I was on hold for Blue Cross of CA when a musac version of "I'm Not Running Anymore" came on. Don't think I've heard that before.

Kind of funny that he has a Ralph Lauren bag considering..

Todd Snider is a favorite of mine, too. Entertaining as hell live, and his lyrics are fantastic. On first listen, which was about 13 years ago, I thought he may be too country for me, but "Happy To Be Here" quickly grew on me and continues to be an album I listen to weekly.

I do wish I had gotten to see him live more (I only saw him once with a full band when "Viva Satellite" came out) during his more rockin' years, but I still enjoy his solo/acoustic shows.

Pit, row 4.
Can the show be moved up a bit closer to the present? April is so far away!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/22/john-mellencamp-defends-s_n_772307.html

I've still yet to really concentrate on this album, as I'm usually listening in the car all the while daydreaming and going over the work day in my head, too. However, today it occurred to me that John's voice sounds fantastic on A Graceful Fall.

And to clarify: I understand what John and T Bone were going for, and appreciate that aspect of the sound. It's just not the sound we're accustomed to hearing when listening to music.

I listened only once to the CD so far, and it grabbed me the first time around. I've yet to concentrate on the lyrics, but I really like the music.

The mono is something I'll have to get used to. Playing it louder doesn't enhance the sound, and I like to be surrounded by the sound, loud in my car, which the mono recording doesn't do. The instruments don't sound crisp as they do in stereo.

I listened only once to the CD so far, and it grabbed me the first time around. I've yet to concentrate on the lyrics, but I really like the music.

The mono is something I'll have to get used to. Playing it louder doesn't enhance the sound, and I like to be surrounded by the sound, loud in my car, which the mono recording doesn't do. The instruments don't sound crisp as they do in stereo.

My heart was pounding almost outside of my chest. I coudln't believe I asked, and then I was sorry I did. John couldn't hear me, so I had to ask twice, and I had to stand up. Mortifying! LOL

Nope didn't take it that way   just covering my butt in case something else comes up. lol! I hate how sometimes on these message boards things sound more serious than we mean them to be.


I had a question ready but by the time i decided that i "might" have guts to ask it, they were on the last one. So good for you! I do remember your question now, I didn't quite catch all of them, a couple of them were hard for me to hear.

Sorry, Patricia! I hope I didn't give the impression I was criticizing you! I didn't take notes either. I wish I had. I was surprised at what I recalled, though I couldn't recall exact questions. You recalled more details than I did.

I was the moron who stood up and asked the question about the guitar player (Marc Ribot) whose name I mispronounced.

That is right, Lori. I think my wording is bad there as I was just going from memory and trying to hit as many topics as I could remember. I didn't think about the timing myself as I was writing, I was more focused on just trying to get as much as I could on paper since everyone was asking, and the part about taking care of the kids really struck me.

So I guess I should give the same qualification to the readers here that I gave to Sharon/Tony - I did not take notes, this is just my best recollection after travelling home, and it is not the same order as the conversation during the event. There was a lot to cover so hopefully between everyone we will cover it pretty well!

Had I known you were there, I would have said hello!

John never said anything to indicate he was married to Elaine when BD came out. He talked about not wanting to do anything to promote the album, and he took time off to paint.

He spoke of the heart attack and taking forced time off then when talking about he and Elaine both not working and knowing what was on TV and the boys were little, but I don't think he made reference the time period. I think he spoke of both things at the same time, though, so it might have sounded like he meant that.

Awesome review, Patricia. Thanks so much for taking the time to write that out. Somebody should tell John that he wasn't married to Elaine when "Big Daddy" came out. In fact, he didn't marry her until a year after "Whenever We Wanted"  was released and didn't even meet her until the "Get a Leg Up" video shoot in 1991. Also, Hud and Speck weren't born until after "Human Wheels." He's really bad with dates and things like that and always has been, but he's still entertaining as hell. Thanks again for the great review.

John never said anything to indicate he was married to Elaine when BD came out. He talked about not wanting to do anything to promote the album, and he took time off to paint.

He spoke of the heart attack and taking forced time off then when talking about he and Elaine both not working and knowing what was on TV and the boys were little, but I don't think he made reference the time period. I think he spoke of both things at the same time, though, so it might have sounded like he meant that.

Awesome review, Patricia. Thanks so much for taking the time to write that out. Somebody should tell John that he wasn't married to Elaine when "Big Daddy" came out. In fact, he didn't marry her until a year after "Whenever We Wanted"  was released and didn't even meet her until the "Get a Leg Up" video shoot in 1991. Also, Hud and Speck weren't born until after "Human Wheels." He's really bad with dates and things like that and always has been, but he's still entertaining as hell. Thanks again for the great review.

