John Mellencamp Scarecrow CD

When John Cougar Mellencamp released 1985's SCARECROW, American farmers were taking a major hit from bank foreclosures and soaring interest rates that were destroying their way of life. For Mellencamp, this issue hit close to home since his great-grandfather's family farm had been sold after his sudden death. Looking to his Midwest upbringing for inspiration, the Indiana native composed 11 rootsy songs, featuring fully realized characters that drew from his experiences growing up as a rebel then escaping from small-town life, before he re-embraced his roots.

Among the many highlights of this breakthrough album were the tribute to '60s AM Top 40 radio "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's Rock)," and the jangly funk of "Justice and Independence '85." The latter was inspired by the healthy birth of his daughter, who was in danger of deformity due to her mom's chicken pox. Elsewhere, Mellencamp mixed in commercially successful populist anthems like "Rain on the Scarecrow," and "Small Town." With SCARECROW's success, John Cougar Mellencamp became the public face of heartland rock and found himself joining forces with Willie Nelson and Neil Young to create the benefit organization Farm Aid.

Uh-Huh found John Mellencamp coming into his own, but he perfected his heartland rock with Scarecrow. A loose concept album about lost innocence and the crumbling of small-town America, Scarecrow says as much with its tough rock and gentle folk-rock as it does with its lyrics, which remain a weak point for Mellencamp. Nevertheless, his writing has never been more powerful: "Rain on the Scarecrow" and "Small Town" capture the hopes and fears of Middle America, while "Lonely Ol' Night" and "Rumbleseat" effortlessly convey the desperate loneliness of being stuck in a dead-end life. Those four songs form the core of the album, and while the rest of the album isn't quite as strong, that's only a relative term, since it's filled with lean hooks and powerful, economical playing that make Scarecrow one of the definitive blue-collar rock albums of the mid-'80s. [In 2005 Universal remastered and reissued the album and included the B-side acoustic version of "Small Town." Of all the reissues in this series, this small bonus sheds light on what went into the full-blown single version, adding depth and weight to Mellencamp's seemingly simple celebration of the dignity of mainstream and rural American life. The mandolin break, slightly out of tune, comes just after a back-porch singalong bridge; it gives the entire thing a chilling authenticity that seems to suggest that the singer is attempting to convince no one, not even himself, that this truth is, if not self-evident, at least one of serene resignation.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Thom Jurek

Recorded in 1985.

Personnel: Larry Crane (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Mike Wanchic (vocals, electric guitar, background vocals); Kenny Aronoff (vocals, vibraphone, drums, tambourine, background vocals); Toby Myers (vocals, electric bass, bass guitar, background vocals); Sarah Flint, Mimi Mapes (vocals, background vocals); John Cougar Mellencamp (vocals); Rickie Lee Jones, Laura Mellencamp (vocals); Ry Cooder (slide guitar); A. Jack Wilkins (saxophone); Richard Fanning (trumpet); John Cascella (keyboards).

Audio Mixers: Don Gehman; George Tutko; Greg Edward.

Audio Remasterer: Bob Ludwig.

Liner Note Author: G.M.G.

Recording information: Belmont Mall Studio, Belmont, IN (03/20/1985-04/29/1985).

Author: J.C.M.

Photographer: Marc Hauser.

Personnel: John Cougar Mellencamp, Rickie Lee Jones (vocals); Larry Crane, Mike Wanchic (guitar); A. Jack Wilkins (saxophone); Richard Fanning (trumpet); John Cascella (keyboards); Kenny Aronoff (vibraphone, drums, tambourine); Toby Myers (bass); Sarah Flint, Mimi Mapes (background vocals).

Spin (p.88) - "[With] Kenny Aronoff's drums booming as hard as anybody's in rock's past three decades."