No Better Than This
Encyclopedia
No Better Than This is an album by American
singer-songwriter
and musician John Mellencamp
, produced by T Bone Burnett, that was released on August 17, 2010. The album was recorded at several historic locations throughout the United States. The title track was the album's first single and was sent to multiple radio formats on June 28.
Mellencamp said that the album is "as American folk as I've ever been." He also told Rolling Stone in July 2009 that he's not concerned whether or not there's a large audience for such a raw, simple record. "I am done being a rock star," Mellencamp said. "I have no interest in that, in having the biggest concerts. I have only one interest: to have fun while we’re doing this and maybe have something that somebody might discover."
Rolling Stone placed No Better Than This No. 12 on its list of the best albums of 2010.
at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis
. "It's about individual freedom and thought—and controlling our own lives," Mellencamp said of "Save Some Time to Dream," which he performed solo on acoustic guitar throughout much of his 2009 summer tour with Bob Dylan
and Willie Nelson
.
During breaks on the Nelson/Dylan tour, Mellencamp recorded No Better Than This at historic locations, such as the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia
as well as at the historic Sun Studios in Memphis
and the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, where blues pioneer Robert Johnson recorded blues staples like “Sweet Home Chicago
” and “Cross Road Blues
.” Mellencamp recorded the album using a 1955 Ampex
portable recording machine and only one microphone, requiring all the musicians to gather together around the mic. The album was recorded in mono
, the same manner as the classic folk and blues recordings of the 1930s and '40s.
Mellencamp wrote one song specifically for Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel
, which is the exact room where Johnson recorded in November 1936. He told the San Antonio Express-News, "It's called 'Right Behind Me' or 'Right Behind Us,' I haven't decided yet. I wrote it just for this room. I could have done this in my studio. But I want to do it this way, and if I can't do what I want at this point, I'm not going to do it. If it's not fun, I'm not going to do it. I'm through digging a ditch."
"John is a really great singer and I'm always happy working with him in any environment," T Bone Burnett told the Express-News. "The fact he chose these historic locations is a big plus. The stories that have come out of the sessions are extraordinary. The First African Baptist Church was started in 1775. It was an important stop on the Underground Railroad
and central to the civil rights movement
. Sun Studio
, from a completely different angle, was also important to the civil rights movement and, from another angle, so were Robert Johnson's recordings at the Gunter."
During Mellencamp's session at Sun Studios in late July 2009, he recorded several songs, including "Each Day of Sorrow," "No One Cares About Me," "The West End," and "Easter Eve," which Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke
compared to "one of Bob Dylan
's talking blues
." Regarding this session, Mellencamp told the magazine, "[T Bone] and I were laughing. We got five songs here last night. We asked ourselves, ‘What the fuck were we doing in the 70s and 80s, spending days and days on a drum sound, when it was all right here the whole time?’"
"Everything was set up exactly as Johnny Cash
and Elvis Presley
recorded. They had 'X' marks made with electrical tape on the floor where Elvis and his musicians stood and where the instruments were placed, because Sam Philips walked around the room and decided where everything sounded best."
Mellencamp wanted to record at the now-derelict Brunswick Records
Building in Dallas, where Robert Johnson cut his final sessions in 1937, but the current owner of the building denied him permission to record there.
As for the organic recording process of the album, Mellencamp says it's unique for this day and age. “The same mic I was singing into is the same mic that recorded the drums at the same time,” Mellencamp said on his website. “And everything was cut live with no overdubs or studio nothing! These are real songs being performed by real musicians—an unheard-of process in today’s world. Real music, for real people!”
Mellencamp has said in interviews to promote the album that the song "The West End" is not about a certain part of town but rather about America, which is the west end of the world.
label.
Mellencamp gave the first live performance of the song "Save Some Time to Dream" for a concert audience on July 10, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio
. He subsequently performed the song at several other concerts, including Farm Aid
2009 and a tribute to Myles Brand
at Conseco Fieldhouse
. He has also completed a painting entitled "Save Some Time to Dream."
In October 2009, it was announced that a song recorded during the sessions for the album, entitled "Someday the Rains Will Fall," would be featured in an episode of NCIS
and would appear on the album NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack - Vol. 2. "Someday the Rains Will Fall" is not included on No Better Than This, but it is found on Mellencamp's four-disc box set, On the Rural Route 7609
.
