwood her 7th Platinum hit.
The fifth single, "I Told You So
I Told You So (Randy Travis song)
Carrie Underwood released a cover version of the song on her 2007 album Carnival Ride. It was the fifth and final single released from the album. Her version of the song was featured on the album Now That's What I Call Country Volume 2...
" was officially released on February 2, 2009. This became Carrie's fourth top 10 all-genre hit, charting at #9 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. On the week of April 10, it climbed up to the top at #1 on the Canadian Country Charts and topping there for one week. The song peaked in the Top 2 of the Hot Country Songs chart, making it only her second country single to not reach #1 on that chart after "Don't Forget To Remember Me
Don't Forget to Remember Me
"Don't Forget to Remember Me" is the fourth single from Carrie Underwood's debut album Some Hearts. Written by Morgane Hayes, Kelley Lovelace and Ashley Gorley, it is also her second release to country radio. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard country charts in early 2006, and #49 on the...
" which also peaked at #2. Underwood rerecorded the song with original artist Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
, and the song won her and Travis the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. It has sold 812,000 copies as of June 2011.
Marketing and promotion
Underwood promoted the record through the Carnival Ride TourCarnival Ride Tour
The Carnival Ride Tour is the first headlined tour by country music singer Carrie Underwood. The tour is in support of her second album, Carnival Ride. The tour began February 18, 2008 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and ended December 14, 2008 in Gainesville, Florida.-Opening Acts:*Josh Turner The...
which ran through 2008. It started late January and ended on December 14, 2008. She performed over 137 live shows since the start of the tour, performing to over a million people.
She debuted several of her singles at the Academy of Country Music Awards
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
and the Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
.
She also appeared on several shows to promote her album including The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Live With Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
, The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
, American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest is a television program that airs every New Year's Eve on ABC. It has been hosted by Dick Clark since its first airing on Sunday, December 31, 1972. Ryan Seacrest has been the program's co-host since the December 31, 2005 telecast...
, The View, and at the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
.
A Limited Edition CD/DVD release was made available only at Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
stores. The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
includes four live acoustic performances, as well as a four-part interview.
Following this a Platinum musicpass edition was released on January 15, 2008. This release included a previously unreleased track and two music videos.
On October 21, 2008, a 2-disc set was released at Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. The second CD contains five Christmas tracks, of which all were available for radio download on September 29, 2008. "Do You Hear What I Hear" was previously released on the 2007 album Hear Something Country Christmas.
Track listing
Musicians
- Tom Bukovac – electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Matt ChamberlainMatt ChamberlainMatthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
– drums - Lisa Cochran – background vocals
- Eric Darken – percussion
- Paul FranklinPaul Franklin (musician)Paul Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville,...
– steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use... - Aubrey HaynieAubrey HaynieAubrey Haynie is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle and mandolin. In his career, he has recorded three studio albums for the Sugar Hill Records label, all three of which contained mostly songs that he wrote himself...
– fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Wes Hightower – background vocals
- Jack Jezzro (as Jack Jezioro) – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Mike Johnson – steel guitar
- Charles Judge – Hammond B-3 organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, synth strings, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
, lap steel guitarLap steel guitarThe lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, drum loops - Hillary LindseyHillary LindseyHillary Lindsey is a country music singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, she has written songs with or for Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw. One of her compositions, Underwood's Number One hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel",...
– background vocals - Chris McHugh – drums
- Craig Nelson – bass guitar
- Jimmy Nichols – synthesizer, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Gordie Sampson – acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, piano - Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
- Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
- Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle, mandolin, violin, cello
Technical
- Chris Ashburn – assistant
- Derek Bason – engineer, mixing
- Renée Bell – A&R
- Judy Forde Blair – liner notes, creative producer
- Mark Bright – producer
- Nathan Dickinson – digital editing, assistant
- Andrew Eccles – photography
- Carl Gorodetzky – contractor
- Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordination
- S. Wade Hunt – art direction
- Aaron Kasdorf – assistant
- Astrid Herbold May – design
- Chris McDonald – arranger, composer
- J.R. Rodriguez – engineer, digital editing
- Mellissa Schleicher – make-up, hair stylist
- Todd Tidwell – assistant
- Trish Townsend – stylist
- Hank Williams – mastering
- Kirsten Wines – production assistant
- Jonathan Yudkin – composer, arranger
String section – Nashville String Machine
- Dave Angell, Carrie Bailey, Denise Baker, Zeneba Bowers, Beverly Drukker, Connie Ellisor, Carl Gorodetzky, Gerald Greer, Erin Hall, Cate Myer, Pamela Sixfin, Betty Small, Alan Umstead, Catherine Umstead, Karen Winkelmann – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Monisa Angell, Bruce Christensen, Jim Grosjean, Anthony LaMarchina, Keith Nicholas, Carole Rabonowitz-Neuen, Sari Reist, June Tanner, Gary Vanosdale, Kris Wilkinson – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- John Catchings – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Weekly charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Country Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
9 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| Canadian Country Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| US Top Country Albums | 1 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| United States | 3× Platinum |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Pop Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
CAN Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
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| 2007 | "So Small So Small "So Small" is a song composed by fourth-season American Idol winner and country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the first single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in Canada on August 14, 2007, and in the United States on August 28, 2007... " |
1 | 17 | 23 | 14 | Gold |
| "All-American Girl All-American Girl (song) "All-American Girl" is a song composed by country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007... " |
1 | 27 | 50 | 45 | Platinum | |
| 2008 | "Last Name Last Name "Last Name" is the title of a song composed by country singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted... " |
1 | 19 | 37 | 34 | Platinum |
| "Just a Dream"[A] | 1 | 29 | 96 | 50 | Platinum | |
| 2009 | "I Told You So I Told You So (Randy Travis song) Carrie Underwood released a cover version of the song on her 2007 album Carnival Ride. It was the fifth and final single released from the album. Her version of the song was featured on the album Now That's What I Call Country Volume 2... " |
2 | 9 | 25 | 18 | Gold |
^ "Just a Dream" charted under unsolicited airplay on the Pop 100 for one week in 2007 where it peaked at #96.
Release history
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
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| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
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| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
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| Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
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| Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
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| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
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| Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
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| Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
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| Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... |
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| Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... |
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| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
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| New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
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| South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
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| Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
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| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
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| Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... |
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| Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
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| Thailand Thailand Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the... |
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| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
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| Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |