The last book written about Mellencamp was in 1986 when Martin Torgoff released American Fool: The Roots and Improbably Rise of John Cougar Mellencamp, which he wrote with Mellencamp’s cooperation in 1984-85. The book ends just as Scarecrow was being released and covers mainly his recording of American Fool and Uh-huh. To me, Torgoff, the New Yorker, cast the Midwest as backward and a place holding no reason why anyone would want to stay for any length of time. So the book, although well written and fairly informative, never set well with me. I read about Born In A Small Town and looked up the author, Heather Johnson, to find she was born in Ohio and attended college in Illinois. A little closer to home, my hopes rose. But they shouldn’t have. I don’t want to give the impression that this is an awful book, it’s just not the book I, and I think many Mellencamp fans, has hoped for. If you are a new fan, this book will probably be a good and informative read. The book starts with Mellencamp’s childhood and brings us to the early stages of recording for Freedom’s Road. There is a lot of good information on the coming and going of band members and how some songs came to be. In other words, it is a standard biography. But maybe that was Ms. Johnson’s goal. Maybe this is exactly the book she set out to write. But it wasn’t the book that needed to be written. John Mellencamp, as of March 10, 2008 a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, is a complex person and that is the story I want to read. Ms. Johnson touches on this several times in the book, but it is merely a glance and off to the next subject. She talks about how Mellencamp craves tension in the studio, even going so far as to threaten firing the band. The reasons for this are never explored and perhaps it was beyond the scope of the book. There are several fascinating themes that run through the life and work of Mellencamp such as his often times dismissive attitudes toward religion while the theme and imagery still pop up in his songs throughout the years or the rough relationship he shared with his father and how that was passed along to Mellencamps’ own daughters before he chose to break the cycle with his two sons. These are not easy themes, but they are hardly scratched at in Born In A Small Town. Ms. Johnson’s draws from many sources and interviews, but she was not granted access to Mellencamp himself, which might be part of the reason that the biography doesn’t go any deeper than it does. I did find myself wishing she had checked a few of her facts a bit more stringently, from misspelled small town names (it’s Elletsville, not Elotsville) to larger chunks of info (for example, the “Pink Houses” video was shot in Austin, Ind., not Austin, Texas and Harvey Gooden is not, nor has he ever been, the Mayor of Austin, which elected its first Mayor this year). While this is a good start, my hope is that some day the biography of John Mellencamp will be written that will help us understand the complex person he is while still giving us information on his creative and deep catalog of work.

I�ve heard someone say that describing Americana music is difficult, but that they recognize it when they hear it. When I listen to John Mellencamp sing, I hear Americana music, some of the best ever produced. I also hear rock and roll, country, blues, and folk. He fits no one classification. But there is something absolutely American about this man and the music he writes. John is a product of the heartland�Indiana. Time and again he turned his attention to that land and its people, the breadbasket of our civilization. Time and again he fought the music establishment to say what he wanted, at one point, even to use his own name. Yes, music executives changed his name to John Cougar to make it more appealing to the public. Pissed him right off and started a war that continues to this day. John champions worthy causes. He, along with Willie Nelson and Neil Young founded Farm-aid, a gathering of musicians to raise awareness and money for those that feed us. You�ll recognize many Americana musicians participating in the yearly concert that organization sponsors. This year marked their twentieth anniversary. A look at recent news on him will reveal one charity event after another�John giving back to the land that gave to him. And not just his voice, but also his heart, soul and mind. John is a social activist. His songs decry injustices and promote tolerance and understanding for the wide spectrum of people that make up our nation. He understands love and the human condition and has lessons to teach garnered from a life spent in the fast lane. It�s hard for me to believe, but John turned 55 this year. John hasn�t written much new material in recent years, but in 2004 he released a double cd containing most of his better songs with two new additional tunes worthy of your time. I find this album an integral part of my music collection. An Americana collection absent his work is incomplete. I won�t waste your time telling you about this man and his music because it probably isn�t necessary. A stroll through the hits on his last album  speaks for itself. Here�s a decent biography. And a history of Farm-aid concerts. For you younger musicians out there, John Mellencamp has a lesson or ten to teach, and you�ll have some fun while you�re at it. Buy the album. Listen. Learn� Feel.   Yep, he�s Americana.-------------------- About the Author - Don Henry Ford, Jr. When Don's not writing books he lends out his talent to Americana Roots to put together great articles like this. If you've enjoyed what you read, then pick up Don's latest book Contrabando: Confessions of a Drug Smuggling Cowboy at your local bookstore or online at Cinco Puntos Press.