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@Lafayette wrote:
Also, according to a Rolling Stone interview, show is SUPPOSE to be 2 hours long. 30 minutes stripped down acoustic with band, 30 minutes solo acoustic, an hour rocking at the end.
I’m not holding my breath. JM hasn’t done a 2 hour show post heart attack (’93), but it could be promising.
+ a documentary movie, Lafayette.
I know it’s really tempting for me to travel to Detroit, but I think I’ll pass having just seen JM last month.
I’ll sure tune in the Milwaukee web cast for Farm Aid. But Detroit is a long way off in November and I could probably score a single ticket if I change my mind.
As I reported earlier, I’ve got tickets for 3 other performances coming up (Sarah Harmer, Eels and Emmylou) and dang this Forum for introducing me to so much great music, if I book any more, I’ll have to register with “Concert Goers Addictions Anonymous” đ
Back now to You Tube-Here’s John and Hud the boxer in Kansas City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mZj7OXcWTc
lwjI’ll give you a report and let you know if it’s worth another trip to see JM in Detroit. Scoring tickets close to showtime is always an option. It’s one I use when I’m not emotionally involved with the artist.
Well, I see by the ol’ clock on the wall that it’s time for my annual JM post…
COUGAR TOWN
by Ben Greenman (The New Yorker)
August 16, 2010John Mellencampâs new album, âNo Better Than This,â is his twenty-first studio record, but itâs also a dĂ©but of sorts. Itâs his first album for Rounder Records, the independent roots label, and it is, on the surface, a marked departure from his other recordings, a spare folk-blues record that bears little resemblance to the arena-friendly rock that carried him to stardom.
The album is drenched in historical significance. The songs, performed by Mellencamp and a small band, were recorded in mono, on a nineteen-fifties Ampex 601 portable machine. Even more notable is where they were recorded: Mellencamp committed his new compositions to tape at three landmark locationsâSun Studios, in Memphis, where Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others helped invent rock and roll in the mid-fifties; the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, one of the oldest African-American congregations in the United States; and the Gunter Hotel, in San Antonio, where Don Law recorded the Delta blues legend Robert Johnson in 1936.
Mellencampâs approach raises all kinds of red flags about self-consciousness and self-importance. But from the first verse of the albumâs opener, the gently defiant âSave Some Time to Dream,â itâs evident that this wise, charming album is less a stiff historical re-creation than a highly personal testimonial on the order of Bob Dylanâs âGood as I Been to Youâ or Loudon Wainwright IIIâs âHigh Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project.â In fact, the traditional forms seem to free up Mellencampâs songwriting; he can be a strident lyricist, but here his anger subsides and his generous storytelling gift comes to the fore. The title track and âEach Day of Sorrowâ are intense, limber rockabilly numbers. âThinking About Youâ is a plainspoken love story that recalls Mellencampâs sometime collaborator John Prine. âEaster Eve,â a tale of manhood and violence with plenty of left turns, plays like a younger cousin to Dylanâs âHighlands.â And âNo One Cares About Me,â lyrically bleak, is set to music that is fleet and engaging. Mellencamp has been heading in this direction for a while. After âCuttinâ Heads,â in 2001, a strong album loaded up with guest stars like Chuck D and Trisha Yearwood, his work became progressively darker. On âTrouble No More,â in 2003, he covered blues and folk standards; âFreedomâs Roadâ and âLife, Death, Love and Freedomâ offered pessimistic appraisals of the state of the nation. An explicit return to folk, blues, and early rock could have been a kind of memorial service; instead, itâs a loose, lovely celebration.
Love seeing a Lefty response in the JM thread, annual response or no.
I haven’t seen this review yet so thank you for posting. “No Better Than This” releases today, I think to mostly positive accolades, and he has been #1 on Americana Music Chart for past two weeks.
I was hoping to be in LA TODAY at a JM event at the grammy museum, I had a last minute ticket offer come my way from a friend who had won a pair of tickets. I had further plans to see Lu tomorrow in Saratoga. I just couldn’t justify the cost with other events I have on the docket.
Thanks for the lift. JM hits the road in late October, and I am happy to report I scored a front row center seat at the Ryman in November. I have high hopes this will be THE JM show to see, he lengthens his show and mixes up the songs.
