| 1. Paper in Fire |
| 2. Down and Out in Paradise |
| 3. Check It Out |
| 4. Real Life |
| 5. Cherry Bomb |
| 6. We Are the People |
| 7. Empty Hands |
| 8. Hard Times for an Honest Man |
| 9. Hotdogs and Hamburgers |
| 10. Rooty Toot Toot |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
The Lonesome Jubilee continued Scarecrow's stylistic and thematic examination of the rustic and rural. While it's not quite the knockout its predecessor was, the album does find Mellencamp and band in an undeniable groove. It's also hard to dispute the details of vignettes such as "Cherry Bomb" or treatises like "Paper in Fire." --Rickey Wright
I wore out my first copy, so I bought another one. IF you think you don't like Mellencamp, but have never heard this one, give it a real listen. This one and Scarecrow might change your mind.
Really enjoying it
By far, it's his best and most mature work in his career.
All the songs have a catchy hook and cool story behind them. He cleverly uses a lot of different instruments that are not normally use on rock records.
The whole album stays on that rural midwestern theme, but don't let that fool you, all of the songs on this album are anywhere from 3-5 star in quality. Recordings highlights, Paper and fire -- Cherry Bomb etc. great stuff
As mentioned above, "The Lonesome Jubilee" does focus on a guitar-laden sound. This album does make more use of the fiddle than "Scarecrow" does. Also mentioned, the socio-political commentary that started on "Scarecrow" also continues on "The Lonesome Jubilee". For the most part, 8 of the 10 tracks could be classified as socio-political commentary. I do think that this particular collection has a bit of a "darker" view of things than "Scarecrow" did. I feel the lyrics on "The Lonesome Jubilee" are on-par with "Scarecrow". I do think the music is where this album falls short. It's not that the music is bad, but I felt some of the melodies were missing something special - despite the creative use of the fiddle. Mellencamp handles more of the songwriting - writing 9 of the 10 songs solo. He only co-writes one song with his long-time collaborator - George Green.
Overall, while not a central theme to the album - you can hear the concept of "loneliness" on several songs - thus mapping back to the album's title - "Lonesome Jubilee". To me the deeper concept here is the plight of those people who are struggling just to make ends meet. Here is a track by track breakdown of this album:
"Paper in Fire": The opening song on the album. This is one song where I do like the melody - especially the fiddle. The song's title "Paper in Fire" is used as an analogy to describe "dreams going up in smoke". We also hear some great background vocals - including some co-lead vocals by Crystal Taliefero.
"Down and Out in Paradise": This is a great song lyrically as Mellencamp constructs a "letter" to the President from someone who has come upon hard times. While I'd consider this song lyrically innovative, I didn't like the melody that he put to these lyrics. More solid fiddle work.
"Check It Out": This is another social commentary. "Check It Out" will be sung about the everyday things that affect the average song. This song is solid both musically and lyrically - the melody toward the end of the song is terrific. Mellencamp uses more fiddle as well as background vocalists, but the guitar work is awesome here.
"The Real Life": This might be the strongest song of the collection and the most underrated. Basically Mellencamp sings about a woman named Suzanne and a man named Jackson - both whom have seen to have hit that "mid-life" crisis for different reasons. This song also explores the "loneliness" theme.
"Cherry Bomb": This song was nice at first, but eventually I got a bit bored of it. It's solid lyrically as Mellencamp looks reminisces about "the old days". There is more fiddle on this song. Another positive is that this song is sung in the form of a duet and it seems to work.
"We are the People": This also can be a candidate for the strongest and most underrated song. This song discusses racism, the homeless, and loneliness. It also delivers a strong message toward "leadership" in terms of how this issue needs to be addressed. There is some great music in this song.
"Empty Hands": Mellencamp sings this song from the point of view of a struggling working class man. The song discusses the hard times this man and his wife Maryanne are having. A key line in this song is "Without hope; without love; you've got nothing but pain".
"Hard Times for an Honest Man": This song sums up much of what this album demonstrates - fiddle work, background vocals, and once again lyrics that discuss the struggles of the everyday man.
"Hotdogs and Hamburgers": Kind of a cheesy song title, but Mellencamp uses this as an analogy for making choices (i.e. one often has to choose between hamburgers and hotdogs just as one makes choices in life). This song has a lot of acoustic guitar. It also contains some fiddle and background vocals.
