Product Description
John Mellencamp 1978-2012 is a boxed set collection covering, for the first time, all of the legendary singer/songwriter's principal studio albums. The collection consists of a total of 19 CDs originally released over a recording career that spans 35 years. The set contains a total of 223 tracks and includes such mythic album titles as American Fool, Lonesome Jubilee, Scarecrow, Cuttin' Heads and the more recent Life, Death, Love and Freedom and No Better Than This and the long out of print original soundtrack to the Mellencamp-directed film Falling From Grace. Thirteen of the albums in the collection were RIAA®-certified as Gold, Platinum or Multiplatinum winners while ten of the albums achieved Top Ten status on Billboard's Top 100 Album Chart. The set includes every one of Mellencamp's thirty Billboard Top 100 singles, from 'I Need A Lover' and 'Jack & Diane' to 'Pink Houses' and 'Rain On The Scarecrow,' as well as classics such as 'Paper in Fire,' 'Hurts So Good,' 'Crumblin' Down,' 'Jackie Brown,' 'Small Town,' 'Wild Night,' 'R.O.C.K In The U.S.A.,' 'Our Country' and, quite literally, all the rest. There are bonus tracks concluding twelve of the albums, sourced from the 2005 re-mastered versions of Mellencamp's Mercury releases.

[tracklisting]Disc 1: John Cougar (1979)
1.A Little Night Dancin’
2.Small Paradise
3.Miami
4.Great Mid-west
5.Do You Think That’s Fair
6.I Need a Lover
7.Welcome to Chinatown
8.Sugar Marie
9.Pray for Me
10.Taxi Dancer
11.Take Home Pay (bonus track )

Disc 2: Nothin’ Matters and What If It Did (1980)
1.Hot Night in a Cold Town
2.Ain’t Even Done with the Night
3.Don’t Misunderstand Me
4.This Time
5.Make Me Feel
6.To M.G. (Wherever She May Be)
7.Tonight
8.Cry Baby
9.Wild Angel
10.Peppermint Twist
11.Cheap Shot
12.Latest Game (bonus track)

Disc 3: American Fool (1982)
1.Hurts So Good
2.Jack & Diane
3.Hand to Hold on To
4.Danger List
5.Can You Take It
6.Thundering Hearts
7.China Girl
8.Close Enough
9.Weakest Moments
10.American Fool (bonus track)

Disc 4: Uh-Huh (1983)
1.Crumblin’ Down
2.Pink Houses
3.Authority Song
4.Warmer Place to Sleep
5.Jackie O
6.Play Guitar
7.Serious Business
8.Lovin’ Mother fo Ya
9.Golden Gates
10.Pink Houses (Acoustic)

Disc 5: Scarecrow (1985)
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 (bonus track)
13.Small Town (Acoustic)

Disc 6: The Lonesome Jubilee (1987)
1.Paper in Fire
2.Down and Out in Paradise
3.Check It Out
4.The 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
11.Blues from the Front Porch (bonus track)

Disc 7: Big Daddy (1989)
1.Big Daddy of Them All
2.To Live
3.Martha Say
4.Theo and Weird Henry
5.Jackie Brown
6.Pop Singer
7.Void in My Heart
8.Mansions in Heaven
9.Sometimes a Great Notion
10.Country Gentleman
11.J.M.’s Question
12.Let It All Hang Out
13.Jackie Brown (Acoustic) (1989)

Disc 8: Whenever We Wanted (1991)
1.Love and Happiness
2.Now More Than Ever
3.I Ain’t Ever Satisfied
4.Get a Leg Up
5.Crazy Ones
6.Last Chance
7.They’re So Tough
8.Melting Pot
9.Whenever We Wanted
10.Again Tonight
11.Love and Happiness (London Club Mix) (12″ A-side)

Disc 9: Falling from Grace: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992)
1.Bud’s Theme – Lisa Germano
2.Cradle of the Interstate – Nanci Griffith
3.Whiskey Burnin’ – Larry Crane
4.Common Day Man – Dwight Yoakam
5.It Don’t Scare Me None – John Mellencamp
6.Searchin’ for the Perfect Girl – Pure Jam
7.All the Best – John Prine
8.Hold Me Like You Used to Do – Qkumbrz
9.Sweet Suzanne – Buzzin’ Cousins
10.Nothing’s for Free – John Mellencamp
11.Little Children – Lisa Germano
12.Days Like These – Janis Ian
13.Falling from Grace – Larry Rollins

