Here Is A
Double CD
Of
Early
JOHN
(COUGAR)
MELLENCAMP
Chestnut Street Incident
is the
debut
studio album
by the
American
singer-songwriter
and his first of
six albums
in which Mellencamp
was credited as
Johnny
(later John)
Cougar.
It was released by
MCA Records
on
October 1, 1976.
Signing on with
David Bowie's manager,
Tony Defries,
Mellencamp travelled to
New York City
to cut this first album.
DeFries would also go on
to produce the album as well.
With the thinking that a name like
"Mellencamp"
wouldn't generate
a lot of interest,
DeFries changed
Mellencamp's name to
"Johnny Cougar."
Mellencamp would later go on
to say that he had no idea
about the name change
until he saw the final product
and that nobody had
ever called him
"Johnny" before.
It would take Mellencamp
15 years to have his
full real name on
an album,
Whenever We Wanted,
in 1991.
Five of the tracks
are covers from
the '50s and '60s,
and six are
original songs
by Mellencamp.
The album sold
12,000 copies
when it was originally released,
which would lead to
MCA's refusal
to release
his next album,
The Kid Inside,
and drop
Mellencamp.
John Cougar
is the third studio album
by
(credited as John Cougar).
It was his first album
to be released by
his new record company
Riva Records.
Released in 1979,
following the success in
Australia of the single
"I Need a Lover"
from his previous album
A Biography
(which did not receive a U.S. release),
John Cougar
included the aforementioned track
for U.S. audiences,
as well as a
re-working of
A Biography's
"Taxi Dancer".
"I Need a Lover",
upon the release of this album,
became a Top 40 hit
in the U.S.,
peaking at No. 28
in December 1979,
after having been a No. 5
hit in Australia in 1978
when it was released
as a single from
A Biography.
"Miami"
was also a hit single
in Australia,
his second Top 40 hit
in that country.
"I Need a Lover"
was subsequently
covered by
Pat Benatar
on her album
In the Heat of the Night.
In the U.S.,
however,
"Small Paradise"
was released as a single
in place of
"Miami",
but it was not
very successful,
peaking at No. 87
on the Billboard Hot 100
in February 1980.
During concerts in
1979 and 1980,
guitarist
would trade lead vocals
with Mellencamp on
"Miami".
"Small Paradise"
that it's
"a deliberate, ballad pace
with Cougar's raw vocal
exuding tension and drama"
and praised
the hook and
vocal performance.
Record World
said of the single
"A Little Night Dancin'"
that its
"light Latin rhythm provides a
backdrop for Cougar to
project his vivid urban images."
On his inspiration for writing
"I Need A Lover",
his first Top 40 hit,
Mellencamp said:
"The song's about a friend of mine
who goes to Concordia College.
When that song was written,
he was pretty sad. He was . . .
livin’ in his bedroom.
I told him,
‘You got to get the
hell out of the house!’
He'd say, ‘Man,
if I only had a girl,
she’d make me forget my problems.
’ I just said, ‘Well . . . ’"
TRACKLIST
American Dream
Oh, Pretty Woman
Jailhouse Rock
Dream Killing Town
Supergirl
Chestnut Street
Good Girls
Do You Believe in Magic?
Twentieth Century Fox
Sad Lady
A Little Night Dancin
Small Paradise
Miami
Great Mid-west
Do You Think That's Fair
I Need a Lover
Welcome to Chinatown
Sugar Marie
Pray for Me
Taxi Dancer
Take Home Pay
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