| 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (Conclusion) |
| YOU MUST FIND COUNTRY MUSIC, OR AT LEAST SOME OF THE MORE TRADITIONAL ASPECTS OF IT, A LITTLE TOO CONSERVATIVE. DO YOU THINK COUNTRY MUSIC COULD EVER PRODUCE ITS OWN VERSION OF MADONNA? 'They'd never stand for it. Look at all the people who are hugely successful in the country field. They're all very down to earth, because that's what the people that are buying their records are looking for. Take Martina McBride; she's real pretty, she's got a great voice, but she's not overly sexy. They don't like that sort of thing in Nashville. They don't! I don't even spend that much time thinking about how I look. It's not like I parade around wearing low-cut dresses and flaunting my tits. People think I do but I don't. I remember my old record company phoning me up the night before I went on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and telling me not to wear anything low-cut. I didn't intend to but I felt insulted that they would even consider trying to dictate what I should wear, Christ! I was 36 years old at the time.' SURELY IT'S THE MINI SKIRTS THAT HAVE CAUSED THE MOST OFFENSE? 'I've been wearing them since I was 14 years old. I never actually went up to the midi skirt, that fashion just passed me by. I actually find mini skirts more comfortable. I wear shorts under them, so it's not as if I'm flaunting my private parts. 'But even over-the-knee socks can be taken as really sexy and dangerous in country music. I just want to be able to be myself, even if that means offending people that are really straight. People should just know that I'm just having fun. I'm not out there to steal their husbands.' YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE SEEM TO BE ALMOST PERMANENTLY ENTWINED. 'Oh yes. It's not deliberate, but it just happened that I started working with Nick and ended up marrying him. Howie Epstein (producer of Little Love Letters and guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and I are boyfriend and girlfriend now, which means that we've got another of these working and romantic relationships. We've actually agreed not to do the next record together (Epstein first worked with Carlene on 1990's I Fell In Love album). So I'm working with James Stroud next time. We've just recorded a new single called Something Already Gone for the soundtrack to the new Mel Gibson movie Maverick. We've just started work on the video.' YOU'VE DABBLED IN ACTING BEFORE (A SHORT FILM FOR TOO DRUNK TO REMEMBER, A ROLE IN THE LONDON MUSICAL PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES). IS THIS A CAREER YOU'D EVER SERIOUSLY CONSIDER? 'Well I'm definitely not a frustrated actress. I get my frustrations out in my videos. Acting is such hard work, that there is not way I would want to do it every day. With rock videos it's getting to the point where every possible theme has been explored, so it's difficult for a rock video to be different. One of the things that's comforting about country is that they haven't done it all yet. So I'm always looking for ideas outside that field of music. Especially in Europe, where videos are a lot different from those in the States.' WHEN YOU LISTEN TO COUNTRY RADIO OR SWITCH ON CMT WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE COMPETITION? 'I don't know. There are so many artists out there now. Everyone's looking for a quick turnover and a fast buck. To be honest, there's not many new country acts I can recognize just by hearing their voices. So many of the guys look and sound alike. But don't ask me which ones, because if I don't like them, I don't bother trying to find out who they are. 'I think the industry's in danger of over-saturating the market--God, I'm probably going to get killed for saying this--but I think they're going for quantity over quality. Country music has always been a well-respected medium. You're in country and you have a fan, then they're a fan for life. And that's how it was for George Jones, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash... HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEW JOHNNY CASH ALBUM? 'I must be the only person in the world who hasn't. Which is kinda embarrassing. Y'know I've got a song on there, but I didn't get a credit. Nick and I wrote it some time ago in London and he's conveniently forgotten that I did it with him.' LASTLY, ANYTHING ELSE TO DECLARE? 'Well, we're playing somewhere called The Forum in London on June 30. Did that used to be called The Town And Country Club? I've got a great band with me for this: Al Anderson from NRBQ on lead guitar, Howie (Epstein) on rhythm guitar. I'm calling this group The Not-Quite-Ready-For-The-Opry Players. See you there.' |
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