Musical Shapes

Musical Shapes
Studio album by Carlene Carter
Released	1980
Genre	Rockabilly [1] country [1]
Length	35:02
Label	Warner Bros. (USA) F-Beat (UK)
Producer	Nick Lowe
Carlene Carter chronology
Two Sides to Every Woman (1979) Musical Shapes (1980) Blue Nun (1981)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Smash Hits	7½/10 [3]

Musical Shapes is the third album by American singer Carlene Carter.

The only song to make the Billboard country singles chart was "Baby Ride Easy," (written by Richard Dobson) a duet with Dave Edmunds of the British rock band Rockpile. At the time of the album's release, Carter was married to Nick Lowe, Edmunds's bandmate in Rockpile; Lowe was the producer of the album. It peaked at number 88 in Australia. ^[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Carlene Carter, unless otherwise noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Cry"		2:07
2.	"Madness"		3:01
3.	"Baby Ride Easy" (with Dave Edmunds)	Richard Dobson	3:20
4.	"Bandit of Love"		2:13
5.	"I'm So Cool"		2:36
6.	"Appalachian Eyes"	Carlene Carter John McFee	3:19
7.	"Ring of Fire"	June Carter Merle Kilgore	3:06
8.	"Too Bad About Sandy"		2:59
9.	"That Very First Kiss"		3:05
10.	"Foggy Mountain Top"	A.P. Carter	2:40
11.	"To Drunk (Too Remember)"	Anni O'Brien	3:03
12.	"Too Proud"		3:33
Total length:			35:02

Personnel

• Carlene Carter - guitar, piano, vocals
• Dave Edmunds - guitar, vocals
• Billy Bremner - guitar
• John Ciambotti - bass
• Sean Hopper - organs
• Nick Lowe - bass
• John McFee - guitar
• Roger Rettick - steel guitar
• Bob Andrews - Hammond organ
• Kevin Wells - drums
• Terry Williams - drums
• Cover design by Barney Bubbles

References

1. Ingalls, Chris; Wilhelm, Rick (June 19, 2025). "20 of the Best New Wave Albums by Rock/Pop Artists". PopMatters . Retrieved October 20, 2025. ...Carter delivers a potent rockabilly-infused record...Make no mistake: Musical Shapes is a fine country album...
2. Koda, Cub. Musical Shapes at AllMusic
3. Hepworth, David. "Albums". Smash Hits (July 24 – August 6, 1980): 29.
4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 57. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.