"Down at the Twist and Shout" is a single written and recorded by American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...

. Released in June 1991, it was the third single from the album Shooting Straight in the Dark

Shooting Straight in the Dark

Shooting Straight in the Dark is Mary Chapin Carpenter's third studio album. It was a #11 Country Album on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Four of its tracks became Billboard Hot Country Songs hits: "You Win Again" at #16, "Right Now" at #15, "Down at the Twist and Shout" at #2, and "Going Out...

. The song reached number 2 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks

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...

 chart The song features backing from members of BeauSoleil

Beausoleil

BeauSoleil is an American musical group specializing in Cajun music. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, the group members are brothers Michael Doucet and David Doucet , Jimmy Breaux , Billy Ware , Tommy Alesi , and Mitchell Reed .-Band history:Founded in 1975, BeauSoleil BeauSoleil (French, beautiful...

, who are also name-dropped in the lyrics.

In 1992, "Down at the Twist and Shout" won Carpenter a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...

 recorded a cover for their 1992 album Chipmunks in Low Places

Chipmunks in Low Places

- Musicians and vocalists :* Alvin Chipmunk – vocals* Simon Chipmunk – vocals* Theodore Chipmunk – vocals* Brittany Miller – vocals* Jeanette Miller – vocals* Eleanor Miller – vocals* B. James Lowry – guitar* Roy Huskey, Jr...

.

Chart performance

Chart (1991)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	7