The album's first single, "No Better Than This," was released to radio stations on June 28, 2010.
parks with Willie Nelson
and Bob Dylan
and the recording sessions for this album were filmed by renowned photographer Kurt Markus
, who will release a documentary titled It's About You. "It's not about me but about Kurt being with me—which is a whole different slant than these kinds of movies usually have," Mellencamp said. Markus had previously directed the music video
for Mellencamp's 2001 single "Peaceful World." Mellencamp is showing "It's About You" during his 2010-2011 No Better Than This theater tour, which began October 29 in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana
. He is playing three different sets at these shows: a full-band acoustic set, a solo acoustic set and a full-band electric set.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and musician John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
, produced by T Bone Burnett, that was released on August 17, 2010. The album was recorded at several historic locations throughout the United States. The title track was the album's first single and was sent to multiple radio formats on June 28.
Mellencamp said that the album is "as American folk as I've ever been." He also told Rolling Stone in July 2009 that he's not concerned whether or not there's a large audience for such a raw, simple record. "I am done being a rock star," Mellencamp said. "I have no interest in that, in having the biggest concerts. I have only one interest: to have fun while we’re doing this and maybe have something that somebody might discover."
Rolling Stone placed No Better Than This No. 12 on its list of the best albums of 2010.
Recording and production
Mellencamp wrote over 30 songs for potential inclusion on the album but only 13 made the final cut. He debuted the first of those, "Save Some Time to Dream," on May 17, 2009 at a political fundraiser for President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. "It's about individual freedom and thought—and controlling our own lives," Mellencamp said of "Save Some Time to Dream," which he performed solo on acoustic guitar throughout much of his 2009 summer tour with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
.
During breaks on the Nelson/Dylan tour, Mellencamp recorded No Better Than This at historic locations, such as the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
as well as at the historic Sun Studios in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, where blues pioneer Robert Johnson recorded blues staples like “Sweet Home Chicago
Sweet Home Chicago
"Sweet Home Chicago" is a popular blues standard in the twelve bar form. It was first recorded and is credited to have been written by Robert Johnson...
” and “Cross Road Blues
Cross Road Blues
"Cross Road Blues" is a song by Delta Blues singer Robert Johnson; released on a 78 rpm record in 1936 by Vocalion Records, catalogue 3519. The original version remained out of print after its initial release until the appearance of The Complete Recordings in 1990...
.” Mellencamp recorded the album using a 1955 Ampex
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...
portable recording machine and only one microphone, requiring all the musicians to gather together around the mic. The album was recorded in mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
, the same manner as the classic folk and blues recordings of the 1930s and '40s.
Mellencamp wrote one song specifically for Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel
Gunter Hotel
The Gunter Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown San Antonio, Texas built in 1909 and designed by St. Louis architect John Mauran.Now the Sheraton Gunter, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-In popular culture:...
, which is the exact room where Johnson recorded in November 1936. He told the San Antonio Express-News, "It's called 'Right Behind Me' or 'Right Behind Us,' I haven't decided yet. I wrote it just for this room. I could have done this in my studio. But I want to do it this way, and if I can't do what I want at this point, I'm not going to do it. If it's not fun, I'm not going to do it. I'm through digging a ditch."
"John is a really great singer and I'm always happy working with him in any environment," T Bone Burnett told the Express-News. "The fact he chose these historic locations is a big plus. The stories that have come out of the sessions are extraordinary. The First African Baptist Church was started in 1775. It was an important stop on the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
and central to the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. Sun Studio
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
, from a completely different angle, was also important to the civil rights movement and, from another angle, so were Robert Johnson's recordings at the Gunter."
During Mellencamp's session at Sun Studios in late July 2009, he recorded several songs, including "Each Day of Sorrow," "No One Cares About Me," "The West End," and "Easter Eve," which Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
compared to "one of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's talking blues
Talking blues
Talking blues is a form of country music. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict....
." Regarding this session, Mellencamp told the magazine, "[T Bone] and I were laughing. We got five songs here last night. We asked ourselves, ‘What the fuck were we doing in the 70s and 80s, spending days and days on a drum sound, when it was all right here the whole time?’"
"Everything was set up exactly as Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
recorded. They had 'X' marks made with electrical tape on the floor where Elvis and his musicians stood and where the instruments were placed, because Sam Philips walked around the room and decided where everything sounded best."
Mellencamp wanted to record at the now-derelict Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
Building in Dallas, where Robert Johnson cut his final sessions in 1937, but the current owner of the building denied him permission to record there.
