No Better Than This

John Mellencamp put out an album in 2010 called No Better Than This. I watched a documentary on the making of the album last week.

One more album I have to buy.

Brief aside: I have always wanted to own every single Bob Dylan album, every single Van Morrison album and every single Beatles album. I will begin to acquire the ones I am missing when the real paychecks start rolling in. I will say no more about that until I accomplish each one. Stay tuned.

I am always searching for depth. Ironically, I believe in my soul that I possess great depth (how pretentious) but that I cannot access it regularly or find a way to live off it or have it sustain me. So I look for it in others.

Mellencamp has stripped it all down. I love his attitude. He doesn't care about the hit machine anymore, he cares only about doing what makes sense to him regardless of how it sells. That is the perfect place for an artist to be.

This album is raw and honest and deep. He was on tour and wanted to record the album in meaningful places on his off days. He chose the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia; Sun Records recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee; and the room in the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas where Robert Johnson made his first legendary blues recording. Mellencamp recorded this music with an old fashioned microphone and on reel to reel tape. No high tech, no special effects.

The First African Baptist Church is the home of the nation's oldest black congregation and was a safe haven for runaway slaves. There are still holes in the floor which were used to leak water to the slaves hiding underneath. The vibe in that church must be deep enough to knock you down.

Sun Records is legendary as the studio where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded. Musical history doesn't get more solid than that.

Robert Johnson was a legendary blues man, born in 1911, died in 1938, poisoned by a jealous man. Robert loved the ladies. He had only two recording sessions in his life, totalling 29 songs. The first session was at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel where he recorded 16 of the 29. He was the original deal with the devil at the crossroads guy, legendary for his aura as well as his music.

Recording this music in these three locations must have channelled a mind blowing vibe that made the experience close to religious. Definitely spiritual. Take Mellencamp's grounded attitude and respect for tradition and history, mix in his straight forward persona and spice it with this overwhelming vibe and you get magic.

Which is what this album is.

The lyrics to these songs are soul deep. I'll give you a quick taste from Save Some Time To Dream.

"Save some time to dream, save some time for yourself, don't let your time slip away, or be stolen by somebody else."

As I said, Mellencamp recorded these songs on his off days while on tour.

The people he was touring with were Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.

I'm pretty sure that added some depth to this album as well.