It's funny because his more recent music is probably more heartfelt but it's just not as catchy or fun. But I agree with what you're saying, completely, Terry.
I heard him on a Public Radio interview about 7 or 8 years ago and he basically said all of his music was total bullshit. Meaningless crap.
I truly get the feeling that John Mellencamp hates himself. Loathsome John.
PS - I like his classic music a lot. He's been a huge influence on my own music.
I heard a recent interview with him on Marc Maron’s WTF and he definitely doesn’t like to talk about his early stuff, at least not in a positive light. He actually is far more focused and inspired to paint now. Music has more or less become a side form of expression. I think that’s great. Sure, he seems a bit cantankerous, but he’s not sounding whiny. The newest album is just okay. But it’s the rare artist who still makes inspired albums 30 or 40 years into their career. There’s Neil Young and...I’m drawing a blank.
Graham Nash! May not be all that "inspiring," but at 81, he not only has 4 years on Neil, but the mere fact that he can write, play, and still sing into a mic sans rocking- or wheelchair, is noteworthy, if not altogether inspiring, IMO!
About John Melon Cougarcamp (as I used to love to call him.....I need help)....as you mentioned his early stuff, good on Kevin for mentioning Mellencamp's early days as Johnny Cougar (so few do, Kevin, so take a bow🎀....uh, I mean, a bow)!
But, what many don't know (and a reason, perhaps, for John's early-career loathing....understandably, I would guess) is that he was signed to Bowie's management company, Tony Defries' MainMan Mgmt, and was likely being groomed and "squoze" into a pop/glam lane early on...they sure made him look "purty" on his debut album (and hating it, but hey, whaddaya gonna do so early in your career with no sales leverage....yet?), long before he discovered his corn-fed middle-America writer's voice (and an endless supply of denim) that would eventually define his career.
I need to listen to that new album. And read your piece about him. He never connected with me the way Young did, though Elvis Costello is another that I still like a great deal 46 years after My Aim Is True. I’m sure there are several others too.
Fair enough....like all music, it's subjective, and we love it that way! As I mentioned in my Nash article, of the 4 (CSN & Y), I gravitated more to Nash A) his Hollies work, which was all over AM in the mid-'60s as I was digging all Brit Invasion melodies and harmonies at that time, and B) his harmony work as he moved into solo work and the CS & Y material!
As for Young, I loved his first 3 or so albums, when he, too, was all about melodies and harmonies (looking at you, "Cinnamon Girl")....he and I drifted apart as he started doing his rather pointless grunge thing, discovered flannel, one (and only one) particular string and fret on his guitar, and carrying, to my ear, a musically-monotonous "message."
I'd be more interested in hearing your reaction, Steve, to the older material I include in the Nash piece. To my mind, it's hard to evaluate "Now" as part of his career canon, as it is to simply appreciate fine music made by an octogenarian!
It's like I said about my intro to each of the 4...I had a head start on Nash simply because of, in real time, hearing him w/the Hollies, on the radio. If you're of a later generation and "going back" to catch up with Neil, Stills, Crosby, their "rock cred" may stick out just bit more, and I get that!
Here's where I get to (finally!) wave around my age-ism, if not my inherent "pop snobbery"!!
I'm a child of the 80s and came up with Mellencamp's most popular/played albums and tunes. I always liked and respected him for writing songs during this time that might have dovetailed a little with a Springsteen-working-man perspective, but from a heartland perspective and context, as you've written. I found him scrappy and genuine with a lot of heart, which was not a cool posture at the time, but I think it's served him well.
I grabbed this at a garage sale not too long ago, and played it while writing this. It definitely holds up- something I wasn't sure was going to happen when I first picked it up.
Ahhh yes. I *did* grow up in the midwest! I was a Minneapolis suburban girl, but my much-older sister lived in small town Iowa with her family and I loved listening to Mellencamp as I drove down to visit. Loved him, and loved this song.
Somewhere on here I wrote about scoring a copy of "Pirates" for $2. She's very understated and underrated. I'm armchair quarterbacking, but I'm not sure any other voice would've fit here.