As for the organic recording process of the album, Mellencamp says it's unique for this day and age. “The same mic I was singing into is the same mic that recorded the drums at the same time,” Mellencamp said on his website. “And everything was cut live with no overdubs or studio nothing! These are real songs being performed by real musicians—an unheard-of process in today’s world. Real music, for real people!”
Mellencamp has said in interviews to promote the album that the song "The West End" is not about a certain part of town but rather about America, which is the west end of the world.
Promotion and release
The album was released on August 17, 2010 on the Rounder RecordsRounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
label.
Mellencamp gave the first live performance of the song "Save Some Time to Dream" for a concert audience on July 10, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. He subsequently performed the song at several other concerts, including Farm Aid
Farm Aid
Farm Aid started as a benefit concert on September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, held to raise money for family farmers in the United States...
2009 and a tribute to Myles Brand
Myles Brand
Myles Neil Brand, Ph. D. was the 14th president of the University of Oregon, president of the United States' National Collegiate Athletic Association , and 16th president of Indiana University.-Personal life:...
at Conseco Fieldhouse
Conseco Fieldhouse
Conseco Fieldhouse is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Opened in November 1999 to replace Market Square Arena, it is home to the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association...
. He has also completed a painting entitled "Save Some Time to Dream."
In October 2009, it was announced that a song recorded during the sessions for the album, entitled "Someday the Rains Will Fall," would be featured in an episode of NCIS
NCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
and would appear on the album NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack - Vol. 2. "Someday the Rains Will Fall" is not included on No Better Than This, but it is found on Mellencamp's four-disc box set, On the Rural Route 7609
On the Rural Route 7609
On the Rural Route 7609 is a box set by rock singer/songwriter John Mellencamp that was released on June 15, 2010. The first part of the title refers to the song "Rural Route" from his 2007 album Freedom's Road and the fact that Mellencamp's music and lifestyle have always been very rural in...
.
The album's first single, "No Better Than This," was released to radio stations on June 28, 2010.
Film
Mellencamp's 2009 summer tour of minor league baseballMinor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
parks with Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and the recording sessions for this album were filmed by renowned photographer Kurt Markus
Kurt Markus
Kurt Markus, self-taught American photographer, was born in rural Montana. Markus is a nationally and internationally published photographer of "unique vision." He has won major awards for his editorial, advertising, and personal work...
, who will release a documentary titled It's About You. "It's not about me but about Kurt being with me—which is a whole different slant than these kinds of movies usually have," Mellencamp said. Markus had previously directed the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for Mellencamp's 2001 single "Peaceful World." Mellencamp is showing "It's About You" during his 2010-2011 No Better Than This theater tour, which began October 29 in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
. He is playing three different sets at these shows: a full-band acoustic set, a solo acoustic set and a full-band electric set.
Track listing
All songs written by John Mellencamp.- "Save Some Time to Dream" – 4:30
- "The West End" – 3:58
- "Right Behind Me" – 4:00
- "A Graceful Fall" – 3:20
- "No Better Than This" – 3:12
- "Thinking About You" – 3:28
- "Coming Down the Road" – 4:45
- "No One Cares About Me" – 6:11
- "Love at First Sight" – 4:37
- "Don't Forget About Me" – 3:14
- "Each Day of Sorrow" – 2:36
- "Easter Eve" – 6:30
- "Clumsy Ol' World" – 3:29
Personnel
- John Mellencamp – vocals and acoustic guitar
- Andy York – acoustic and electric guitars
- Marc RibotMarc RibotMarc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
– electric guitar and banjo - T Bone Burnett – acoustic and electric guitars
- David RoeDavid RoeDavid Roe is a former English professional snooker player, and a four-time ranking tournament quarter-finalist.Roe began his professional career for the 1986/1987 season...
– bass - Jay Bellerose – drums and percussion
- Miriam Sturm – violin
External links
- Out There in the Distance Somewhere...Maybe
- Out There in the Distance Somewhere...Maybe (Part 2)
- Summer Tour and a New Album
- John Mellencamp Working on a New Album, Box Set
- NPR interview with Mellencamp
- Mellencamp Honors the Past at Historic Locale
- Rolling Stone Magazine: John Mellencamp Chases Ghosts
- "No Better than This" Update
- Article about the album from The Huffington Post
- Lyrics to "Someday the Rains Will Fall"
- Myles Brand Tribute Report