Mark Twain: Words & Music

rdf:langString Mark Twain: Words & Music

rdf:langString Mark Twain: Words & Music

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rdf:langString Tri-fold album cover includes 40-page booklet of liner notes with photos, narrative and lyrics.

rdf:langString Cover art for Mark Twain Words and Music CD.jpg

rdf:langString Nashville, August 2010 – January 2011

rdf:langString September 2011

rdf:langString Album

rdf:langString Mark Twain: Words & Music is a double-CD produced by Grammy Award-winner Carl Jackson, a Bluegrass and Country music artist, as a benefit for the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, a non-profit foundation in Hannibal, Missouri. The project tells the life story of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) in spoken word and song and features many well-known artists. "Run Mississippi" by Rhonda Vincent reached #2 on the charts the same week that "Comet Ride" by Ricky Skaggs reached #7. The album was released on September 21, 2011 and is the most downloaded Americana album of all time on , an online music source for radio stations, with more than 7,000 downloads its first year. The spoken word passages include narration and excerpts from Twain's writing to form the biography. Corresponding songs follow each spoken word track to further tell the story of the Missouri boy who grew up alongside the Mississippi River and eventually became America's most popular author. Jimmy Buffett provides the voice of Huckleberry Finn, Garrison Keillor narrates, Clint Eastwood voices Mark Twain, and performs as Twain's daughter, Susy Clemens. Singers include Emmylou Harris, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Rhonda Vincent, Bradley Walker, Carl Jackson, , Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, Marty Raybon, , Vince Gill, Joe Diffie, and Ricky Skaggs. The album includes several new songs written specifically for the project. Museum director Cindy Lovell conceived the project. She wrote the narrative for the spoken word passages and served as executive producer with Carl Jackson.