"Rooty Toot Toot": This song was meant to lighten things up to close up some of the darker more serious themes on the album. Mellencamp discusses a fun-day he has with his gal - "Teddi Jo". Not the strongest song, but it does have some good percussion.
The liner notes contain all of the lyrics, songwriting, and musician credits. I would have like to have seen the musician credits aligned with the songs. Overall, while there are areas where "The Lonesome Jubilee" doesn't quite hit the bar that "Scarecrow" set, this is by no-means a poor follow-up. Despite some of the weaker points, I would consider this a solid follow-up album. If you liked "Scarecrow", this album is also worth checking out".
Recently I inserted LONESOME JUBILEE in the stereo for the first time in probably ten or more years. While I had liked it back in the late 1980s, the outstanding musicianship and especially the Reagan era-inspired lyrics, now relevant again in the dark days of GW Bush, have me listening to the CD as frequently as possible. Back then, I considered SCARECROW to be the best John Mellencamp release I had heard, but THE LONESOME JUBILEE may be even better. Check other reviews here, and you'll see other music fans naming those two as Mellencamp's jewels.
I even gave HUMAN WHEELS another spin and liked it better!
John Mellencamp, I am going to catch up on your music.
Rock and roll fans, I recommend LONESOME JUBILEE.
While the entire album is not up to Scarecrow's standard, these three songs blow away anything on Scarecrow (well, maybe not Minutes to Memories). It makes me sick that there is nothing like this on radio anymore. I remember hearing these songs on the top 40 in high school. I can't imagine a young person from today looking back in 20 years and fondly remembering the garbage they are listening to now.
I do, and this is the music I remember.
Down & out is James Brown with a Squeeze Box,Rooty Toot Toot is
Great ol' Rock'n'Roll,We are the people Rocks - Borrowing From
Springsteen, But Cherry Bomb is one of my all-Time Favourite
Tunes - all artists. A Feel-Good sing-a-Long anthem.
Superb.
All the songs have a catchy hook and cool story behind them. He cleverly uses a lot of different instruments that are not normally use on rock records.
The whole album stays on that rural midwestern theme, but don't let that fool you, all of the songs on this album are anywhere from 3-5 star in quality. Recordings highlights, Paper and fire -- Cherry Bomb etc. great stuff
As mentioned above, "The Lonesome Jubilee" does focus on a guitar-laden sound. This album does make more use of the fiddle than "Scarecrow" does. Also mentioned, the socio-political commentary that started on "Scarecrow" also continues on "The Lonesome Jubilee". For the most part, 8 of the 10 tracks could be classified as socio-political commentary. I do think that this particular collection has a bit of a "darker" view of things than "Scarecrow" did. I feel the lyrics on "The Lonesome Jubilee" are on-par with "Scarecrow". I do think the music is where this album falls short. It's not that the music is bad, but I felt some of the melodies were missing something special - despite the creative use of the fiddle. Mellencamp handles more of the songwriting - writing 9 of the 10 songs solo. He only co-writes one song with his long-time collaborator - George Green.
Overall, while not a central theme to the album - you can hear the concept of "loneliness" on several songs - thus mapping back to the album's title - "Lonesome Jubilee". To me the deeper concept here is the plight of those people who are struggling just to make ends meet. Here is a track by track breakdown of this album:
"Paper in Fire": The opening song on the album. This is one song where I do like the melody - especially the fiddle. The song's title "Paper in Fire" is used as an analogy to describe "dreams going up in smoke". We also hear some great background vocals - including some co-lead vocals by Crystal Taliefero.
"Down and Out in Paradise": This is a great song lyrically as Mellencamp constructs a "letter" to the President from someone who has come upon hard times. While I'd consider this song lyrically innovative, I didn't like the melody that he put to these lyrics. More solid fiddle work.
"Check It Out": This is another social commentary. "Check It Out" will be sung about the everyday things that affect the average song. This song is solid both musically and lyrically - the melody toward the end of the song is terrific. Mellencamp uses more fiddle as well as background vocalists, but the guitar work is awesome here.
"The Real Life": This might be the strongest song of the collection and the most underrated. Basically Mellencamp sings about a woman named Suzanne and a man named Jackson - both whom have seen to have hit that "mid-life" crisis for different reasons. This song also explores the "loneliness" theme.
"Cherry Bomb": This song was nice at first, but eventually I got a bit bored of it. It's solid lyrically as Mellencamp looks reminisces about "the old days". There is more fiddle on this song. Another positive is that this song is sung in the form of a duet and it seems to work.