It’s been a long time since I listened to/played Mr. Mellencamp, and I don’t recall “Between A Laugh And A Tear” at all. But as I was listening to it now (again? I dunno) I caught a lyric that made me stop! “Sometimes life is to ridiculous to live” is pretty much straight out of the 1970 film “Little Big Man” as Dustin Hoffman’s character Jack Crabbe narrates the scene where his tribal enemy, who is trying to kill him, is killed by a cavalry soldier, though in Crabbe/Hoffman voice it comes out as “ridiculus”. Made me laugh and a little envious....
I generally never want to listen to JCM based on the little that I know, but this is growing on me...dammit. The snare hits on this song and this record are really high in the mix. I like it, and I'm realizing he's a master of this particular americana rock groove that makes a lot of his work really danceable- I think the groove is just right at the front end of the beat, making it easy to follow, even for small town folk. ha!
A stand out track from a favourite 80's album. Loved the sound of this album, played by a cracking band:
surely, if they had been credited a la 'The Heartbreakers' , 'SIlver Bullet Band', etc. the group of musicians Mellencamp surrounded(s) himself with would have garnered much more acclaim (even beyond the subsequent career successes of Kenny A & Lisa Germano)
Unlike some of the other comments here, I am still a big Mellencamp fan, finding at least some worthwhile, frequently excellent music on every release since his 80's heyday.
But of course 'Scarecrow' was a landmark album for Mellencamp, with many great songs and it is fully deserving of it's recent reappraisals and, yes, another listen
Fair point. I wonder how that would've turned out. Aronoff was the only one I could name w/o looking it up and that's mainly because of my short time playing the drums. His style was one I really wanted to emulate.
He's gotten older and much crankier. And disowning his earlier work is disappointing because those are the songs that will be played a hundred years from now. That said, he remains one of my favorite artists - but he's an artist in the truest sense, and I suspect he'll eventually come back around to those tunes. In the meantime, play the FLUCK out of his catalog from the 1980s and you will hear EXACTLY what it was like growing up in the Reagan era. he captured it all, not just the Midwest vibe, so brilliantly.
But I do agree Terry, anything past Whenver We Wanted was John attempting to remain popular and relevant... and those tunes are hit or miss - mostly miss imho. And those sound dated, and have not worn so well. But anything from Uh-Huh to Big Daddy and into Whenever... that is peak Mellencamp. And is ageless.
Ya'll remember when Rolling Stone had illustrations on the back page? Well, there was one illustration of a classroom with Woody Gutherie as the teacher, and in the first seat was Bob Dylan, looking over his shoulder was Bruce Springsteen, and looking over Springsteen's shoulder was John Mellencamp - and that about sums it all up. Boy I wish I could find a copy of that.
And yea, I am a Midwesterner - you can take the person out of the Midwest, but you can't take the Midwest out of the person. Cheers!
For us not living here at the time, it was an eye opening look at the Midwest. Now that I live here, that run of records resonates even more. Shame that he disavows so much of his earlier stuff- it meant a lot to a lot of people, enlightened even more, and pushed for change. There's still value in that even if he's moved on stylistically.
For me, I think part of being a John Mellencamp fan is embracing his artistry... and moods. He didn't get the nickname "Little Bastard" for no reason. :) I LOVE that run of records so so much! Sometime soon I'll repost one of my ramblings on I think it was Scarecrow. Which is a remarkable piece of work! Thanks for this Kevin!!
The Riff maybe? I dunno... it's around and could probably use a re-write. I had grand plans of writing a book proposal around that, but then the podcast came up. I honestly don't know how you all do this with children. I got a dog, a cat, and am unemployed and barely find time. :)
Oh, dang, relistening to Scarecrow again after many years away...I'd forgotten how great it is. Mellencamp is wrong about his own music, though I imagine his distaste for his own stuff is borne of performance fatigue rather than actual musical quality. That acoutic bonus version of "Small Towns" is incredible–far more lonely and aching than the big version.
I think that's why this record still matters almost 40 years later. For people like you that lived out here, you finally heard yourself represented on the radio. For people like me (in Oregon at the time), we finally heard about the America that wasn't on either coast.
I’m a New Yorker by birth, but relocated by my divorced mother back to her Iowa roots when I was 14. We still have a family farm, despite being city dwellers.
