John Mellencamp

One of the cornerstones of the heartland rock movement of the 1980s, John Mellencamp’s most famous music is full of passion, heart, and understanding the lives of ordinary folks living in the American Midwest, and his characters haven’t changed much with time, even when his music did. Mellencamp’s musical roots are in the sounds of the 1960s, particularly the muscular wallop of the Rolling Stones and their garage-y imitators, along with the folk-rock revolution pioneered by Bob Dylan. His early hits, such as “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” and “Pink Houses,” are knowing sketches of small-town life accompanied by a crack rock & roll band, and albums like 1982′s American Fool and 1983′s Uh-Huh took him to stardom. As his career progressed, Mellencamp evolved toward socially conscious storytelling; he co-founded the charity Farm Aid the same year he released his defining album, 1985′s Scarecrow, which reflects the same kind of populist philosophies. Elements of folk, blues, and other roots rock music became more prominent in his arrangements, and his themes grew more introspective beginning with 1993′s Human Wheels and became dominant in his work as the ’90s gave way to the 2000s. 2010’s No Better Than This marks the point where he fully immersed himself in folk and roots music as his voice gained the grit of an elder statesman, and 2022′s Strictly a One-Eyed Jack is a spare, forceful set that sees him collaborating with one of his most celebrated contemporaries, Bruce Springsteen.
A prolonged, acclaimed career seemed an impossibility when Mellencamp released his first album under the name Johnny Cougar in 1976. As a child in Seymour, Indiana, Mellencamp had suffered a number of setbacks, including being born with a neural tube defect called spina bifida that necessitated a lengthy hospitalization as a baby. As a teenager, he was rebellious, often getting in trouble with the law. He formed his first band at the age of 14, and continued to play throughout his teens. When he was 17, he eloped with Priscilla Esterline, his pregnant girlfriend, and proceeded to try to support his family by working a series of blue-collar jobs. By the time he was 24, he had decided to move to New York City to attempt to break into the music industry.
In New York, Mellencamp became a client of David Bowie’s manager, Tony DeFries, who signed him to a lucrative deal with MainMan/MCA. Mellencamp recorded an album of covers called Chestnut Street Incident. Upon receiving the finished album in 1976, he was infuriated to learn that DeFries had billed the singer as Johnny Cougar. Chestnut Street Incident was a bomb and MCA immediately dropped him. The fiasco of his first album was enough to sour Mellencamp on the industry for the remainder of his career. Two years later, he signed with Riva Records, releasing A Biography (1978) to little attention. However, Johnny Cougar (1979) spawned the Top 40 hit “I Need a Lover,” which also became an AOR hit for Pat Benatar a few years later. Steve Cropper produced 1980′s Nothin' Matters and What If It Did, which contained the Top 30 hits “This Time” and “Ain’t Even Done with the Night.”
Mellencamp’s next album, 1982′s American Fool, became his breakthrough, both commercially and musically. More focused than his earlier records, American Fool rocketed to number one on the strength of the number two hit “Hurts So Good” and the number one single “Jack and Diane,” both of which were supported by videos that became MTV favorites. The success of American Fool meant that he could add “Mellencamp” to his stage name, and 1983′s Uh-Huh became the first album credited to John Cougar Mellencamp. Uh-Huh was released while American Fool was still high on the charts, and it became a hit, peaking at number nine and generating the Top Ten hits “Crumblin’ Down” and “Pink Houses,” as well as the Top 15 “Authority Song.” He supported the album with his first headlining tour.
While he had commercial success, Mellencamp made his bid for critical acclaim with his next album, 1985′s Scarecrow. Scarecrow displayed a greater social consciousness and musical eclecticism, resulting in his best-reviewed — as well as his biggest — album to date. Peaking at number two, Scarecrow generated the Top Ten singles “Lonely Ol’ Night,” “Small Town,” and “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” Following the release of Scarecrow, Mellencamp became an outspoken advocate of the American farmer, organizing Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and Neil Young. He also became known for his anti-corporate stance, refusing to accept tour sponsorship offers from beer and tobacco companies.