"We are the People": This also can be a candidate for the strongest and most underrated song. This song discusses racism, the homeless, and loneliness. It also delivers a strong message toward "leadership" in terms of how this issue needs to be addressed. There is some great music in this song.
"Empty Hands": Mellencamp sings this song from the point of view of a struggling working class man. The song discusses the hard times this man and his wife Maryanne are having. A key line in this song is "Without hope; without love; you've got nothing but pain".
"Hard Times for an Honest Man": This song sums up much of what this album demonstrates - fiddle work, background vocals, and once again lyrics that discuss the struggles of the everyday man.
"Hotdogs and Hamburgers": Kind of a cheesy song title, but Mellencamp uses this as an analogy for making choices (i.e. one often has to choose between hamburgers and hotdogs just as one makes choices in life). This song has a lot of acoustic guitar. It also contains some fiddle and background vocals.
"Rooty Toot Toot": This song was meant to lighten things up to close up some of the darker more serious themes on the album. Mellencamp discusses a fun-day he has with his gal - "Teddi Jo". Not the strongest song, but it does have some good percussion.
The liner notes contain all of the lyrics, songwriting, and musician credits. I would have like to have seen the musician credits aligned with the songs. Overall, while there are areas where "The Lonesome Jubilee" doesn't quite hit the bar that "Scarecrow" set, this is by no-means a poor follow-up. Despite some of the weaker points, I would consider this a solid follow-up album. If you liked "Scarecrow", this album is also worth checking out".
Recently I inserted LONESOME JUBILEE in the stereo for the first time in probably ten or more years. While I had liked it back in the late 1980s, the outstanding musicianship and especially the Reagan era-inspired lyrics, now relevant again in the dark days of GW Bush, have me listening to the CD as frequently as possible. Back then, I considered SCARECROW to be the best John Mellencamp release I had heard, but THE LONESOME JUBILEE may be even better. Check other reviews here, and you'll see other music fans naming those two as Mellencamp's jewels.
I even gave HUMAN WHEELS another spin and liked it better!
John Mellencamp, I am going to catch up on your music.
Rock and roll fans, I recommend LONESOME JUBILEE.
While the entire album is not up to Scarecrow's standard, these three songs blow away anything on Scarecrow (well, maybe not Minutes to Memories). It makes me sick that there is nothing like this on radio anymore. I remember hearing these songs on the top 40 in high school. I can't imagine a young person from today looking back in 20 years and fondly remembering the garbage they are listening to now.
I do, and this is the music I remember.
Down & out is James Brown with a Squeeze Box,Rooty Toot Toot is
Great ol' Rock'n'Roll,We are the people Rocks - Borrowing From
Springsteen, But Cherry Bomb is one of my all-Time Favourite
Tunes - all artists. A Feel-Good sing-a-Long anthem.
Superb.
The music of Samuel Barber (1910-1981), whether his symphonies, concertos,operas, chamber music or songs, is notable above all for a pronounced and refined lyricism. Barbr wrote songs thruout his career, and his published vocal output, though relatively small, is perhaps the most distinguished of an American composer. He preferred lyrical , romantic poetry, and his word-setting was perfect.
Stephen Foster (1826-1864) published his first song when he was 18 and by dint of hundreds more became, in the words of Aaron Copland,"our own national hero (who) had a naturalness and sweetness of sentiment that transformed his melodies into the equivalent of folk song." He was truly a songwriter rather than a composer, for he wrote no concert works or operas.
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) assimilated Debussian impressionism and,somewhat later, Oriental exoticism. During his brief career, he composed 64 songs, including four song-cycles.
George Gershwim(1898-1937) began his career in Tin Pan Alley and eventually, with works such as 'Rhapsody in blue' for piano and orchestra and some other works, brought Jazz into the concert hall.
Paul Bowles (1910- ) has long enjoyed celebrity status as an author,a writer of novels, short stories and essays. After a brief study with Aaron Copland, he made a considerable reputation as a composer of incidenal music. Virgil Thompson once described Bowles's songs as "enchanting for their sweetness of mood, their lightness of texture, for in general their way of being wholly alive and right".
Cole Porter (1891-1964) had the rare ability to invent superior catchpenny tunes; deceptively simple, often elegant melodies that stay in the ear. Consequently,he became one of the most successful American songwriter of his era.
