They say the ladies who sing the country songs are a breed apart. And the ladies
who write the country songs, well they're just as rare a breed, too. But the ladies who do both--ah, now there is
the heart and soul of it all, the women who give country music conscience and sizzle, with a full portion of
romance from the feminine perspective thrown in at no extra cost. "I love to write stories," says Shania Twain,
"Songwriting is my favorite part of what I do. I like to give every song its own personality and attitude and to sing
each one in its own style."
Shania Twain is no stranger to conscience, sizzle and the woman's prerogative. Come On Over is her third
album (Mercury Records), sixteen songs written by Shania with her husband and producer, Robert John "Mutt"
Lange. This is Shania's first new release in more than two and a half years, since the 9-times platinum
phenomenon known as The Woman In Me. That album, which has also sold another 3 million copies outside the
U.S., continues its record-breaking run on the Billboard Country Albums chart, 140-plus weeks (and counting)
as of the November 1997 release of Come On Over.
For her achievements, Shania earned Billboard honors as 1996's #1 Top Country Album Artist. Her Grammy
award for Best Country Album was echoed by the Academy of Country Music and her native Canadian Country
Music Awards (both Album of the Year); and she was variously named Favorite New Country Artist or Favorite
Female Country Artist by the American Music Awards, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Canada's JUNO
Awards, World Music Awards, and so on. Her videos earned similar awards from CMT (Country Music
Television, U.S. and European outlets), ABC Radio Networks and others. One of the most telegenically
accessible figures on the planet, her promo video clips were compiled on The Complete Woman In Me Video
Collection.
At the same time, magazine profiles range from Time and Newsweek to Esquire, Interview, Entertainment
Weekly and People. She has performed at the CMA Awards, the AMA's, the Grammys, the Billboard Music
Awards, World Music Awards, the Gala for the President at Ford's Theater, "The Late Show with David
Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Vanessa Williams' Christmas Special, CNN Showbiz Today
and much more. On September 24, 1997, viewers of the CMA Awards were treated to a performance of "Love
Gets Me Every Time," the first single from Come On Over.
"Love Gets Me Every Time" is typical of the fun-loving sense of humor that Shania lets loose throughout Come
On Over on such titles as "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)" and "That Don't Impress Me Much." Fans will
appreciate her good-natured "Honey, I'm Home," "Man! I Feel Like A Woman," and the house-shakin' "Rock
This Country." She also draws serious attention to herself as one of today's strongest ballad writers and singers
in "From This Moment On," a duet with Bryan White; the Tex-Mex/Cajun-flavored "I Won't Leave You Lonely";
and the final track, "You've Got A Way." Shania's own sense of being part of a committed couple is put on the
line in "You're Still The One" and "When."
Songs such as "Black Eyes, Blue Tears" (an upbeat tribute to re-discovering self-esteem and freedom in the
wake of an abusive relationship) and "If You Want To Touch Her, Ask" go a long way toward explaining Shania's
decision to maximize the impact of her third CD. "There was so much that I wanted to achieve," she insists, "I
couldn't have done it in any less that 16 songs--every one of them makes this album feel complete to me. Maybe
it's because of the time I was given, I just felt like I couldn't leave any one of them out."
Shania's story may well be the great American dream, that is, the great North American dream, since Shania
was born in Canada on August 28, 1965, the second oldest of five siblings. Shania was raised in Timmins,
Ontario (about 500 miles due north of Toronto), where her stepfather, an Ojibway Indian, and mother had both
been raised. It was a proud but, at times, impoverished existence. There may have been a struggle to keep
enough food in the cupboards but there was always an abundance of music in the household.
Shania often grabbed a guitar and retreated to the solitude of her bedroom, singing and writing until her fingers
ached. "But I loved it! I grew up listening to Waylon, Willie, Dolly, Tammy, all of them," she recalls. "But we also
listened to the Mamas and the Papas, the Carpenters, the Supremes and Stevie Wonder. The many different
styles of music I was exposed to as a child not only influenced my vocal style but, even more so, my writing
style." Mom noticed her daughter's talents, and Shania was soon being shuttled to radio and TV studios,
community centers, senior citizen homes, "everywhere they could get me booked."
Part of the legend has eight year-old Shania being dragged out of bed at midnight to sing with the house band
at a local club after the nightly liquor curfew went into effect. Later, she spent summers working with her father as
the foreman of a dozen-man reforestation crew in the Canadian bush, where she learned to wield an axe and
handle a chain saw as well as any man. In the winter season, she would sing in clubs and do television and
radio performances as often as her schooling would allow.
At age 21, Shania lost her parents in an auto wreck. She then took on the task of handling her parents' affairs as
executrix and the responsibility of bringing her three younger siblings to live with her. She managed to keep the
household going with a job at Ontario's Deerhurst Resort, which not only provided for her new family
responsibilities but also gave her an education in every aspect of theatrical performance, from musical comedy
to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Gershwin, and experience quite different from the bar gigs she grew up doing. After
a couple of years the kids came into their own, lightening the load of her responsibilities. It was 1990, and she
was on her own. Shedding her real name, Eilleen, she adopted the Ojibway name of Shania, pronounced
shu-NYE-uh, meaning "I'm on my way." Shania's way resulted in a demo tape of original music and a road map
to Nashville.
Although Shania was signed on the basis of her original material, her self-titled debut album of 1993 featured
only one of her songs, the feisty "God Ain't Gonna Getcha For That." It took a phone call from a distant admirer,
rock producer Mutt Lange (AC/DC, Cars, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bryan Adams and many others) for Shania
to find a true believer, both in her voice and her original songs.
Shania and Mutt met face to face in 1993 and were wed in December, by which time they'd written half an
album's worth of tunes together. As the following year unfolded, they traveled (and wrote) their way across the
U.S., Canada, England, Spain, Italy and the Caribbean. They began to lay down basic tracks for the new album
in Nashville, later recording overdubs and mixing in Quebec.
The first results of the labor, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" entered the Billboard Country Singles
chart in January 1995; The Woman In Me debuted on the Country Albums chart the following month. The single
rose to #11 and The Woman In Me was certified RIAA gold. Its flip side, "Any Man Of Mine," hit the charts in
May and became the first of four consecutive number ones for Shania, every one of which spent the requisite 20
weeks on the list, including "(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!" (b/w "The Woman In Me (Needs The
Man In You)"), "You Win My Love," and "No One Needs To Know."
Two more singles were released in late '96, "Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)" and the lullaby-hymn
"God Bless The Child," with proceeds donated to Kids Cafe/Second Harvest Food Bank in the U.S. and the
Canadian Living Foundation which provides meals for underprivileged children there. Altogether, Shania's run
on the singles chart spanned well over 100 weeks, an amazing achievement for one album with no touring.
But with the completion of Come On Over, Shania has turned her attention to her maiden tour, which promises
to be the premiere event of 1998. "When I get out on tour, I'll be able to do a full show of original songs that
people will be familiar with. It's going to be ideal, almost like I couldn't have planned it better, even though I didn't
really plan it at all. I'm glad I waited, and I'm going to give it all I've got to make it everything the fans have been
waiting for."
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