Mellencamp continued to explore social commentary and new musical avenues with 1987′s The Lonesome Jubilee. Featuring a distinct Appalachian folk and country influence, The Lonesome Jubilee was a melancholy elegy for the forgotten Middle America, and while it was more adventurous than its predecessors, it was another hit, peaking at number six and generating the hits “Paper in Fire,” “Cherry Bomb,” and “Check It Out.” Mellencamp continued to explore American roots music on Big Daddy (1989). While the album received generally good reviews and peaked at number seven, it failed to produce a big single. Two years later, he returned with Whenever We Wanted, which was another moderate hit, peaking at number 17. Human Wheels (1993) received some of Mellencamp’s strongest reviews, but the record didn’t generate a hit single and quickly fell down the charts after debuting at number seven. In the midst of this period, he made his feature film debut with 1992′s Falling from Grace, which he directed as well as playing the lead role.
Mellencamp bounced back into the Top Ten in 1994, when his duet with Meshell Ndegeocello on Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” peaked at number three. Its accompanying album, Dance Naked, became his biggest album since Big Daddy, going gold only months after its release. Mellencamp planned to support the album with an extensive tour, but he suffered a major heart attack in late 1994 that necessitated its cancellation. He spent 1995 recuperating, re-emerging in 1996 with Mr. Happy Go Lucky. Produced by Junior Vasquez and demonstrating a slight dance influence, Mr. Happy Go Lucky was greeted with positive reviews and featured the minor hit single “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First),” which helped the record go gold. The album was his last for longtime label Mercury, and he moved to Columbia for 1998′s John Mellencamp. Rough Harvest, a collection of unreleased material, appeared a year later.
Cuttin' Heads, his second album for Columbia and 20th overall, followed in 2001 and spawned a radio hit with “Peaceful World,” featuring neo-soul singer India.Arie on backing vocals. Also in 2001, he won the Billboard Century Award for creative achievement. Inspired by his performance of Robert Johnson’s “Stones in My Passway” at an October 2002 tribute concert for the late music journalist Timothy White, Mellencamp recorded a covers album, Trouble No More, in 2003. It was released that summer and topped the Billboard blues chart. The impressive Freedom's Road appeared in 2007, followed by the T-Bone Burnett-produced Life Death Love and Freedom a year later in 2008, the same year he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. An eight-song live set drawn from that album’s songs, Life Death Live and Freedom, appeared in 2009, and a deluxe package combining both the original album and the live disc was also released at the same time.
A four-disc box set covering Mellencamp’s entire recording career, On the Rural Route 7609 (he released his first album in 1976, thus the number in the set’s title), appeared in 2010. 2010 also marked his second collaboration with producer T-Bone Burnett for the critically acclaimed No Better Than This. Mellencamp’s next project was an ambitious collaboration with novelist Stephen King. Termed a “Southern gothic musical,” Ghost Brothers of Darkland County was scripted by King, with music by Mellencamp — a collaboration that was a bit left-field for both artists. The official set was released in 2012, and included a full audio reading of the musical as staged on two discs, with a third disc of recordings of the songs alone, all of which were again produced by Burnett. A box set of all of Mellencamp’s albums called 1978-2012 appeared in time for the holiday season in 2013.
In May of 2014, Republic Records announced that they signed John Mellencamp to a “lifetime” recording contract. Although specific details regarding this deal were not publicized, the releases started soon afterward, with the archival Performs Trouble No More: Live at Town Hall appearing in July of that year, followed by the brand-new album Plain Spoken in September.
Mellencamp developed a spirit of camaraderie with singer and songwriter Carlene Carter during the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County sessions, and on the score he composed for the film Ithaca. She was his opening act on the Plain Spoken tour as well. They began working together and jointly performed two songs on the tour — “Indigo Sunset” and “My Soul’s Got Wings” — hinting at a more formal future musical partnership. The pair began to record at his Nashville, Indiana studio. About half the tracks were sung as duets. The finished album, titled Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, was billed to John Mellencamp featuring Carlene Carter and was released in April 2017; it debuted at 11 on Billboard’s Album charts. In December, he issued Other People's Stuff, a collection of covers, many previously released; it debuted at seven on Billboard.
He next started working on a jukebox musical of his material called Small Town with Naomi Wallace and Kathleen Marshall; in 2021, he said it would concentrate on the story of Jack and Diane as told through his old tunes. January 2022 saw Mellencamp release Strictly a One-Eyed Jack, a spare, incisive set steeped in blues and folk flavors. The LP included the single “Wasted Days,” one of three tracks featuring Bruce Springsteen, arguably his most prestigious rival in the heartland rock scene and a longtime friend. A deluxe reissue of his 1985 landmark Scarecrow arrived in October 2022, featuring a bonus disc of outtakes, rough mixes, and demos. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Mark Deming