As to Samuel Ramey's performance of these songs, one can only say 'business as usual', and that means great sound, great diction, great interpretation and always with that extra something that only a few bassos have!!!!The variety of works is varied and interesting and, if you please, is NOT a cross-over album. There are too many songs that denote the classical element. He was wise enough to vary his selection to avoid that particular situation. I really like this disc!!!!!
The Lonesome Jubilee continued Scarecrow's stylistic and thematic examination of the rustic and rural. While it's not quite the knockout its predecessor was, the album does find Mellencamp and band in an undeniable groove. It's also hard to dispute the details of vignettes such as "Cherry Bomb" or treatises like "Paper in Fire." --Rickey Wright
The Lonesome Jubilee,John Cougar Mellencamp,Polygram Records,Album Rock,Folk-Rock,Hard Rock,Heartland Rock,Pop,Pop/Rock,Rock,Rock & Roll,Roots Rock
Average customer rating: 
|
The Lonesome Jubilee
John Mellencamp Manufacturer: Island / Mercury ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Folk Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Singer-Songwriters
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Roots Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Music
Hard Rock
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Music
Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Styles
| Music
CDs $7 - $10
| Pop General
| Pop
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
CDs $7 - $10
| Rock General
| Rock
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
All Bargain Titles
| Rock General
| Rock
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
All Bargain Titles
| Singer-Songwriters
| Rock
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
CDs $7 - $10
| Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
All Bargain Titles
| Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
CDs $7 - $10
| Hard Rock
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
All Bargain Titles
| Hard Rock
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
$7.99 and Under
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
Pop
| Styles
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
Classic Rock
| Styles
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
Rock
| Styles
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
All Blowout Music
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
$7.99 and Under
| Prices
| Blowout Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Classic Rock
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Hard Rock & Metal
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Pop
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Rock
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 All Music
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B0009IW9DE Release Date: 2005-05-24 |
Tracks:
- Paper In Fire
- Down And Out In Paradise
- Check It Out
- The Real Life
- Cherry Bomb
- We Are The People
- Empty Hands
- Hard Times For An Honest Man
- Hotdogs And Hamburgers
- Rooty Toot Toot
- Blues From The Front Porch
Customer Reviews:
Blue Collar Gold Americana.......2007-07-03
I wore out my first copy, so I bought another one. IF you think you don't like Mellencamp, but have never heard this one, give it a real listen. This one and Scarecrow might change your mind.
Driving.......2007-05-29
Really enjoying it
Back to basics.......2007-05-21
By far, it's his best and most mature work in his career.
Good Stuff.......2007-02-08
His Finest Hour.......2006-07-22
Average customer rating:
|
The Lonesome Jubilee
John Cougar Mellencamp Manufacturer: Island / Mercury ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Folk Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Singer-Songwriters
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Roots Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Music
Hard Rock
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Music
Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000001FMJ Release Date: 1990-10-25 |
Tracks:
- Paper In Fire
- Down & Out In Paradise
- Check It Out
- The Real Life
- Cherry Bomb
- We Are The People
- Empty Hands
- Hard Times For An Honest Man
- Hot Dogs & Hamburgers
- Rooty Toot Toot
Amazon.com essential recording
The Lonesome Jubilee continued Scarecrow's stylistic and thematic examination of the rustic and rural. While it's not quite the knockout its predecessor was, the album does find Mellencamp and band in an undeniable groove. It's also hard to dispute the details of vignettes such as "Cherry Bomb" or treatises like "Paper in Fire." --Rickey WrightCustomer Reviews:
The Lonesome Jubilee.......2007-05-13
All the songs have a catchy hook and cool story behind them. He cleverly uses a lot of different instruments that are not normally use on rock records.
The whole album stays on that rural midwestern theme, but don't let that fool you, all of the songs on this album are anywhere from 3-5 star in quality. Recordings highlights, Paper and fire -- Cherry Bomb etc. great stuff
Doesn't reach the bar set by "Scarecrow", but pretty close.......2005-10-08
As mentioned above, "The Lonesome Jubilee" does focus on a guitar-laden sound. This album does make more use of the fiddle than "Scarecrow" does. Also mentioned, the socio-political commentary that started on "Scarecrow" also continues on "The Lonesome Jubilee". For the most part, 8 of the 10 tracks could be classified as socio-political commentary. I do think that this particular collection has a bit of a "darker" view of things than "Scarecrow" did. I feel the lyrics on "The Lonesome Jubilee" are on-par with "Scarecrow". I do think the music is where this album falls short. It's not that the music is bad, but I felt some of the melodies were missing something special - despite the creative use of the fiddle. Mellencamp handles more of the songwriting - writing 9 of the 10 songs solo. He only co-writes one song with his long-time collaborator - George Green.