I left Iowa at 18 and returned at 42, having lived in larger metropolitan cities that beconed me. After my husband died I knew where I needed to be - Iowa. It’s a place I always understood from the time I was a little girl and we would visit yearly. My mother taught me the smells of the farm are the smells of money.
I have chosen to have my ashes buried in the cemetery near there with the three generations that precede me. Iowa is home.
I’m from the west coast, but have been here quite awhile now. There’s a something very grounding about this part of the world. I wish I could articulate that better.
As for Iowa, this might be old news, but there is a group of Iowans that have formed a collective here on Substack. Robert Leonard’s “Deep Midwest” is my favorite, but you can’t go wrong with any of them!
Yes, of course Art Cullen is extremely well known. The talent in that group of writers is astonishing. I’ve attempted to publish a bit on Substack, but am missing the mark. My topic is mental health from my personal perspective. It’s just not going anywhere.
Perhaps it’s the topic, too personal, or that some days when I attempt to write I’m struggling from my illnesses. So I’m on hiatus until I can figure it out.
I used to love him, but he hasn't worn so well. I still think "jack and Diane" is one of the best pop/Rock songs of the 70's.
It's funny because his more recent music is probably more heartfelt but it's just not as catchy or fun. But I agree with what you're saying, completely, Terry.
I heard him on a Public Radio interview about 7 or 8 years ago and he basically said all of his music was total bullshit. Meaningless crap.
I truly get the feeling that John Mellencamp hates himself. Loathsome John.
PS - I like his classic music a lot. He's been a huge influence on my own music.
How so? Genuinely curious to hear more.
Which part are you curious to hear more about? My hypothesis that JCM hates himself or...the influence on my music?
I heard a recent interview with him on Marc Maron’s WTF and he definitely doesn’t like to talk about his early stuff, at least not in a positive light. He actually is far more focused and inspired to paint now. Music has more or less become a side form of expression. I think that’s great. Sure, he seems a bit cantankerous, but he’s not sounding whiny. The newest album is just okay. But it’s the rare artist who still makes inspired albums 30 or 40 years into their career. There’s Neil Young and...I’m drawing a blank.
Graham Nash! May not be all that "inspiring," but at 81, he not only has 4 years on Neil, but the mere fact that he can write, play, and still sing into a mic sans rocking- or wheelchair, is noteworthy, if not altogether inspiring, IMO!
About John Melon Cougarcamp (as I used to love to call him.....I need help)....as you mentioned his early stuff, good on Kevin for mentioning Mellencamp's early days as Johnny Cougar (so few do, Kevin, so take a bow🎀....uh, I mean, a bow)!
But, what many don't know (and a reason, perhaps, for John's early-career loathing....understandably, I would guess) is that he was signed to Bowie's management company, Tony Defries' MainMan Mgmt, and was likely being groomed and "squoze" into a pop/glam lane early on...they sure made him look "purty" on his debut album (and hating it, but hey, whaddaya gonna do so early in your career with no sales leverage....yet?), long before he discovered his corn-fed middle-America writer's voice (and an endless supply of denim) that would eventually define his career.
I need to listen to that new album. And read your piece about him. He never connected with me the way Young did, though Elvis Costello is another that I still like a great deal 46 years after My Aim Is True. I’m sure there are several others too.
Fair enough....like all music, it's subjective, and we love it that way! As I mentioned in my Nash article, of the 4 (CSN & Y), I gravitated more to Nash A) his Hollies work, which was all over AM in the mid-'60s as I was digging all Brit Invasion melodies and harmonies at that time, and B) his harmony work as he moved into solo work and the CS & Y material!
As for Young, I loved his first 3 or so albums, when he, too, was all about melodies and harmonies (looking at you, "Cinnamon Girl")....he and I drifted apart as he started doing his rather pointless grunge thing, discovered flannel, one (and only one) particular string and fret on his guitar, and carrying, to my ear, a musically-monotonous "message."
I'd be more interested in hearing your reaction, Steve, to the older material I include in the Nash piece. To my mind, it's hard to evaluate "Now" as part of his career canon, as it is to simply appreciate fine music made by an octogenarian!
Nash never did a whole lot for me, either. Maybe I just wasn't ready?
