7 thoughts on “‘Crumblin’ Down.’”

  1. He was/is decidedly a 2nd tier rocker in the Bruce Springsteen mold. I’ll agree, he left nothing on the table, but his stuff never seemed to rise above that level. I do, however, give him props for fighting free from the “Johnny Cougar” moniker his label forced on him.

    1. I always thought him better, and more honest as a musician, than Bruce Springsteen. He could actually sing, for one thing. And the songs he wrote about middle-class rural America were actually lived in, as opposed to Springsteen, who simply recycled talking points.

      1. Having grown up on the interface of blue/white collar working class in coastal NJ – in other words, much like Springsteen – I would say that Bruce tapped into some legitimate middle class issues.

  2. I dunno. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had nine songs hit the top of the US charts. That’s a pretty successful career. No, he wasn’t Madonna, but he was a lot closer to her than he was to Icehouse.

    1. His stretch of albums from American Fool to Lonesome Jubilee was something most any musician would have envied. And he did it with roots rock at a time when overproduced, glossy synth-pop ruled the A&R offices.

      So yeah. I think he had a good career.

  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aoywIHLqbs
    .
    Mellencamp successfully tapped into quite a few legitimate issues – the entire mood of “Scarecrow” taps into the “Farm Aid” era, only .. more musically.
    .
    Thing is, Mellencamp seems to have been a musician first and an activist second (or third ..) which I think was the point to and the cause of the reaction toward the “Big Daddy” album .. it was taking a different musical, artistic direction, not staying in his niche, but it was not .. terribly well received.
    .
    I can respect that .. and am glad he found some success later on with .. the Van Morrison cover I opened this post with.
    .
    Mew

    1. That’s pretty much my thought as well. He very much tapped into the issues of Middle America at the time, even if he did (of course) take the standard left answers to them. He did say he voted for Reagan though. So he wasn’t completely hopelessly lost in the entertainment industry set.

      And when he re-emerged with Wild Night, I was pleased. Big Daddy is not a bad album at all. But it’s very personal. One even people who were fans of his, as I was, didn’t quite get into.

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