ALBUM OF THE WEEK #19 JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP - SCARECROW (1985)

[RJhog (Admin)]

1. Rain On The Scarecrow

2. Grandma's Theme

3. Small Town

4. Minutes To Memories

5. Lonely Ol' Night

6. The Face Of The Nation

7. Justice And Independence '85

8. Between A Laugh And A Tear

9. Rumbleseat

10. You've Got To Stand For Somethin'

11. R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.

12. The Kind Of Fella I Am

13. Small Town (Acoustic Bonus Track)

This week we have another personal favorite of mine. Back when he was known as John Cougar Mellencamp (1985), he released the excellent album "Scarecrow". Mellencamp had 3 top 10 hits on this record (Small
Town, R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. and Lonely Ol' Night). All of those were
fabulous songs, but there are many great album cuts here as well. One
thing I'd like to draw your attention to before you listen is the snare
drum. I think it drives this album. It's great drum work by Kenny
Aronoff (I'm not particularly familiar with him, but it seems he's had
quite a productive career). I've never really taken to any of Mellencamp's other
work, but this album is terrific.

**sidenote - if you want to read the Wikipedia article on this album, click here.

Rain On The Scarecrow - This is a great opening track. Listen to that snare. The vocals are great and lyrically this is a gorgeous song. It also has a very simlple
but effective guitar solo. This is my overall favorite of the "hits"
from this album.

Grandma's Theme - This adds a touch of Americana for me. I guess that would be recorded in mono and it sounds quite old. Nice touch.

Small Town - Another song that touches on Americana. Those small towns were great. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to have been born in a small town, but I get the vibe and it's great. This, however, is probably my second
least favorite song on the album.

Minutes To Memories - My favorite song by Mellencamp. I love the story this song tells, and it's a great lesson in life. When John hits that high part of the song at the end it just makes me smile. Awesome vocals.

Lonely Ol' Night - Yet another very good tune. I picture myself in this song at a county fair with a small town country girl. This is my second favorite of the "hits", right behind Rain On The Scarecrow.

Face Of The Nation - Lyrically, this is another terrific song. It's about the sorry state this country is in, and it was written in 1985. It still applies today. This is a great hidden gem.

Justice And Independence '85 - I guess this would be a play on words. I'm not sure what the correct literary term would be. It's a pretty good song.

Between A Laugh And A Tear - We have a nice little ballad here. To me, this song is about personal struggles and making your way in life. I think it's really good, another true hidden gem. That would be Rikki Lee Jones on the backing vocals (remember Chuck E.'s In Love?).

Rumbleseat - Talk about Americana. I'd say a song about a rumbleseat definitely fits that bill. I kinda like the lyrics, and the song is a little better than average.

You've Got To Stand For Somethin' - I really like this song. No particular reason. I like the lyric about seeing Miss America in a girly magazine, I bet you saw that too. And how cool is the line "I've seen a lot of things, but I have not seen a
lot of other things"?  Very cool song and hidden gem.

R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. - This song was also a pretty big hit for John.  Although I like the way it salutes early rockers, it's my least favorite song overall on the album.  That doesn't make it a bad song, just my least fave.

The Kind Of Fella I Am - The original album was closed out with this song.  Again, I like it.  It's a good rock song.

Small Town (Acoustic) - This is a bonus track from the remastered disc.  It works well because the song fits the acoustic format.  I think the original is better, but it's a cool bonus track.

So there you have it.  Another masterpiece.  Man, these old albums that you could listen to from start to finish are so awesome.  I'm not saying that you can't find one these days, but it's getting harder and harder.  By the way, I like the album cover.  It's plain and simple but puts you right where you need to be to listen to this album.  It's still easy to find on Amazon and well worth the money.  

Hidden Gem Award - Despite all these great songs, this is easy this week.  The award goes to Minutes To Memories.

***As always, if you want to here the album Scarecrow, just click here.

[Niels (Mod)]

This was the first album by Mellencamp, that I bought back in '85, I've bought a lot of his albums since, but this is still my favorite. I agree, that the drums sounds very good.

[Scott]

I loved this when it came out too. Lonely 'ol Night is a great great track! I liked Rumbleseat as well.

Here's the rub... I like Mellencamp a lot but I think he's stuck in a singular style and sound, and after this much time, to go back and listen knowing his body of work didn't really make me reflect on how good this was at the time it came out, it made me think of how he hasn't changed much. I think from 1979 and the release of I Need A Lover through1983 and the release of Uh-Huh you've got the whole essence of John Cougar-Mellencamp at his most creative period. Adding Scarecrow to this would be a great addition, just not as much as it was back when it came out.

I'm a Greatest Hits fan, and it looks like that's where I'll remain on Mellencamp...

My two cents anyway...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Scott, my question for you is...did you know this was the album I would be posting?

[Scott]

Actually, I was thinking Mellencamp, but I didn't know which one...

[Dave]

Johnny Cougar grows up. The previous album had the classic song, "Play Guitar" that my friends and I would sing at the top of our lungs with the window rolled down...so when this one came out, it was a bit mellow compared to "Uh-Huh", and it took awhile to grow on me, but the first song, "Rain On The Scarecrow" grabbed your attention right away. After a few spins we really took to this song, and while I wasn't born in a small town, I did grow up in a small town, and have lived most of my life in different small towns...so the song is still special to me. Great album all the way through.