Overall, while not a central theme to the album - you can hear the concept of "loneliness" on several songs - thus mapping back to the album's title - "Lonesome Jubilee". To me the deeper concept here is the plight of those people who are struggling just to make ends meet. Here is a track by track breakdown of this album:
"Paper in Fire": The opening song on the album. This is one song where I do like the melody - especially the fiddle. The song's title "Paper in Fire" is used as an analogy to describe "dreams going up in smoke". We also hear some great background vocals - including some co-lead vocals by Crystal Taliefero.
"Down and Out in Paradise": This is a great song lyrically as Mellencamp constructs a "letter" to the President from someone who has come upon hard times. While I'd consider this song lyrically innovative, I didn't like the melody that he put to these lyrics. More solid fiddle work.
"Check It Out": This is another social commentary. "Check It Out" will be sung about the everyday things that affect the average song. This song is solid both musically and lyrically - the melody toward the end of the song is terrific. Mellencamp uses more fiddle as well as background vocalists, but the guitar work is awesome here.
"The Real Life": This might be the strongest song of the collection and the most underrated. Basically Mellencamp sings about a woman named Suzanne and a man named Jackson - both whom have seen to have hit that "mid-life" crisis for different reasons. This song also explores the "loneliness" theme.
"Cherry Bomb": This song was nice at first, but eventually I got a bit bored of it. It's solid lyrically as Mellencamp looks reminisces about "the old days". There is more fiddle on this song. Another positive is that this song is sung in the form of a duet and it seems to work.
"We are the People": This also can be a candidate for the strongest and most underrated song. This song discusses racism, the homeless, and loneliness. It also delivers a strong message toward "leadership" in terms of how this issue needs to be addressed. There is some great music in this song.
"Empty Hands": Mellencamp sings this song from the point of view of a struggling working class man. The song discusses the hard times this man and his wife Maryanne are having. A key line in this song is "Without hope; without love; you've got nothing but pain".
"Hard Times for an Honest Man": This song sums up much of what this album demonstrates - fiddle work, background vocals, and once again lyrics that discuss the struggles of the everyday man.
"Hotdogs and Hamburgers": Kind of a cheesy song title, but Mellencamp uses this as an analogy for making choices (i.e. one often has to choose between hamburgers and hotdogs just as one makes choices in life). This song has a lot of acoustic guitar. It also contains some fiddle and background vocals.
"Rooty Toot Toot": This song was meant to lighten things up to close up some of the darker more serious themes on the album. Mellencamp discusses a fun-day he has with his gal - "Teddi Jo". Not the strongest song, but it does have some good percussion.
The liner notes contain all of the lyrics, songwriting, and musician credits. I would have like to have seen the musician credits aligned with the songs. Overall, while there are areas where "The Lonesome Jubilee" doesn't quite hit the bar that "Scarecrow" set, this is by no-means a poor follow-up. Despite some of the weaker points, I would consider this a solid follow-up album. If you liked "Scarecrow", this album is also worth checking out".
I will have to catch up on my Mellancamp collection.......2005-06-28
Recently I inserted LONESOME JUBILEE in the stereo for the first time in probably ten or more years. While I had liked it back in the late 1980s, the outstanding musicianship and especially the Reagan era-inspired lyrics, now relevant again in the dark days of GW Bush, have me listening to the CD as frequently as possible. Back then, I considered SCARECROW to be the best John Mellencamp release I had heard, but THE LONESOME JUBILEE may be even better. Check other reviews here, and you'll see other music fans naming those two as Mellencamp's jewels.
I even gave HUMAN WHEELS another spin and liked it better!
John Mellencamp, I am going to catch up on your music.
Rock and roll fans, I recommend LONESOME JUBILEE.
Some of the Best Songwriting of the 80'.......2005-02-08
While the entire album is not up to Scarecrow's standard, these three songs blow away anything on Scarecrow (well, maybe not Minutes to Memories). It makes me sick that there is nothing like this on radio anymore. I remember hearing these songs on the top 40 in high school. I can't imagine a young person from today looking back in 20 years and fondly remembering the garbage they are listening to now.
I do, and this is the music I remember.
Still sounds Great!.......2004-12-06
Down & out is James Brown with a Squeeze Box,Rooty Toot Toot is
Great ol' Rock'n'Roll,We are the people Rocks - Borrowing From
Springsteen, But Cherry Bomb is one of my all-Time Favourite
Tunes - all artists. A Feel-Good sing-a-Long anthem.
Superb.
Average customer rating:
|
Lonesome Jubilee
John Cougar Mellencamp Manufacturer: Mobile Fidelity ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Folk Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Singer-Songwriters
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Roots Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Music
Hard Rock
| Hard Rock & Metal
| Styles
| Music
Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000000IU4 Release Date: 1995-06-23 |
Tracks:
- Paper In Fire
- Down And Out In Paradise
- Check It Out
- The Real Life
- Cherry Bomb
- We Are The People
- Empty Hands
- Hard Times For An Honest Man
- Hotdogs And Hamburgers
- Rooty Toot Toot
Amazon.com essential recording
The Lonesome Jubilee continued Scarecrow's stylistic and thematic examination of the rustic and rural. While it's not quite the knockout its predecessor was, the album does find Mellencamp and band in an undeniable groove. It's also hard to dispute the details of vignettes such as "Cherry Bomb" or treatises like "Paper in Fire." --Rickey WrightCustomer Reviews:
The Lonesome Jubilee.......2007-05-13
All the songs have a catchy hook and cool story behind them. He cleverly uses a lot of different instruments that are not normally use on rock records.
The whole album stays on that rural midwestern theme, but don't let that fool you, all of the songs on this album are anywhere from 3-5 star in quality. Recordings highlights, Paper and fire -- Cherry Bomb etc. great stuff
Doesn't reach the bar set by "Scarecrow", but pretty close.......2005-10-08
As mentioned above, "The Lonesome Jubilee" does focus on a guitar-laden sound. This album does make more use of the fiddle than "Scarecrow" does. Also mentioned, the socio-political commentary that started on "Scarecrow" also continues on "The Lonesome Jubilee". For the most part, 8 of the 10 tracks could be classified as socio-political commentary. I do think that this particular collection has a bit of a "darker" view of things than "Scarecrow" did. I feel the lyrics on "The Lonesome Jubilee" are on-par with "Scarecrow". I do think the music is where this album falls short. It's not that the music is bad, but I felt some of the melodies were missing something special - despite the creative use of the fiddle. Mellencamp handles more of the songwriting - writing 9 of the 10 songs solo. He only co-writes one song with his long-time collaborator - George Green.
Overall, while not a central theme to the album - you can hear the concept of "loneliness" on several songs - thus mapping back to the album's title - "Lonesome Jubilee". To me the deeper concept here is the plight of those people who are struggling just to make ends meet. Here is a track by track breakdown of this album:
"Paper in Fire": The opening song on the album. This is one song where I do like the melody - especially the fiddle. The song's title "Paper in Fire" is used as an analogy to describe "dreams going up in smoke". We also hear some great background vocals - including some co-lead vocals by Crystal Taliefero.
"Down and Out in Paradise": This is a great song lyrically as Mellencamp constructs a "letter" to the President from someone who has come upon hard times. While I'd consider this song lyrically innovative, I didn't like the melody that he put to these lyrics. More solid fiddle work.
"Check It Out": This is another social commentary. "Check It Out" will be sung about the everyday things that affect the average song. This song is solid both musically and lyrically - the melody toward the end of the song is terrific. Mellencamp uses more fiddle as well as background vocalists, but the guitar work is awesome here.
"The Real Life": This might be the strongest song of the collection and the most underrated. Basically Mellencamp sings about a woman named Suzanne and a man named Jackson - both whom have seen to have hit that "mid-life" crisis for different reasons. This song also explores the "loneliness" theme.
"Cherry Bomb": This song was nice at first, but eventually I got a bit bored of it. It's solid lyrically as Mellencamp looks reminisces about "the old days". There is more fiddle on this song. Another positive is that this song is sung in the form of a duet and it seems to work.
"We are the People": This also can be a candidate for the strongest and most underrated song. This song discusses racism, the homeless, and loneliness. It also delivers a strong message toward "leadership" in terms of how this issue needs to be addressed. There is some great music in this song.
"Empty Hands": Mellencamp sings this song from the point of view of a struggling working class man. The song discusses the hard times this man and his wife Maryanne are having. A key line in this song is "Without hope; without love; you've got nothing but pain".
"Hard Times for an Honest Man": This song sums up much of what this album demonstrates - fiddle work, background vocals, and once again lyrics that discuss the struggles of the everyday man.
