Some JM-related thoughts

[TonyBClubManager]

Do we know why the Brothers of Darkland County release was postponed/shelved?

Delayed is probably the best word, it will be coming out, question is when, and as of now looks like 2013.

My hunch is because of changes to the stage version of the show that happened in Atlanta, and probably further changes that are being implemented for this private workshop going on now in New York City, the album/recorded version now differs from the stage version and the creators and whatever label is going to release this has to decide if those differences are OK or if some things need to be re-recorded.

They also are possibly waiting until the next time/place the show is staged to release it then to help get more attention for the project.

[Mellenfan71]

Do we know why the Brothers of Darkland County release was postponed/shelved?

They also are possibly waiting until the next time/place the show is staged to release it then to help get more attention for the project.

sounds logical.

[Maradona10]

I've also wondered if John is somehat 'all folked-out' recently; Key West Intermezzo and Love and Happiness back in the set. He's been touring this show an awful long time; maybe he's gearing up for throwing us a rock'n'roll shaped curveball.

Having said all that, maybe a live record with great versions of The west End, death letter, etc might be the way to go.

[walktall2010]

I don't think a live record serves much purpose, especially amongst us diehards who have countless bootlegs, and John seems to be against releasing them, so hopefully his efforts will be concentrated on a new studio album soon. He has mentioned in interviews that the next album will be a "rock record," but we'll have to see what happens.

[walktall2010]

6) How can I get hold of the two rejected songs from the '98 Columbia debut? Angie and The March of the Forgotten Seven are their titles I think.

Here you go, you can download both songs at this link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/97h4t4
Click on the part that says "Click here to start download from sendspace" and your download will start immediately. Enjoy.

[WildNight]

This thread has put a smile on my face. I quit posting on these boards when everything was about Johns personal life. I just listened to the two unreleased songs from John's self titled 1998 album and they were amazing. Thank you so much Walktall. I love finding bootlegs and it always amazes me the great stuff you will find. Which is part of the reason I have become Bob Dylan obsessed lately, that man has so many great unreleased/live songs that I can explore for years. I really wish John did more of this, you would think he would when you consider how much he idolizes Dylan. Walktall I feel like you have more treasures that I might enjoy and I was wondering if you have more stuff on sendspace?

[walktall2010]

I don't have any more stuff on there right now but I'll be happy to add something if you are looking for it.

[Maradona10]

Thanks for those two songs, walktall...I'll download, digest them and come back with my thoughts.

Do you have Gamblin' Bar Room Blues, Rave On, Baby Please Don't Go, Never Too Old and the Dance Naked 'remix' I read about somewhere (not the live mix, I have that on a Wild Night single)?

I always wondered why Freddie's Dead was dropped from the Mayfield tribute in '93 or '94...I finally got to hear it a few years back (not in the finest audio quality, admittedly) and it was just so cool. Loved all the different rhythms Kenny had goin on.

We just have to get a box set of this stuff someday.

[walktall2010]

I have all that stuff. If it's out there, I have it. I'll take some time this weekend to upload it if I can, but it's baseball playoff time and that takes precedent over JM. It's sports first, music second with me, but they are my two passions.

As for a box set that collects all this stuff, we just need a fan with the time and energy to create one because we'll never get something like that officially released. I'd create it myself if I could figure out how to distribute it to enough people (without profiting, of course). If I made one and put it up on here it would get about 30 downloads and that's it -- that's hardly worth it for the time and effort it would take. Fan-made box sets are usually the best ones because fans know what other fans want more than record labels who always think about money first. Therefore, they attempt to appeal to the casual fan and wind up with a less desirable product in the end.

An example of a magnificent fan-made box set: In 2000, a hard-core Billy Joel fan created an 8-disc anthology called "After 2000 Years" (named after a 1993 BJ song called "Two-Thousand Years") that had everything from songs from bands he was in as a teenager on Long Island to demos, rare live cuts, interview clips, everything you can imagine. He modeled it after the Beatles anthology that came out in 1995 and he even made artwork for it that looked just like that. In addition, he printed a few copies on discs that looked just like Columbia records discs. It was fantastic. I downloaded it off a torrent site in 2006 and it was so much better than the official BJ box set "My Lives" that Columbia released in 2005. Something like that JM related would be great. I have the material to do it; I just haven't been able to muster up the desire because there are no JM Internet destinations like, say, Backstreets (Springsteen's official fan site) that get an enormous amount of traffic each day. If there are 15 people a week who come to this board or the Human Wheels mailinglist, it's a miracle. Doing a ton of work and getting it into the hands of a small amount of people isn't overly appealing. That's the dilemma.      

[Maradona10]

That would be just awesome; no rush whatsoever, it'd just be great to hear those songs. I hear what you're saying about the difference in through traffic between here and, say, what we have over on BTX for Springsteen.

I do think, however, that there are a somewhat bewildering array of forums/subforums here; one 'General Mellencamp Discussion' board would suffice, if you ask me. I think the tour posts/discussions are wasted in their own subforums. One big forum would attract more thoroughfare/opinion/posters...just my 2 cents.

[Mellenfan71]

He has mentioned in interviews that the next album will be a "rock record," but we'll have to see what happens

Looking forward to seeing what he has to say now that he is in his 60's, and now that he has new Inspirations  .

[Maradona10]

Just adding to this old thread with another question that's bugged me fir years:

Do we know for sure which Big Daddy tracks Dave Grissom plays on?

I'm guessing Pop Singer and the title track...

Also, did JM ever go on record as to why he produced Big Daddy without Don Gehman? JM did a fantastic job as Big Daddy and its successor, WWW, sound absolutely awesome to this day.

[kicker]

Why do some people always have to bring up Bruce Springsteen when discussing JM's music/career, some of us couldn't care less that he plays these stupid three hour marathon shows, maybe that's why half the time he sounds like he's constipated. LOL

Maybe he does it to compensate for the lack of quality studio material he's put out the last two plus decades, no such problem for John. I used to be a fan of Bruce's long before i ever discovered John's music ''still think he's a hell of a nice guy'' but the RS hype machine and the delusion of many of his fans is a complete turn-off.

I consider BS the single most overrated rock artist ever, i feel just the opposite about John.