"Down at the Twist and Shout" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary Chapin Carpenter (born February 21, 1958) is an American country and folk music singer-songwriter. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C.-area clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records. Carpenter's firs ...

. It celebrates the Bethesda, Maryland, dance and music venue Twist & Shout. It was released in June 1991 as the third single from the album '' Shooting Straight in the Dark''. The song reached number 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart on September 14, 1991. The

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

-themed song features backing from members of

BeauSoleil Beausoleil, beau soleil or variants may refer to: * Beausoleil, Alpes-Maritimes, a town in southern France, adjoining the Principality of Monaco * Beausoleil, New Brunswick, a community in Canada * Beausoleil, a rural hamlet in the municipality of ...

, who are also name-dropped in the lyrics. Carpenter (and BeauSoleil) performed the song pregame at

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

. In 1992, "Down at the Twist and Shout" won Carpenter a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. It was also nominated at the

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

for Song of the Year, losing to

Billy Dean William Harold Dean Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He first gained national attention after appearing on the television talent competition '' Star Search''. Active as a recording artist since 1990, ...

's " Somewhere in My Broken Heart".

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

recorded a cover for their 1992 album '' Chipmunks in Low Places''. American Aquarium covered the song on their 2021 album ''Slappers, Bangers, and Certified Twangers: Vol 1.''

Music video

The music video was directed by Jack Cole and premiered in mid-1991.

Personnel

Per liner notes from '' Shooting Straight in the Dark''. *Peter Bonta – acoustic guitar *Jimmy Breaux – accordion, Cajun yells *

– lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar *

Michael Doucet Michael Louis Doucet (born February 14, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and musician best known as the founder of the Cajun band BeauSoleil. Early life Doucet was born in Scott, Louisiana, to a Cajun family. Family parties in the 1950s ...

– fiddle, Cajun yells *John Jennings – electric guitar, backing vocals, Cajun yells *Robbie Magruder – drums *Rico Petruccelli – bass guitar *Billy Ware – percussion, Cajun yells

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

1991 singles Mary Chapin Carpenter songs Songs written by Mary Chapin Carpenter Columbia Records singles 1990 songs {{1991-country-song-stub