Thought this was nice - the first of many appearances with Letterman, including his sit down interview: Mellencamp was one of Letterman's final guests on The Late Show, sitting down for an entire interview (both of them shared their heart stories) and capping it off with a song, but this is where it began. Mellencamp has blown up really big with the success of Scarecrow, but it's funny how modest and even nervous he seems during the interview whereas he's confident and rock steady throughout his performances. Letterman himself hadn't been a major TV star that long (this is just a few years after Late Night debuted), and despite his prickly reputation he's pretty nice to Mellencamp. They probably have a rapport as two Indiana boys who made it big in the world, and he even tells Mellencamp that he "always wanted to meet" him at the end of the interview.
Just listening to “What kind of man am I” from Clowns - goosebumps all round. This man has been a major part of my music life since Pink Houses. Seen him several times in UK concerts and these were up there with the best I’ve ever seen. For absolute jaw dropping consistency he’s up there with Tom Petty for me. Just love acoustic and electric guitar in tandem and he’s the master!
Does anyone know of a good biography of John Mellencamp? The few books I found on Amazon received less than stellar reviews and I'd rather not waste more money on mediocre rehashing of things I already know... Surely John Mellencamp deserves better! Thanks for any input.
Kind of cherry pick his songs. Have favorites and some not so much. His 2 disc comp is plenty. Got a great story about him. In September 2001, the F1 U.S. Grand Prix was at Indy. This was the first major North American sports event after the WTC. Before the race, he performed "Peaceful World." Will always remember it. May have been the first time this song was played live also?
Sounding rough tonight on the Farm Aid stream, voice is hoarse and his acoustic solo guitar playing was very shoddy. I was at Farm Aid last year and he was really great.
This reminds me that I've been intending to make a single disc comp of his spanning American Fool through Whenever We Wanted.
Just listened to Scarecrow a few weeks ago. It has aged very well in my opinion, probably remains my favorite album of his that I've heard. The Mobile Fidelity CD sounds great!
Whenever we wanted just rocks out and really like freedom road. Don’t like small town and jack and Dianne. Enjoy his stones guitar CDs.
I think the rough voice is the default for most nights in 2019. Age and relentless smoking. “Lawless Times” and “We Are the People” could have been written yesterday - happy to get them along the better-known songs.
They were ready to drop him around American Fool. I believe the quote was "There goes our next Neil Diamond", from an A&R guy. And had he been dropped and AF through HW never gets made, there would be a huge hole, not only in my collection, but in the pantheon of great rock tunes. Scarecrow and Lonesome Jubilee alone are worth the price of admission. While some of the earlier stuff is skippable, starting with Uh-Huh and running through Whenever We Wanted, I can play the whole album and not skip a track. I'm glad he won out over the record companies in the end. I can't imagine John still being some pretty boy glam wannabe doing covers. Even his earlier stuff has some pretty good commentary, like Great Midwest and A Little Night Dancin'. He kinda got off that track on Nothin' Matters, but even then, Tonight and Cheap Shot had some harsh, if not immature, social commentary. But by American Fool and Jack & Diane, you could really feel the direction he was going in. Seriously, listen to a track like "Lovin' Mother For Ya" from 1983, and imagine that in 4 short years he would be making an album with songs like "We Are the People", or even "Rain on the Scarecrow" in just 2 years. So yeah, I agree. Had a few more "Chestnut Street Incident" type albums been released, he'd have been kaput by the early 80s. I was on to other things by 1994, but his string of later albums strike a chord with me as I get older. I'm even seeing TLJ and BD in a new light as I get older. That's not a feat many artists can lay claim to. I think tomorrow is gonna be a Mellencamp marathon now. I can't go wrong.
Been trying for years to find Whenever We Wanted on vinyl without paying an arm and a leg. It’s my favorite album of his. He has a great discography.
I missed this when it was originally posted. Thank you for sharing it! There are good boots from the American Fool, Uh-Huh and Lonesome Jubilee tours, but I don't think I've heard anything from the Scarecrow tour, and this is from that era. I didn't realize Lisa Germano was already in the band. And is that Crystal Talifero playing harmonica on the live version of "Small Town"? I'd love to hear a full show from this tour.
Haven't been around these parts much as of late, glad to see this thread on the front page of Music Corner once again. It's been fun reading the last two pages, and it's great to know there is more appreciation on this forum for John's work than i ever expected.
I have the Martin Torgoff one ("American Fool"). It is very informative, especially on details of his early days, especially the '70s. The only problem is that it finishes in 1985, just as Scarecrow is being released. There's much more to the John Mellencamp story, so I agree, something that covers past the mid-80s would be welcome.
The only book you need "of those available" on the subject of John Mellencamp. Mellencamp: American Troubadour https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813147336/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dD97Db6P6KF3P
Just before Thanksgiving dinner the other day, my friend was talking about loving John Cougar deep tracks. I asked him what was one he liked so he punched up Hot Dogs and Hamburgers for me on Apple Music. I said it kind of reminded me of the one of my favorite songs of his, Check it Out. As it turns out, both are on The Lonesome Jubilee, so I hope to pick that up on cd and vinyl when I can find it. I have always appreciated him, but never owned his music. I think it’s time.
Appreciated. I think Human Wheels is my favorite JCM album. I really like Scarecrow and a few others. I own all his stuff but haven’t listened to it all. I’m a compulsive recording artist completionist (sic) and buy stuff with no real realistic time frame to listen to things.
