Sad Clowns & Hillbillies
$25.00
Out of Stock6+ weeks add to cart more by this artist
John Mellencamp
Sad Clowns & Hillbillies
[ Republic CD / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 9 June 2017
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
Heartland rocker John Mellencamp releases his 23rd full-length album, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies featuring Carlene Carter, the daughter of June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash, on Republic Records. Sad Clowns & Hillbillies returns Mellencamp to the musical eclecticism that is, itself, a reflection of his wide-ranging musings on life.
John Mellencamp is an authentic voice of American music and master storyteller with a commitment to creating traditional rock & roll, bittersweet songs of happiness and melancholia, and fervent political dissent. His passions and experiences resonate beautifully in this showcase of his music. Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is produced by John Mellencamp.
The first single from Mellencamp's 23rd album, the eloquent ode to small town trailer park life, Grandview, finds him keeping company with neo-traditionalist country star Martina McBride, but it's another vocal foil who earns her share of the spotlight here. Carlene Carter, stepdaughter to Johnny Cash and the former Mrs Nick Lowe, weighs in on five tracks, with both Sugar Hill Mountain and My Soul's Got Wings evoking the spirit of her family's long musical heritage.
However, Mellencamp rides solo on the album's standout song, Easy Target, a rustic swirl of piano, banjo and violin ruminating on gun violence and the Black Lives Matter movement. In a growl reminiscent of 70s Tom Waits, Mellencamp sings of "crosses burnin' such a long time ago/400 years and we still don't let it go".
It's easy to dismiss Mellencamp as Springsteen-lite thanks to the construction and scenarios of his blue collar paeans, but that would underestimate the individual charm of a thoughtful, rootsy troubadour. Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is another sturdy set of bittersweet portraits viewed through melancholic eyes.
4 / 5 Record Collector
Tracks:
1. Mobile Blue
2. Battle Of Angels
3. Grandview
4. Indigo Sunset
5. What Kind Of Man Am I
6. All Night Talk Radio
7. Sugar Hill Mountain
8. You Are Blind
9. Damascus Road
10. Early Bird Cafe
11. Sad Clowns
12. My Soul's Got Wings
13. Easy Target