"Hotdogs and Hamburgers": Kind of a cheesy song title, but Mellencamp uses this as an analogy for making choices (i.e. one often has to choose between hamburgers and hotdogs just as one makes choices in life). This song has a lot of acoustic guitar. It also contains some fiddle and background vocals.
"Rooty Toot Toot": This song was meant to lighten things up to close up some of the darker more serious themes on the album. Mellencamp discusses a fun-day he has with his gal - "Teddi Jo". Not the strongest song, but it does have some good percussion.
The liner notes contain all of the lyrics, songwriting, and musician credits. I would have like to have seen the musician credits aligned with the songs. Overall, while there are areas where "The Lonesome Jubilee" doesn't quite hit the bar that "Scarecrow" set, this is by no-means a poor follow-up. Despite some of the weaker points, I would consider this a solid follow-up album. If you liked "Scarecrow", this album is also worth checking out".
I will have to catch up on my Mellancamp collection.......2005-06-28
Recently I inserted LONESOME JUBILEE in the stereo for the first time in probably ten or more years. While I had liked it back in the late 1980s, the outstanding musicianship and especially the Reagan era-inspired lyrics, now relevant again in the dark days of GW Bush, have me listening to the CD as frequently as possible. Back then, I considered SCARECROW to be the best John Mellencamp release I had heard, but THE LONESOME JUBILEE may be even better. Check other reviews here, and you'll see other music fans naming those two as Mellencamp's jewels.
I even gave HUMAN WHEELS another spin and liked it better!
John Mellencamp, I am going to catch up on your music.
Rock and roll fans, I recommend LONESOME JUBILEE.
Some of the Best Songwriting of the 80'.......2005-02-08
While the entire album is not up to Scarecrow's standard, these three songs blow away anything on Scarecrow (well, maybe not Minutes to Memories). It makes me sick that there is nothing like this on radio anymore. I remember hearing these songs on the top 40 in high school. I can't imagine a young person from today looking back in 20 years and fondly remembering the garbage they are listening to now.
I do, and this is the music I remember.
Still sounds Great!.......2004-12-06
Down & out is James Brown with a Squeeze Box,Rooty Toot Toot is
Great ol' Rock'n'Roll,We are the people Rocks - Borrowing From
Springsteen, But Cherry Bomb is one of my all-Time Favourite
Tunes - all artists. A Feel-Good sing-a-Long anthem.
Superb.
Average customer rating: 
|
Samuel Ramey: Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye: Songs of Barber,
Samuel Barber , Stephen Foster , Charles T. Griffes , George Gershwin , Edwin Gerschefski , Paul Bowles , Cole Porter , Samuel Ramey , and Warren Jones Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Barber
| Barber, Samuel
| ( B )
| Featured Composers, A-Z
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
Foster, Stephen
| ( F )
| Featured Composers, A-Z
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
All Works by Gershwin
| Gershwin, George
| ( G )
| Featured Composers, A-Z
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
All Works by Griffes
| Griffes, Charles T.
| ( G )
| Featured Composers, A-Z
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
All Works by Porter
| Porter, Cole
| ( P )
| Featured Composers, A-Z
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
Chamber Music
| Forms & Genres
| Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
| Historical Periods
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
General Modern
| Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
| Historical Periods
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
Vocal & Song
| Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
| Historical Periods
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
Chamber Music
| Forms & Genres
| Romantic (c.1820-1910)
| Historical Periods
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
Vocal & Song
| Romantic (c.1820-1910)
| Historical Periods
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
Cello
| Strings
| Instruments
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
General
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
General
| Chamber Music
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
General
| Opera & Vocal
| Styles
| Music
Modern & 20th Century
| Historical Periods
| Opera & Vocal
| Styles
| Music
General
| Songs & Lieder
| Vocal Non-Opera
| Opera & Vocal
| Styles
| Music
Movie Soundtracks
| Soundtracks
| Styles
| Music
General
| Soundtracks
| Styles
| Music
General
| Vocal Pop
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Classical Music
| The Sony BMG Masterworks Store
| Amazon.com Label Stores
| Stores
| Music
Classical Instrumental Music
| The Sony BMG Masterworks Store
| Amazon.com Label Stores
| Stores
| Music
Opera & Vocal
| The Sony BMG Masterworks Store
| Amazon.com Label Stores
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000002C08 Release Date: 1996-10-01 |
Tracks:
- No. 6 from Hermit Songs, Op. 29: Sea-Snatch
- I Hear An Army
- Sure On This Shining Night
- Bessie Bobtail
- If You've Only Got A Moustache
- Gentle Annie
- Don't Bet Your Money On The Shanghai
- Evening Song
- An Old Song Re-Sung
- No. 1 From Three Poems, Op. 11: The Lament Of Ian The Proud
- Song Of The Dagger
- A Damsel In Distress: Nice Work If You Can Get It
- Shall We Dance?: They All Laughed
- Girl Crazy: Embraceable You
- The Goldwyn Follies: Just Another Rhumba
- They Cannot Stop Death - Blue Mountain Ballads
- Heavenly Grass
- Lonesome Man
- Cabin
- Sugar In The Cane
- Anything Goes: Blow, Gabriel Blow
- Jubilee: Begin The Beguine
- Seven Lively Arts: Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
- FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN: The Tale Of The Oyster
Customer Reviews:
a voice teacher and early music fan.......2007-02-26
The music of Samuel Barber (1910-1981), whether his symphonies, concertos,operas, chamber music or songs, is notable above all for a pronounced and refined lyricism. Barbr wrote songs thruout his career, and his published vocal output, though relatively small, is perhaps the most distinguished of an American composer. He preferred lyrical , romantic poetry, and his word-setting was perfect.
