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Memories for You Now: John Mellencamp's 'Scarecrow' Gets Remixed and Expanded in November

October 11, 2022 By Mike Duquette 9 Comments

John Mellencamp Scarecrow SDE

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

1984 was a big year for pop music, from the tail-end of Michael Jackson's Thriller era, the commercial breakthroughs of Madonna and Prince, and the blockbuster release of Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A., which spun off seven Top 40 hits over the following year and a half. Those rising commercial tides lifted many boats, and John Mellencamp benefited greatly a year later with his own blue-collar rock masterpiece, the cutting Scarecrow. On November 4, that album comes back into print as a deluxe edition, featuring rare and unreleased tracks as well as a new remix of the album.

Though Mellencamp (still enduring under the record company-imposed "John Cougar Mellencamp" moniker) was no stranger to the pop charts - preceding albums American Fool (1982) and Uh-Huh (1983) each notched a pair of Top 10 hits, including the chart-topper "Jack & Diane" - Scarecrow marked a turning point in the Indiana native's songcraft. After rehearsing 100 classic rock singles with his band at the artist's new "Belmont Mall" recording studio, Mellencamp recorded a dozen songs covering love, life and freedom as well as the plight of the working man. For his trouble, Scarecrow launched five Top 40 singles: the Top 10 hits "Small Town," "Lonely Ol' Night" and the on-the-nose "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to '60s Rock)," along with rock radio staple "Rumbleseat" and the haunting opener "Rain on the Scarecrow." The album sold more than 5 million copies, and along with Mellencamp's co-founding of the Farm Aid charity concert series, established him as a hitmaker with a hardscrabble heart.

For the new Scarecrow reissue - which Mellencamp suggested in an interview with Brian Koppelman earlier this year that he was only tangentially involved with - an as-yet unnamed remixer has recast the original album (plus an acoustic B-side version of "Small Town") in a new stereo mix. A bonus disc features 11 rare B-sides, rough mixes and demos. (A deluxe box set includes the new album mix on 180-gram half-speed mastered vinyl as well as stereo and Atmos mixes on Blu-ray, plus a poster, lithograph and 7" reissue of the "Small Town" single.) Anthony DeCurtis has contributed liner notes for both editions.

 

You can hear the three versions of "Small Town" - new mixes of the album and B-side versions, plus a lo-fi "writing demo" - above. Scarecrow will be available November 4 and can be pre-ordered below.

Scarecrow: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMe, 2022)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/Blu-ray/LP/7": Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Remixed album

  1. Rain on the Scarecrow
  2. Grandma's Theme
  3. Small Town
  4. Minutes to Memories
  5. Lonely Ol' Night
  6. The Face of the Nation
  7.  Justice and Independence '85
  8. Between a Laugh and a Tear
  9. Rumbleseat
  10. You've Got to Stand for Somethin'
  11. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60's Rock)
  12. The Kind of Fella I Am
  13. Small Town (Acoustic Version)

Tracks 1-11 released as Riva/Mercury 824 865-1 M-1, 1985
Track 12 released on CD edition of album - Riva 824 865-2 - and "Lonely Ol' Night" single - Riva RS 217, 1985
Track 13 released on "Small Town" single - Riva RS 218, 1985

Disc 2: Bonus tracks (previously unreleased except where noted)

  1. Under the Boardwalk (2022 Mix)
  2. Lonely Ol' Night (Rough Mix)
  3. Between a Laugh and a Tear (Writer's Demo)
  4. Carolina Shag
  5. Cold Sweat (2022 Mix)
  6. Rumbleseat (Writer's Demo)
  7. Smart Guys
  8. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60's Rock) (Rough Mix)
  9. Minutes to Memories (Rough Mix)
  10. Shama Lama Ding Dong
  11. Small Town (Writer's Demo)

Original mix of Track 1 from "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." single - Riva RS 219, 1985
Original mix of Track 5 from "Rumbleseat" single - Riva RS 221, 1985
Track 10 from "Cherry Bomb" single - Mercury 888 934-7, 1987

Blu-ray includes CD 1 in stereo and Atmos mixes

LP includes CD 1, Tracks 1-12. 7" replicates "Small Town" single - Riva RS 218, 1985

Categories: News Formats: Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, Rock Tags: John Mellencamp

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Mike Duquette

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, with bylines on catalog at Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Prince and credits on titles including the Grammy-winning 'Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of music.

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Comments

  1. zubb says

    October 11, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    After all these years you kind of forget just how good this album is. Looking forward to the remixed and expanded 2 CD set!

    Reply
  2. Peter Rustin says

    October 11, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    How will atmos sound on a 5.1 system?

    Reply
  3. Todd says

    October 11, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    The 2020 mix seems to loose some of the organic wonderfulness of the original. It's a clean mix but the Indiana dirt is what made it so good.

    Reply
    • Ed says

      October 14, 2022 at 4:06 pm

      I'm with ya, Todd. The remix sample of Small Town on YouTube (2022) Just sounds hollow and too clean. John sounds like he's in the corner of an empty room. Sadly, I think I will be passing on this deluxe edition. I had Scarecrow on cassette growing up, the original CD release and now the 2005 remaster. Not thinking I need this... just sounds too different. One of my favorite albums of all time.

      Reply
  4. Earl Cambron says

    October 11, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    Automatic purchase for me!

    Reply
  5. Brian Stanley says

    October 11, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    Seems like a weak bonus disc. I’d have been much more excited for a 1985 live show instead.

    Reply
    • Craig says

      October 12, 2022 at 12:38 pm

      Agreed 100%. Would have def purchased if they had included a live show/dvd from that era.

      Reply
  6. Tod H. says

    October 11, 2022 at 8:33 pm

    I love this album and would definitely be interested in the Super Deluxe Edition (especially with the Blu Ray featuring the Atmos mix), but at $130 or so plus tax and shipping it seems to be grossly overpriced. Hopefully there will be a great deal at some point that will bring the price down under $100.

    Reply
  7. Larry Davis says

    October 12, 2022 at 1:38 am

    Yeah I'd buy this but with a price drop...I do wonder if his other albums will get a similar deluxe treatment??

    Reply

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