John Mellencamp confirms a reissue of his beloved 1985 album Scarecrow (on Mercury/UME) and shares “Small Town (2022 Remaster)” as well as two previously unreleased versions, “Small Town (Writer’s Demo)” and “Small Town (Acoustic Version).” The Scarecrow Deluxe reissue is set for release November 4 as a box set including 2 CDs of newly remixed and remastered songs plus previously unreleased bonus tracks and alternate versions, a booklet full of rare photographs and all new liner notes by acclaimed author and music critic Anthony DeCurtis. His eighth studio album, Scarecrow was originally released in 1985 and is one of Mellencamp’s most beloved albums. The album contains three chart topping hits—“R.O.C.K In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60’s Rock)” “Lonely Ol’ Night” and “Small Town”—and reached #2 on the U.S. chart.
This is effectively the entire studio catalogue, and includes all the American singer-songwriter’s albums recorded as John Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp and John Mellencamp for various record labels. The set contains a total of 223 tracks and spans 35 years. Twelve of the albums have bonus tracks, sourced from the 2005 re-mastered versions of Mellencamp’s Mercury releases.
“Try to keep it as plain spoken as possible…” those are some of the first words the viewer hears in Plain Spoken: From The Chicago Theatre. A self-narrated musical journey, the film encapsulates the sound and soul of John Mellencamp. Stepping outside the boundaries of a concert film or documentary, Plain Spoken blends highly personal voice-overs from Mellencamp with live footage of him performing with his full band at the historic Chicago Theatre, just 250 miles from his native Indiana…
With a career spanning more than 35 years, John Mellencamp has elevated his legacy from pop star to one of the most highly-respected songwriters of a generation. A GRAMMY winner, member of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, and Songwriters Hall Of Fame nominee (among many other accolades), he has achieved a total of 22 Top 40 hits in addition to earning the record for the “Most #1 tracks by a solo artist on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks” chart…
Sad Clowns & Hillbillies marks the first time in a decade that a John Mellencamp studio record finds him in the producer's chair. It's the first time ever that he's shared billing on an album cover. Carlene Carter is a singer/songwriter and music biz veteran; the daughter of country music royalty – Carl Smith and June Carter Cash – making her the stepdaughter of Johnny. She and Mellencamp worked together on 2012's Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the musical theater project he scored for Stephen King; they collaborated further on the soundtrack for Ithaca – the "Sugar Hill Mountain" reprised here is one of a handful of excellent duets between them. Things don't begin well, however.
Dance Naked is the 13th album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp released in 1994. The album was released in response to the record company's accusations that Mellencamp's previous album, Human Wheels, didn't "fit the format." Mellencamp was irritated with this remark, feeling that none of his albums ever fit the format. As a result, he wrote several purposely radio-friendly songs and recorded them within the span of 14 days at his Belmont Mall recording studio in Belmont, Indiana, intending to show the lack of effort required to produce the type of album they were asking for.