A Salute to ’60s Rock

Recently, Dave who pens the great A Sound Day blog invited me and some other fellow bloggers back for sharing our thoughts as part of his monthly Turntable Talk feature. Following is my contribution, which first was published on A Sound Day on May 16. The post has been slightly edited to fit the format of this blog.

Once again, it’s Turntable Talk time. Now in its 26th round, fellow blogger Dave’s monthly series continues to go strong. This time, the topic was great songs about music, whether they express sentiments about music or focus on the life of a specific musician.

While there are many examples that fit the above definition, the first song that randomly came to my mind was Sweet Soul Music, a classic first released by Arthur Conley in 1967. The second one I thought of was my pick, R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. by John Mellencamp, one of my longtime favorite artists.

Written by Mellencamp, who at the time was still known as John Cougar Mellencamp, R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. first appeared on his eighth studio album Scarecrow, released in July 1985. This album also happens to mark the start of my Mellencamp musical journey, which I felt was another good reason to pick the song.

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A, subtitled “A Salute to ‘60s Rock,” also became the album’s third single and its biggest hit. In the U.S., it peaked at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Canadian audiences evidently liked it as well, propelling the song to no. 7 on RPM’s singles chart. Elsewhere, it reached no. 17 in New Zealand and no. 67 in the UK – not bad for a song with a ‘60s retro sound during a time the charts were dominated by new wave and hair metal.

Songfacts explains R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. tells the story of how rock and roll emerged in America, and how those (now infamous) musicians that were not afraid to take personal risks for the sake of their music became a strong influence on the next generation. It mentions numerous artists and bands, including Frankie Lymon, Bobby Fuller, Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson, Shangra La’s, Young Rascals, Martha Reeves and James Brown, who became influences for Mellencamp. Growing up, he listened to their music on AM radio.

Initially, Mellencamp hesitated to include the song on the Scarecrow album, feeling it was too light-hearted compared to other tracks about more serious topics, such as Rain on the Scarecrow about the financial struggles of midwest farmers and Face of the Nation, which addresses the decline of the so-called American Dream and corporate greed. “It was one of those absolute last-split-second decisions,” Mellencamp said in 1986. “I was only including it on the cassette and CD copies of Scarecrow as a bonus party track, but my manager loved the energy of it and I thought, ‘Yeah! What the hell!'”

Contrary to Mellencamp’s first manager Tony DeFries, who insisted the last name Mellencamp wasn’t marketable and came up with Johnny Cougar, a name Mellencamp hated, in the case of R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., the manager got it right. While I know by that time Mellencamp had long parted ways with DeFries and next worked with Rod Stewart’s manager Billy Gaff, I’m not sure Gaff was still in the picture at the time of the Scarecrow album.

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. was recorded at Belmont Mall in Belmont, Ind. Mellencamp produced the song under the alias “Little Bastard” together with Don Gehman. Other musicians on the recording included Mike Wanchic (guitars, backing vocals), Larry Crane (guitars, flutophone), John Cascella (keyboards), Sarah Flint (backing vocals), Toby Myers (bass) and Kenny Aronoff (drums).

Here’s a fun live version captured in 1985 at Farm Aid, an annual benefit concert to support American farmers, founded in 1985 by Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young.

Following are some additional tidbits from Songfacts:

With R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A…Mellencamp was paying homage, but he was also paying his dues. For example, the late Bobby Fuller’s mention on a Top 10 song, and a platinum album, was enough to revive flagging interest in the artist (as well as get Mellencamp a credit on a Bobby Fuller Four Best-Of album). Said Mellencamp: “When I played in Albuquerque, I think it was, his [Fuller’s] mom and some of his family came down to see me play. They acted like I gave them 60 million dollars just for mentioning his name. They gave me his belt that he died in.”

The instrumental break in this song is very clever. Mellencamp says the riff was lifted from Neil Diamond’s first hit, “Cherry, Cherry.” When we first hear it, it’s played on an ocarina, which is a small wind instrument of ancient Eastern origins, thought to be 12,000 years old, and often made in the shape of a bird and used to imitate its fluting song. This is a nod to the song “Wild Thing” by The Troggs, which featured an ocarina solo. In Mellencamp’s song, the riff is then played on guitar and later on keyboards, going through various musical forms popular in ’60s rock. In concert, Mellencamp would often bring a fan onstage to dance with him during this section.

In the months prior to recording Scarecrow, Mellencamp’s band worked their way through nearly a hundred cover songs. Mellencamp hoped that through these covers, they would absorb the stylistic essence of the era through osmosis. Mellencamp’s bassist Toby Myers admitted that, “I thought he was giving us busywork, but he wanted us to understand what made those songs tick so we could put some of that grit into his songs.” The band was surprised by the sheer quantity of different styles that characterized the era. “Take an old Rascals song for example,” Mellencamp said. “There’s everything from marching band beats to soul music to country sounds in one song.”

In keeping with ’60s hit single tradition, Mellencamp kept this song under three minutes long – it clocks in at 2:54.

Last but not least, here are the song’s lyrics:

They come from the cities
And they come from the smaller towns
Beat up cars with guitars and drummers
Goin crack boom bam

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Yeah, Yeah!
Rockin’ in the U.S.A.

Said goodbye to their families
Said goodbye to their friends
With pipe dreams in their heads
And very little money in their hands
Some are black and some are white
Ain’t to proud to sleep on the floor tonight
With the blind faith of Jesus you know that they just might, be
Rockin’ in the U.S.A.
Hey!

Voices from nowhere
And voices from the larger towns
Filled our head full of dreams
Turned the world upside down

There was Frankie Lyman-Bobby Fuller-Mitch Ryder
(They were Rockin’)
Jackie Wilson-Shangra-las-Young Rascals
(They were Rockin’)
Spotlight on Martha Reeves
Let’s don’t forget James Brown
Rockin’ in the U.S.A.
Rockin’ in the U.S.A.
Hey!

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Yeah, Yeah!
Rockin’ in the U.S.A.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube