Last week my amazing wife Sheila sourced me a used CD rack (these are increasingly hard to find – thank you, Sheila!). It holds another 90 albums!
Sadly, this record will not be one of them.
Disc 1855 is…The Lonesome Jubilee
Artist: John Cougar Mellencamp
Year of Release: 1987
What’s up with the Cover? John sits at the bar with a local workin’ man. I expect John is suggesting through this photo that he likes hanging out with the regular folks. That would work better if he weren’t looking away awkwardly. It’s got a very “sit near me, but not with me” vibe.
I prefer to think right before this photo was taken John sat down and tried to befriend this guy to which he replied, ‘not interested’ and we’re catching the moment mid-spurn.
How I Came To Know It: I saw this record in the bargain bin at my local record store for a low $3. I liked one of the songs from when it came out, so despite my historic misgivings about Mellencamp, I decided I would give it a go.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Mellencamp albums, this one and the classic “Uh Huh”. “The Lonesome Jubilee” comes in at a distant second.
Ratings: 2 stars
When I reviewed “Uh Huh” back at Disc 1794, Mellencamp made me eat the unkind words I’d spoken about him in my youth. Did “The Lonesome Jubilee” have a similar impact? Two words: uh-uh. That is not to say this is a terrible record, only that it is just OK.
“The Lonesome Jubilee” has two things to say, and Mellencamp says them a lot, without much variation. Thing 1: “The good old days were pretty great, eh?” and Thing 2: “Boy, things aren’t great these days.” These are not earth-shattering but they can make for a song or two. The results here are a bunch of inoffensive, efficient, radio friendly social commentary with no surprises.
The draw from the outset for me is the lively and vibrant “Paper in Fire” featuring the talented fiddle playing of Lisa Germano. This caught my attention for a couple of reasons back in 1987. I’m not going to deny it – one of those reasons was how great Germano looked playing that fiddle in that shift dress in the music video.
The main reason though, was in 1987 I had limited exposure to fiddle music and Mellencamp bringing that American style fiddle playing into pop music was novel and interesting. My deep and abiding love for all style of fiddle playing was still just around the corner, and through “Paper in Fire” I was unwittingly whetting my appetite for things to come.
I have since come to be exposed to a lot of fiddle music by some exceptional masters of their craft. Germano’s playing is still solid – even with Mellencamp mostly using it in the arrangement like trumpet flourish – but with so much more under my belt now it is just one of many fun fiddle hooks, and no longer a revelation.
Back in 1987 “Cherry Bomb” was also a hit but unlike “Paper in Fire” I hated that song, which was severely overplayed. I am pleased to tell you this hate has been purged from my heart, and I now think it’s one of the record’s better offerings. Sure it has a sometimes tired and obvious exploration of “we were once kids, and now we have kids” but the tune is solid and I dig Crystal Taliefero’s guest vocals.
This is also a good time to point out that the “Lonesome Jubilee” “Cherry Bomb” is not the same song as the Runaways song of the same title, which is both better and has more to say. But there is room in my heart these days for two “Cherry Bombs” so that’s not a problem.
The rest of this record is just OK. I wasn’t irritated by any of the songs (well, OK, “Rooty Toot Toot” is pretty irritating), but nor did I feel like I was going to be urgently fumbling through my music collection so I could hear them either.
“The Lonesome Jubilee” demonstrates that Mellencamp knows how to write and sing, but it mostly had me thinking of other artists in my collection that just do what he’s doing better. It is a bunch of “life is harder now” stuff, competently delivered, but a bit preachy and unsurprising.
Two stars for this two-note record that is going to be moving along out of my collection.
Best tracks: Paper in Fire, Cherry Bomb
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