It's like I said about my intro to each of the 4...I had a head start on Nash simply because of, in real time, hearing him w/the Hollies, on the radio. If you're of a later generation and "going back" to catch up with Neil, Stills, Crosby, their "rock cred" may stick out just bit more, and I get that!
Here's where I get to (finally!) wave around my age-ism, if not my inherent "pop snobbery"!!
No snobbery about it- your music knowledge is a goldmine!
Good point, and thanks for the background!
Maron!! I used to listen to that guy all the time!! 👍
I'm gonna have to listen to that. Somehow Mellencamp feels like the perfect WTF guest. Cranky and likely a lot of chain smoking.
I'm a child of the 80s and came up with Mellencamp's most popular/played albums and tunes. I always liked and respected him for writing songs during this time that might have dovetailed a little with a Springsteen-working-man perspective, but from a heartland perspective and context, as you've written. I found him scrappy and genuine with a lot of heart, which was not a cool posture at the time, but I think it's served him well.
This is just a great summation. And comparing him with Springsteen is spot on.
Yeah. I always felt they were in conversation with one another during that era
Scarecrow still still holds up, captures and yet transcends a decade.
I grabbed this at a garage sale not too long ago, and played it while writing this. It definitely holds up- something I wasn't sure was going to happen when I first picked it up.
Ahhh yes. I *did* grow up in the midwest! I was a Minneapolis suburban girl, but my much-older sister lived in small town Iowa with her family and I loved listening to Mellencamp as I drove down to visit. Loved him, and loved this song.
One of my favorites from him, along with “Jack and Diane”, “Human Wheels” (both the original and acoustic versions) and “Your Life Is Now”.
I like the clean sound in the mixing and recording in “Between a Laugh and a Tear” and also the background vocals of Rickie Lee Jones.
Somewhere on here I wrote about scoring a copy of "Pirates" for $2. She's very understated and underrated. I'm armchair quarterbacking, but I'm not sure any other voice would've fit here.
Yes, I think their voices make a nice mix
It’s been a long time since I listened to/played Mr. Mellencamp, and I don’t recall “Between A Laugh And A Tear” at all. But as I was listening to it now (again? I dunno) I caught a lyric that made me stop! “Sometimes life is to ridiculous to live” is pretty much straight out of the 1970 film “Little Big Man” as Dustin Hoffman’s character Jack Crabbe narrates the scene where his tribal enemy, who is trying to kill him, is killed by a cavalry soldier, though in Crabbe/Hoffman voice it comes out as “ridiculus”. Made me laugh and a little envious....
👍👍
Cool little essay on Mellencamp 👍
Thank you! Nice to see you here, btw. :)
I generally never want to listen to JCM based on the little that I know, but this is growing on me...dammit. The snare hits on this song and this record are really high in the mix. I like it, and I'm realizing he's a master of this particular americana rock groove that makes a lot of his work really danceable- I think the groove is just right at the front end of the beat, making it easy to follow, even for small town folk. ha!
It's kinda like the Midwest. People dismiss it, then come here and find parts of it strangely appealing.
Totally, just glad I don't have to LIVE there. Haha, much love for WI and the Midwest.
I’ll join you on the Jimmy Buffett leg, but I’m out on Midwestern Poor Man’s Springsteen (nice write up though)!
Thanks! I'll pick you up at the next stop. :)
A stand out track from a favourite 80's album. Loved the sound of this album, played by a cracking band:
surely, if they had been credited a la 'The Heartbreakers' , 'SIlver Bullet Band', etc. the group of musicians Mellencamp surrounded(s) himself with would have garnered much more acclaim (even beyond the subsequent career successes of Kenny A & Lisa Germano)
Unlike some of the other comments here, I am still a big Mellencamp fan, finding at least some worthwhile, frequently excellent music on every release since his 80's heyday.
But of course 'Scarecrow' was a landmark album for Mellencamp, with many great songs and it is fully deserving of it's recent reappraisals and, yes, another listen
Fair point. I wonder how that would've turned out. Aronoff was the only one I could name w/o looking it up and that's mainly because of my short time playing the drums. His style was one I really wanted to emulate.
Rain On The Scarecrow is a powerful song and yes, as you write, tells a fast sad story of some farmers' experience in the 1980's.