JM & band performing new song “Don’t Forget About Me” on Tavis Smiley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPzAykWyqxY&feature=player_embedded#!
Wow! Lafayette, ALL of the PBS Tavis Smiley videos are outstanding. Jon E. Gee is dressed up as usual.
Bought “No Better Than This” yesterday and although I’ve heard all the songs earlier, nothing like having the real thing.
Detroit is coming back in my mind to attend.
By the way, how many Fall shows are you actually going to besides Bloomington and first row centre Ryman?
lwjI’m going to Bloomington (1st night), Cincinnati, Indy, Nashville, and a friend is treating me to a ticket in Pittsburgh (she won a retail check several years ago, front row seats, and finally able to “cash” in, how could I pass that up?).
I think you should try Detroit, especially if you like the Tavis videos. I have a feeling the first half hour of the show will be similar to what you are seeing on these videos. Then an additional half hour of JM solo and the remainder of show suppose to be a rock set.
I just watched the preview of the documentary for “No Better Than This” as per JM’s e-mail sent out last week.
Outstanding, I loved the happy dance routine.
When the video ended a pile of JM videos came up.
I watched the Lincoln Memorial President Obama inaugural of “Pink Houses” and this to me is the best ever video I’ve seen of Mr. Mellencamp. Superb HD quality.
Just him and Andy on the steps with a full orchestra below them with the camera panning to the President and the crowd.
Only 5 weeks to countdown for Farm Aid Lafayette.lwj
Interesting question posed by Mellencamp’s publicist, according to this blog. “No Better Than This” debuted in the top 10 Billboard, the 10th of his career. Mellencamp’s publicist posed the query…When was the last record, recorded in mono, that debuted in Billboard’s Top 10 ?
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/guestlisted/?p=395&srvc=home&position=recent
John Mellencampâs PR guy put this question out to rock writers:
âWas just having a conversation with a friend and the Billboard Top 10 debut of John Mellencampâs âNo Better Than Thisâ album came up. Mentioned that itâs Johnâs tenth Top 10 album and that itâs offered only in mono which begged the question: What was the last mono-only album that debuted in Billboardâs Top 10? Weâre thinking it must have been over 40 years ago as albums were offered in both stereo and mono from the late 1950s onward. Any suggestions?â
Iâm thinking the answer would be something by the Beatles. But not the Beatles 40 years ago. The Beatles albums re-issued on CD last year were released in both stereo and mono versions. I just donât know if any of the mono discs made the Top 10.
BTW…he, according to another article, will be opening the AMA awards show at the Ryman…next week! I have a Lu/JM countdown…7 days! Sept 9 also marks 30 years to the day I saw JM open for The Kinks at UC’s Fieldhouse in Cincinnati…that’s a long time. Will have to celebrate đ
Interview with JM about receiving upcoming lifetime achievement award. A short reference about artists, like Lucinda, from the writer, regarding John, more or less giving them a vehicle for their music, but I’m sure that would be highly disputed by many here. đ
http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2010/09/06/honesty-still-drives-john-mellencamps-brand-of-music/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TennesseancomTuneInMusicCity+%28tennessean.com+|+Tune+In+Music+City%29
Have a great road trip to Nashville for the awards show, Lafayette.
If you can sneak into the Ryman with your trusty Kodak, photos/videos of JM and Lu are greatly appreciated along with your usual high caliber reporting.lwj
Thanks, lwj. I will, indeed, try to sneak my camera to take video. There is a no camera policy and as long as I’m not searched, I’ll see what I can film.
Congratulations John M. -Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ryman.
Live audio fom the awards ceremony plus a great photo gallery.
“Save Some time to Dream”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vYJSJ-bBAAlwj[attachment=0:1lhj4zma]JM and Roseanne.jpg[/attachment:1lhj4zma]
@Lafayette wrote:
Two thumbs up, lwj. Thanks for posting!
Most welcome, Lafayette.
You have given us great full reports on your musical ride over the last few days ( including the Ryman, Mercy Lounge, and Over the Rhine ) but you are overlooking the Bearcats victory over JM’s home state. Did you make it back from Nashville in time for the tailgate party ?
Can we have a off topic recap of the game ?
There were umpteen dozen college games on TV yesterday but I don’t receive ESPN 2 so I couldn’t watch UC.
lwj
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