Mellencamp finally releases live material
After resisting for years, the rocker is out with at age 66
Plain Spoken
What does it take to be a rock ’n’ roll legend?
At age 66, John Mellencamp probably never asked himself that. Yet despite his indifference to the whole idea of fame — his aversion to it, actually — that is what he has become. Go figure.
For example, where most superstar wannabes try to hasten their success by putting out a live album early in their careers, Mellencamp always shied away from the idea. “I didn’t want to do that” he says, his voice a quiet rasp over the phone. “I don’t think you can capture what a person does onstage, put it in a box and expect that it even remotely resembles what happened that night in that room.”
Why, then, did he reconsider after all these years and decide to release Plain Spoken: From the Chicago Theatre on Friday? Because he found a way to do something different with it.
“Growing up, I used to listen to a radio show in the 1960s with this guy who would just do a monologue all night long,” Mellencamp says. “He’d just talk about whatever he wanted to talk about. That’s what I decided to do.”
Plain Spoken comes in several formats. More important, it offers two experiences. One is a traditional concert, capturing Mellencamp and his band as they deliver a spirited career-spanning set. The other is exactly the same except for a voiceover from Mellencamp reflecting on his history and issues that concern him in these fractious times.
Improvised over a two-day period, this monologue doesn’t comment on songs as much as reflect on his creative methodology. Engineer Mark Stebbeds spent the summer at Mellencamp’s Indiana home, arranging the content into what the artist describes as an arc. From an opening admonition to “keep it small but keep going” to an affirmation of taking responsibility for all his endeavors, Mellencamp reveals much not only about his music but also his passion for visual art.
“I got a great compliment the other day,” he says. “A guy told me, ‘I own one of your paintings. I look at it every day. And every day it says something different.’ That’s why I don’t view paintings as static images. To me, they’re just like music, except they take longer.”
“I can be a little more on the nose with painting than I can with songs,” he admits. “With songs, it’s not about me. I make them about the listener. A song has to start somewhere between your legs, go to your heart and then to your head. It entertains and informs — and you can dance to it. That, to me, is the perfect song.”