This is some really great writing! Killing it. 🔥
Thank you! :)
He's gotten older and much crankier. And disowning his earlier work is disappointing because those are the songs that will be played a hundred years from now. That said, he remains one of my favorite artists - but he's an artist in the truest sense, and I suspect he'll eventually come back around to those tunes. In the meantime, play the FLUCK out of his catalog from the 1980s and you will hear EXACTLY what it was like growing up in the Reagan era. he captured it all, not just the Midwest vibe, so brilliantly.
But I do agree Terry, anything past Whenver We Wanted was John attempting to remain popular and relevant... and those tunes are hit or miss - mostly miss imho. And those sound dated, and have not worn so well. But anything from Uh-Huh to Big Daddy and into Whenever... that is peak Mellencamp. And is ageless.
Ya'll remember when Rolling Stone had illustrations on the back page? Well, there was one illustration of a classroom with Woody Gutherie as the teacher, and in the first seat was Bob Dylan, looking over his shoulder was Bruce Springsteen, and looking over Springsteen's shoulder was John Mellencamp - and that about sums it all up. Boy I wish I could find a copy of that.
And yea, I am a Midwesterner - you can take the person out of the Midwest, but you can't take the Midwest out of the person. Cheers!
For us not living here at the time, it was an eye opening look at the Midwest. Now that I live here, that run of records resonates even more. Shame that he disavows so much of his earlier stuff- it meant a lot to a lot of people, enlightened even more, and pushed for change. There's still value in that even if he's moved on stylistically.
For me, I think part of being a John Mellencamp fan is embracing his artistry... and moods. He didn't get the nickname "Little Bastard" for no reason. :) I LOVE that run of records so so much! Sometime soon I'll repost one of my ramblings on I think it was Scarecrow. Which is a remarkable piece of work! Thanks for this Kevin!!
You bet! I could swear I remember you writing about Scarecrow, Uh-huh, and a 3rd record (just can’t remember what side of these it was on).
The Riff maybe? I dunno... it's around and could probably use a re-write. I had grand plans of writing a book proposal around that, but then the podcast came up. I honestly don't know how you all do this with children. I got a dog, a cat, and am unemployed and barely find time. :)
Lots of lines here and there hammered out on my phone or scribbled on teletype paper that I then try and tape together. :)
Oh, dang, relistening to Scarecrow again after many years away...I'd forgotten how great it is. Mellencamp is wrong about his own music, though I imagine his distaste for his own stuff is borne of performance fatigue rather than actual musical quality. That acoutic bonus version of "Small Towns" is incredible–far more lonely and aching than the big version.
I hope you're right- that he's just tired of playing the same songs after so many years.
Living in Iowa it was great to hear someone representing the time, place, and issues of the Midwest on mainstream FM radio.
I think that's why this record still matters almost 40 years later. For people like you that lived out here, you finally heard yourself represented on the radio. For people like me (in Oregon at the time), we finally heard about the America that wasn't on either coast.
I’m a New Yorker by birth, but relocated by my divorced mother back to her Iowa roots when I was 14. We still have a family farm, despite being city dwellers.
I left Iowa at 18 and returned at 42, having lived in larger metropolitan cities that beconed me. After my husband died I knew where I needed to be - Iowa. It’s a place I always understood from the time I was a little girl and we would visit yearly. My mother taught me the smells of the farm are the smells of money.
I have chosen to have my ashes buried in the cemetery near there with the three generations that precede me. Iowa is home.
I’m from the west coast, but have been here quite awhile now. There’s a something very grounding about this part of the world. I wish I could articulate that better.
As for Iowa, this might be old news, but there is a group of Iowans that have formed a collective here on Substack. Robert Leonard’s “Deep Midwest” is my favorite, but you can’t go wrong with any of them!
https://iowawriters.substack.com/
Yes, of course Art Cullen is extremely well known. The talent in that group of writers is astonishing. I’ve attempted to publish a bit on Substack, but am missing the mark. My topic is mental health from my personal perspective. It’s just not going anywhere.
Perhaps it’s the topic, too personal, or that some days when I attempt to write I’m struggling from my illnesses. So I’m on hiatus until I can figure it out.
I hear ya. Writing aside, I hope you're doing ok.