Stephen Foster (1826-1864) published his first song when he was 18 and by dint of hundreds more became, in the words of Aaron Copland,"our own national hero (who) had a naturalness and sweetness of sentiment that transformed his melodies into the equivalent of folk song." He was truly a songwriter rather than a composer, for he wrote no concert works or operas.
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) assimilated Debussian impressionism and,somewhat later, Oriental exoticism. During his brief career, he composed 64 songs, including four song-cycles.
George Gershwim(1898-1937) began his career in Tin Pan Alley and eventually, with works such as 'Rhapsody in blue' for piano and orchestra and some other works, brought Jazz into the concert hall.
Paul Bowles (1910- ) has long enjoyed celebrity status as an author,a writer of novels, short stories and essays. After a brief study with Aaron Copland, he made a considerable reputation as a composer of incidenal music. Virgil Thompson once described Bowles's songs as "enchanting for their sweetness of mood, their lightness of texture, for in general their way of being wholly alive and right".
Cole Porter (1891-1964) had the rare ability to invent superior catchpenny tunes; deceptively simple, often elegant melodies that stay in the ear. Consequently,he became one of the most successful American songwriter of his era.
As to Samuel Ramey's performance of these songs, one can only say 'business as usual', and that means great sound, great diction, great interpretation and always with that extra something that only a few bassos have!!!!The variety of works is varied and interesting and, if you please, is NOT a cross-over album. There are too many songs that denote the classical element. He was wise enough to vary his selection to avoid that particular situation. I really like this disc!!!!!
The greatest American bass.......2007-01-10
Good, but one dimensional.......2000-04-26
Primo basso assolutto!!.......1998-11-17
Average customer rating: 
|
Narvin Kimball & Friends
Manufacturer: Albany Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
Vocal Jazz General
| Vocal Jazz
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
General
| Opera & Vocal
| Styles
| Music
Marches
| Miscellaneous
| Styles
| Music
General
| Classical
| Styles
| Music
General
| Vocal Pop
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Classical
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Vocal Jazz
| Jazz
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
ASIN: B0000049NV Release Date: 1995-11-29 |
Tracks:
- Because of You
- Alabama Jubilee
- Lonesome Road
- New Kind of Love
- Birth of the Blues
- Where He Leads Me
- Banjo Medley
- Clarinet Marmalade
- Georgia
- He Touched Me
- We'll Meet Again
Average customer rating:
|
Whiskey Flats Golden Jubilee
Jaclyn (The Kid) Miller , Donna Ridgway , Out of the Blue , MaMa's Jam , Holy Mackerel , Valerie "Miss Val" Cassity , Butch Dubarri , West Coast Singers , and Cal Joe Stevenson Manufacturer: Lonesome Music Productions ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000K65IOM |
Product Description
"100% Original Music from the Kern River Valley"Rock Music:
- The Rock [Import]
- The Sky Road [Original recording remastered]
- Three New Ditties
- Tokyo [Import]
- Units of Measure
- Unleashed
- Very Best of [Original recording remastered] [Import]
- Wherever You Are Pt. 1 [CD-single] [Import]
- Wish You Were Her [CD-single] [Import]
- You Are Understood 2
