Mandy Barnett
Encyclopedia
Amanda Carol "Mandy" Barnett (born September 28, 1975 in Crossville, Tennessee
) is a country music
singer and stage actress. In her musical career, she has released three albums and charted three singles on the Billboard
country charts. Her highest-charting country single is "Now That's All Right With Me", which reached #43 in 1996. Barnett has also held the titular role in the musical Always… Patsy Cline, a musical based on the life of Patsy Cline
.
). Barnett began her musical career by singing in church at the age of five. Her mother encouraged her by booking singing engagements wherever people would listen: bowling
alleys, VFW
halls and political rallies (notably for Lamar Alexander
and future Vice President Al Gore, Jr.). When there was no venue, she would perform in parking lots. By age nine, her father financed a professionally recorded gospel music
album. The following summer, she had joined a summer theatre cast at Dollywood
and shared the stage with Dolly Parton
herself. It was during her two years at Dollywood that she won a talent contest that included making a demo
in Nashville
.
" radio show, which aired after the Grand Ole Opry
program on WSM-AM. Opry star George Hamilton IV
was also a guest on the program. She was soon signed by producer Jimmy Bowen
. The then 12-year-old Barnett earned a lot of industry buzz after her debut on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, covering Patsy Cline
's "Crazy
."
Bowen's career transitioned from label to label at the time. Each time, he took Barnett with him, and despite constant training and development funding, no album ever resulted. Barnett graduated from high school in 1993 and headed back to Nashville full-time to seek her fortune, though Capitol Records
dropped her that December.
As a teenager, Mandy starred as country music legend Patsy Cline in the stage show "Always...Patsy Cline" at the celebrated Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The performances were sold out nightly and received rave reviews across the country. Mandy, in role as Patsy appears on the Decca Records cast recording.
She soon signed with Asylum Records where she released her first CD as herself, appropriately entitled, "Mandy Barnett." The album received glowing reviews in major trade publications and magazines, including "Playboy" and "Time," as well as praise from veteran country artists and fans.
In due course, Seymour Stein, who introduced the world to Madonna, Seal, The Barenaked Ladies, k.d. lang, heard Mandy's voice and was, he said, "spellbound." When Stein launched Sire Records within Warner Music Group, Mandy was the first artist he signed. Mandy's Sire Records project paired her with the undisputed pioneer of the Nashville Sound, producer Owen Bradley. The album "I've Got A Right To Cry," would be his final contribution to the community who knew him through his work with legends Ernest Tubb, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Kitty Wells. Owen died four songs into the project but not before leaving his unmistakable mark on the album. His brother and longtime partner, Harold Bradley, inherited the delicate task of finishing the album with Mandy. A legal pad filled with Owen's handwritten notes for each song guided the two through the rest of the sessions.
"I've Got A Right To Cry" was a huge critical success. "Rolling Stone" magazine named the project the top country album of 1999. Other stellar reviews appeared in "People," "Newsweek," "Interview," and multiple national newspapers. Mandy appeared on the "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" as a result of her acclaim.
In addition to her own CD's she has been featured on a variety of movie soundtracks, including "A Walk On The Moon," "Traveller," "Space Cowboys" "Election," and "Drop Dead Gorgeous. She also sang on the SpongeBob SquarePants CD, "The Best Day Ever," released in late 2006.
In 2009 she reprised her role as Patsy Cline in the smash musical "Always...Patsy Cline" for a special 15 year anniversary performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium, she will return to the role in June 2010 for a brief run at the Ryman Auditorium. She continues to play shows, both nationally and internationally, singing country classics and the American song book along with the Cline numbers that brought her to fame. She is a frequent guest on the Grand Ole Opry.
Crossville, Tennessee
Crossville is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,795 at the 2010 Census.-Geography:Crossville is located at...
) is a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer and stage actress. In her musical career, she has released three albums and charted three singles 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...
country charts. Her highest-charting country single is "Now That's All Right With Me", which reached #43 in 1996. Barnett has also held the titular role in the musical Always… Patsy Cline, a musical based on the life of Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
.