On the way home I remembered a couple of other things.

Someone in the audience asked him if Speck was still playing guitar with him, and he said No, at this time Speck has abandoned the guitar for girls. He then looked around the audience to find where Speck was sitting, then said he found some girls to sit with - or something like that.

Mr. Santelli asked him something like: When did you know you could make it in this business? He answered about 5 years ago, when he started working with T Bone.

When he was talking about the Internet, and then the eventual generational loss of remembering significant musical groups/individuals and whatnot, he called out to Hud asking him if he knows who Bob Hope is. Someone in the back yelled out for Hud to "Google it". That drew a pretty big laugh from everyone.

One of the audience members asked how long of a set he will play in a couple of nights with Dylan. She said will you at least play an hour? And he chuckled and said, yes, at least an hour.

He must be aware of the critisicm he gets for playing short sets. So, he seemed to find that pretty amusing.

First of all, this was a fantastic opportunity, and I thank Mellencamp.com for the opportunity to be there! The 200-seat Clive Davis Theatre is a beautiful, small venue inside the Grammy Museum. An amazing, intimate experience for sure. 

I didn’t take notes, so some of my statements may not be completely accurate.

People I saw in the audience at the start of the show: T Bone Burnett, Andy York, Elaine (looking stunning of course), Hud. Speck was there, but I didn’t see him. There were people there who had that I’m Important air about them (recording industry types, perhaps), but I have no idea who they might be.   

First was the interview. John seemed relaxed, often surveying the crowd. He had been chewing gum much of the time, but after a while took it out of his mouth and placed it on his water bottle cap. I don’t remember seeing him ever open/drink the water. He was wearing blue jeans, and a blue button-down shirt.

Grammy Museum Executive Director Robert Santelli was the interviewer, and it was apparent he admired John a great deal.

Some snippets from the interview / Q&A:

“Without a Shot”
He hates the Internet. Internet destroyed the record business, and has the potential to wreak havoc on millions (wide-ranged power outages and such)
Also talked about the digital files (iTunes, etc) being sold today in lieu of cds, and the fact the quality is not what the artists intend for you to hear. Beatles song vs Beatles song T Bone played for John was “barely recognizable” in digital form.

Had his fists held out – one held Smokey Robinson’s melody writing talent, and the other Woody Guthrie’s lyrical writing talent. Used this analogy in what he wanted to accomplish in music.

His career path could have gone either way – art or music

His first 6 albums were terrible. He’s not the guy who wrote HSG anymore.

Told the story of the first time he encountered racism as the singer in a band with black members. The blacks were told to wait outside during breaks, while the rest of the band can wait “in the kitchen” or wherever else.
Told the story of his given name change, and that people his age will still call him "Johnny Cougar" sometimes, and it's all right.

Talked about how when looking in the crowd at the HOF Award ceremony, he said about ½ of you people never thought you’d have to put up with me for 30 years.
 
John said that T Bone said something like "That is one nice sounding corner", when they were in one of the locations recording NBTT.
 
'When two people rub up against each other, there are usually only two things that happen. One is good one is bad.".

Told the story of playing for President Clinton with "F**ck Fascism" carved on his guitar. Had forgotten about it until he had it over his shoulder to start playing. This was to be shown on TV. Clinton handlers in a panic over what was being shown on TV. What do we tell them? "Tell them they misread it", said Clinton

To the Nobel Peace Prize people: Willie Nelson deserves to win for his work with Farm Aid. John was passionate about this.

His friend who is or was a teacher (literature) for 40 years said teaching went from teaching to crowd control. School in Bloomington called upon John to donate his time / raise money for the school. He said no, call Bush. Not a fan of No School {sic}Left Behind policy.

First he complained in a joking manner that there was no smoking break after the interview segment…

Then came the music:

The amp was loud (“Can somebody turn this amp down? Andy? What is this, Uriah Heep?!” Andy came to the rescue)
 
Save Some Time to Dream (messed up 2 or 3 times using choice words, but laughing)
Cherry Bomb (two verses a cappella)
Don't Need This Body (with Andy)
Thinking About You (with Andy)
Small Town (huge laugh from the audience with the “My wife was 13 years old when I wrote this song” line)

I’ll write if I think of more.

I'm working on my report, Cindy! And, yes, that sure was Andy, which was a pleasant surprise! Cherry Bomb was 2 verses of a cappella