Mellencamp, John

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JOHN MELLENCAMP

Born: Seymour, Indiana, 7 October 1951

Genre: Rock, Folk

Best-selling album since 1990: The Best That I Could Do (1978–1988) (1997)

Hit songs since 1990: "Wild Night," "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)," "Peaceful World"

John Mellencamp is a musical ambassador of small-town America. His songbook is filled with hits that chronicle the voices of rural midwesterners. Until the 1990s he was mainly rooted in the classic guitar rock of 1960s bands like the Rolling Stones and Them as well as the American folk tradition of the Depression-era songwriter Woody Guthrie. Later Mellencamp branched out to experiment with electronic beats, hip-hop grooves, and work with younger performers from the rap and R&B world. Mellencamp has never strayed far from his midwestern roots. Southern Indiana remains his home base. He became an activist for the plight of family farms through the Farm Aid organization he formed with the singer/songwriters Willie Nelson and Neil Young. He also complemented his musical career through painting and directing films. By the close of the 1990s, Mellencamp had accumulated so many memorable songs that his live shows became a jukebox of career hits. He later acknowledged that his advancing age prevented him from getting the radio exposure he enjoyed in his early days, so he gave up worrying about writing hit singles. Instead, he explored folk music, connecting the politics of the day with the lives of average Americans.

Beginnings

Mellencamp was born in Seymour, Indiana, just south of the state university town of Bloomington. His childhood was marred by spina bifida, a neurological condition that cripples the spinal cord. Mellencamp survived, and by the end of his senior year of high school he had eloped with a girlfriend. He soon had a child and began a life of working odd jobs, playing in bands, and attending classes at Vincennes University. In 1975 he moved to New York in search of a record deal.

He soon met Tony DeFries, who then managed the British glam-rock icon David Bowie. DeFries helped Mellencamp get his first album released, but there was a catch. DeFries changed Mellencamp's last name to Cougar without him even knowing it. The stage name dogged Mellencamp until the early 1990s, when he was confident enough to shed it. Mellencamp's first four albums were mostly forgettable and did not sell well, though he did earn his first hit song in 1979 with "I Need a Lover."

Mellencamp was modeled as a hard-rocking rebel. His breakthrough was American Fool (1982). It featured three hit singles, including "Jack and Diane," which became his signature song. It told the story of two young kids from the Heartland with big dreams that were stalled by reality. The disillusionment became political with another signature hit, "Pink Houses," from Uh-Huh (1983). The song faced the same fate of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.," released a year later. Both featured sweeping choruses that amounted to flag-waving or ironic detachment, based on the perspective of the listener. "Ain't that America / for you and me," Mellencamp sang, relating the poverty and resentment of his characters in the song's verses.

By the mid-1980s, Mellencamp had developed into a serious singer/songwriter. His album Scarecrow (1985) sympathized with family farmers and railed against the government-subsidized factory farms that were running them out of business. Under the Farm Aid organization he performed annual benefit concerts and telethons to raise money and awareness.

New Directions

In his song "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.," Mellencamp gives a shout out to his soul, funk, and rock influences from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. In 1987, with the career-changing album The Lonesome Jubilee, he took a new direction. Expanding his band with a fiddle player, backup singers, and accordion, Mellencamp creates pictures of contemporary small-town America and its poverty, joblessness, and vacated dreams. The bleak outlook is lifted by the musical ensemble. The songs are narratives more than testimonials, and the music swoons under the band's romantic folk-rock flourishes. A masterpiece of heartland rock, the album redefined Mellencamp's public persona.

After the quieter and more introspective album Big Daddy (1989), Mellencamp announced his retirement. He invested his time in painting and began production on "Falling from Grace," a feature film he directed and starred in. In it he plays a character similar to himself in Jackson County, Indiana, where he grew up. He also purchased a home in his hometown of Seymour and helped turn it into the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts.

He returned to music with Whenever We Wanted (1991), a straightforward rock album in the vein of his heroes the Rolling Stones. Void of social commentary, it was his first album without the name Cougar in the title. The cover art features his elaborate painting studio and Elaine Irwin, a former model who became his third wife.

In the 1990s Mellencamp became a veteran artist best appreciated for his earlier hits. His recording output was just as prolific as it had been in the preceding decade, but the sales curve showed a marked downturn. The new chapter gave him the chance to experiment and stray further from heartland rock.

Illness and Renewal

In 1994 Mellencamp suffered from a heart attack and took a year off recuperating. By 1996 he was back with Mr. Happy Go Lucky. The album features programmed beats supplied by the acclaimed New York DJ Junior Vasquez, best known for his work with the dance music divas Madonna, Donna Summer, and Cher. Mellencamp also added keyboardist and rapper Moe-Z, M.D., to his band. The result is a funky and more groove-oriented record. "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)" became a hit, and Mellencamp's live shows became more like dance parties. He had already had a hit duet ("Wild Night") with the bassist and R&B vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello two years earlier, a recording that introduced him to a younger generation and helped to make Ndegeocello a household name. Mellencamp also performed a duet with the R&B singer India.Arie and collaborated with Chuck D of the hardcore hip-hop group Public Enemy. As a veteran rock artist playing to a core fan base, he drew praise for taking chances and exposing urban artists and new sounds to his audience.

Jumping Labels

Mellencamp jumped labels, from PolyGram/Mercury to Columbia Records, in 1999. His first-ever boxed set would come out later that year. He also made the unusual step of announcing he was co-writing a Broadway musical with the horror fiction writer Stephen King, based on an original ghost story. He was silent until early 2003, when he debuted a song on his Internet site, hinting at a new direction for his music. Featuring mandolin, acoustic guitar, fiddle, accordion, tambourine, and vocals, "To Washington" takes its melody and arrangement from Woody Guthrie, who borrowed it himself from the country music pioneers the Carter Family. Mellencamp rewrote the lyrics to reflect his dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush and his administration's campaign to wage war against Iraq in 2003. The singer told reporters the turbulent political climate prompted him to return to more stripped-down, socially conscious music.

Early in his career John Mellencamp was denounced by critics as yet another clone of American rock statesmen like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and Tom Petty. He proved, however, that he was a wholly original artist. Mellencamp's knack for combining catchy guitar hooks with snapshots of small-town America resulted in many hit songs. He turned several corners, exploring folk and country traditions and, later, the electronic beats of urban hip-hop, while never losing his connection with his midwestern roots.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Chestnut Street Incident (Mainman/MCA, 1976); American Fool (PolyGram/Mercury, 1982); Uh-Huh (PolyGram/Mercury, 1983); Scarecrow (PolyGram/Mercury, 1985); The Lonesome Jubilee (PolyGram/Mercury, 1987); Big Daddy (PolyGram/Mercury, 1989); Whenever We Wanted (PolyGram/Mercury, 1991); Mr. Happy Go Lucky (PolyGram/Mercury, 1996); The Best That I Could Do (1978–1988) (PolyGram/Mercury, 1997); John Mellencamp (Columbia, 1998); Cuttin' Heads (Columbia, 2001).