Early life
Born Amanda Carol Barnett, she was the only child of Betty and Dan Barnett (who worked respectively as a bookkeeper and contractorGeneral contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
). Barnett began her musical career by singing in church at the age of five. Her mother encouraged her by booking singing engagements wherever people would listen: bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
alleys, VFW
VFW
VFW may refer to:*Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke*Veterans of Foreign Wars*Veterans of Future Wars*Video for Windows*VFW Parkway...
halls and political rallies (notably for Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee and Conference Chair of the Republican Party. He was previously the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987, United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993 under President George H. W...
and future Vice President Al Gore, Jr.). When there was no venue, she would perform in parking lots. By age nine, her father financed a professionally recorded gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
album. The following summer, she had joined a summer theatre cast at Dollywood
Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation. It is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood has 3,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in that community....
and shared the stage with Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
herself. It was during her two years at Dollywood that she won a talent contest that included making a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
Nashville
During the trip to Nashville, Betty Barnett worked to get her daughter a spot on "Midnight JamboreeMidnight Jamboree
Midnight Jamboree is an album by American country singer Ernest Tubb, released in 1960 . It also includes performances by Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Patsy Cline, and The Wilburn Brothers...
" radio show, which aired after 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...
program on WSM-AM. Opry star George Hamilton IV
George Hamilton IV
George Hege Hamilton IV is an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, later switching to country music in the early 1960s.-Biography:Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
was also a guest on the program. She was soon signed by producer Jimmy Bowen
Jimmy Bowen
Jimmy Bowen is an American record producer and former pop music performer.Bowen was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He began as a teenage recording star in 1957 with "I'm Stickin' With You," originally the flip side of the hit record "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox, but ultimately a Top 20 recording...
. The then 12-year-old Barnett earned a lot of industry buzz after her debut on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, covering Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
's "Crazy
Crazy (Willie Nelson song)
"Crazy" is a ballad composed by Willie Nelson. It has been recorded by several artists, most notably by Patsy Cline, whose version was a #2 country hit in 1962....
."
Bowen's career transitioned from label to label at the time. Each time, he took Barnett with him, and despite constant training and development funding, no album ever resulted. Barnett graduated from high school in 1993 and headed back to Nashville full-time to seek her fortune, though Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
dropped her that December.
As a teenager, Mandy starred as country music legend Patsy Cline in the stage show "Always...Patsy Cline" at the celebrated Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The performances were sold out nightly and received rave reviews across the country. Mandy, in role as Patsy appears on the Decca Records cast recording.
She soon signed with Asylum Records where she released her first CD as herself, appropriately entitled, "Mandy Barnett." The album received glowing reviews in major trade publications and magazines, including "Playboy" and "Time," as well as praise from veteran country artists and fans.
In due course, Seymour Stein, who introduced the world to Madonna, Seal, The Barenaked Ladies, k.d. lang, heard Mandy's voice and was, he said, "spellbound." When Stein launched Sire Records within Warner Music Group, Mandy was the first artist he signed. Mandy's Sire Records project paired her with the undisputed pioneer of the Nashville Sound, producer Owen Bradley. The album "I've Got A Right To Cry," would be his final contribution to the community who knew him through his work with legends Ernest Tubb, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Kitty Wells. Owen died four songs into the project but not before leaving his unmistakable mark on the album. His brother and longtime partner, Harold Bradley, inherited the delicate task of finishing the album with Mandy. A legal pad filled with Owen's handwritten notes for each song guided the two through the rest of the sessions.
"I've Got A Right To Cry" was a huge critical success. "Rolling Stone" magazine named the project the top country album of 1999. Other stellar reviews appeared in "People," "Newsweek," "Interview," and multiple national newspapers. Mandy appeared on the "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" as a result of her acclaim.
In addition to her own CD's she has been featured on a variety of movie soundtracks, including "A Walk On The Moon," "Traveller," "Space Cowboys" "Election," and "Drop Dead Gorgeous. She also sang on the SpongeBob SquarePants CD, "The Best Day Ever," released in late 2006.
In 2009 she reprised her role as Patsy Cline in the smash musical "Always...Patsy Cline" for a special 15 year anniversary performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium, she will return to the role in June 2010 for a brief run at the Ryman Auditorium. She continues to play shows, both nationally and internationally, singing country classics and the American song book along with the Cline numbers that brought her to fame. She is a frequent guest on the Grand Ole Opry.
Albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
CAN Country RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
||
| Mandy Barnett |
|
60 | — | 28 |
| I've Got a Right to Cry |
Sire Records Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a... |
45 | 47 | — |
| The Platinum Collection |
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
— | — | — |
| Winter Wonderland |
Rounder Records Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students... /Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is an American chain of combined restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969 and its first store was located in Lebanon, Tennessee, where the company is now headquartered... |
43 | 10 | — |
| Sweet Dreams |
|
— | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1995 | "An Unforgettable Voice" | — | — | Single only |
| 1996 | "Now That's All Right with Me" | 43 | 64 | Mandy Barnett |
| "Maybe" | 65 | 93 | ||
| "A Simple I Love You" | 72 | — | ||
| 1999 | "I've Got a Right to Cry" | — | — | I've Got a Right to Cry |
| "The Whispering Wind (Blows On By)" | — | — |
Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Hope" | Various Artists | 57 | single only |
Guest appearances
| Year | Title | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | AFTRA First Tuesday Singers Showcase | "When We Ran" |
| Traveller (soundtrack) | "Dream Lover" "Searching (For Someone Like You)" "Dark Moon" |
|
| 1999 | A Walk on the Moon (soundtrack) | "Town Without Pity" |
| Election (soundtrack) | "If You'll Be the Teacher" | |
| Drop Dead Gorgeous (soundtrack) | "Beautiful Dreamer" | |
| All the Lonely (Songs by John Pennell) | "No One Knows" | |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys (soundtrack) | "I Only Have Eyes for You" |
| 2001 | Good Rockin' Tonight (The Legacy of Sun Records) | "You Win Again" |
| 2002 | Caught in the Webb (A Tribute to Webb Pierce) | "Slowly" |
| 2007 | Crazy (soundtrack) | "Walking After Midnight" "I Fall to Pieces" |
Recordings with other artists
| Year | Artist | Title | Song(s) | Participation | Format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Various Artists | Hope - Country Music's Quest For A Cure | Hope (All Star Version A) Hope (All Star Version B) |
Background Vocals | Cassette Single 7" 45 RPM Vinyl Single CD Single |
| 1996 | Kenny Chesney | Me and You | Ain't That Love | Background Vocals | Cassette Tape CD |
| 1997 | Kim Richey | Bitter Sweet | I'm Alright | Background Vocals | Cassette Tape CD |
| 1997 | Gail Davies | Greatest Hits | Unwed Fathers | Background Vocals | CD |
| 1998 | Don Walser | Down at the Sky-Vue Drive-In | Are You Teasing Me? Hearts Made Of Stone |
Duets | CD |
| 1998 | Various Artists | The Songs of Dwight Yoakam - Will Sing For Food | Near You | Kim Richey sings Lead Mandy sings Background Vocals |
CD |
| 2000 | Ray Price | Prisoner of Love | Various Tracks | Background Vocals | CD |
| 2000 | Melvin Sloan and Friends | Pick and Sing Opry Favorites | Waltz Across Texas | Duet | CD |
| 2001 | Gail Davies and Friends | Live and Unplugged at the Station Inn | Bucket To The South | Background Vocals | CD |
| 2001 | Rosie Flores | Speed of Sound | Rock-A-Bye Boogie | Background Vocals | CD |
| 2001 | Asleep At The Wheel | The Very Best Of | The Letter (That Johnny Walker Read) | Duet | CD |
| 2001 | Jesse Dayton | Hey Nashvegas! | Hey Nashvegas! Don't Take Yesterday |
Background Vocals | CD |
| 2002 | Various Artists | Dressed In Black - A Tribute To Johnny Cash | Jackson | Duet With Chuck Mead | CD |
| 2006 | SpongeBob SquarePants | The Best Day Ever | Various Tracks | Background Vocals | CD |
Videos
| Year | Title | Song(s) | Format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 2005 |
Opry Family Reunion - Volume Four (VHS) Country's Family Reunion at the Opry - Volume Four (DVD/VHS) |
Hurt Crazy |
See Title |
| 2001 2005 |
Opry Family Reunion - Volume Six (VHS) Country's Family Reunion at the Ryman - Volume Two (DVD/VHS) |
Legend in My Time | See Title |
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Now That's All Right with Me" | Norman Jean Roy |
| "Maybe" | ||
| 1997 | "Planet of Love" | David McClister |
| 1999 | "The Whispering Wind (Blows on By)" | |
| 2010 | "This Time of the Year" |