Disc 10: Human Wheels (1993)
1.When Jesus Left Birmingham
2.Junior
3.Human Wheels
4.Beige to Beige
5.Case 795 (The Family)
6.Suzanne and the Jewels
7.Sweet Evening Breeze
8.What If I Came Knocking
9.French Shoes
10.To the River
11.When Jesus Left Birmingham (with Sounds of Blackness) (promo single A-side)

Disc 11: Dance Naked (1994)
1.Dance Naked
2.Brothers
3.When Margaret Comes to Town
4.Wild Night
5.L.U.V.
6.Another Sunny Day 12/25
7.Too Much To Think About
8.The Big Jack
9.The Breakout
10.Wild Night (Acoustic) (bonus track)

Disc 12: Mr. Happy Go Lucky (1996)
1.Overture
2.Jerry
3.Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)
4.Just Another Day
5.This May Not Be the End of the World
6.Emotional Love
7.Mr. Bellows
8.The Full Catastrophe
9.Circling Around the Moon
10.Large World Turning
11.Jackamo Road
12.Life is Hard
13.What If I Came Knocking (Live)

Disc 13: John Mellencamp (1998)
1.Fruit Trader
2.Your Life is Now
3.Positively Crazy
4.I’m Not Running Anymore
5.It All Comes True
6.Eden is Burning
7.Where the World Began
8.Miss Missy
9.Chance Meeting At The Tarantula
10.Break Me Off Some
11.Summer of Love
12.Days of Farewell

Disc 14: Rough Harvest (1999)
1.Love and Happiness
2.In My Time of Dying
3.Between a Laugh and a Tear
4.Human Wheels
5.Rain on the Scarecrow
6.Farewell Angelina
7.Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)
8.Jackie Brown
9.When Jesus Left Birmingham
10.The Full Catastrophe
11.Minutes to Memories
12.Under the Boardwalk (B-side)
13.Wild Night (Live) (B-side)
14.Seventh Son (B-side)

Disc 15: Cuttin’ Heads (2001)
1.Cuttin’ Heads
2.Peaceful World
3.Deep Blue Heart
4.Crazy Island
5.Just Like You
6.The Same Way I Do
7.Women Seem
8.Worn Out Nervous Condition
9.Shy
10.In Our Lives

Disc 16: Trouble No More (2003)
1.Stones in My Passway
2.Death Letter
3.Johnny Hart
4.Baltimore Oriole
5.Teardrops Will Fall
6.Diamond Joe
7.The End of the World
8.Down in the Bottom
9.Lafayette
10.Joliet Bound
11.John the Revelator
12.To Washington

Disc 17: Freedom’s Road (2007)
1.Someday
2.Ghost Towns Along the Highway
3.The Americans
4.Forgiveness
5.Freedom’s Road
6.Jim Crow
7.Our Country
8.Rural Route
9.My Aeroplane
10.Heaven Is a Lonely Place
11.Rodeo Clown

Disc 18: Life, Death, Love and Freedom (2008)
1.Longest Days
2.My Sweet Love
3.If I Die Sudden
4.Troubled Land
5.Young Without Lovers
6.John Cockers
7.Don’t Need This Body
8.A Ride Back Home
9.Without a Shot
10.Jena
11.Mean
12.County Fair
13.For the Children
14.A Brand New Song

Disc 19: No Better Than This (2010)
1.Save Some Time to Dream
2.The West End
3.Right Behind Me
4.A Graceful Fall
5.No Better Than This
6.Thinking About You
7.Coming Down the Road
8.No One Cares About Me
9.Love At First Sight
10.Don’t Forget About Me
11.Each Day of Sorrow
12.Easter Eve
13.Clumsy Ol’ World[/tracklisting]
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUABH02/?tag=imwan-20

Looks to be a 19-disc box set, which would correspond with the 18 core albums released from John Cougar to No Better Than This and maybe room for either the Falling From Grace soundtrack or (perhaps more likely given the 2012 date) material from Ghost Brothers of Darkland County...

Pre-order link is now in the first post. There's also going to be a smaller box (just 5 discs) called 1982-1989, due November 11th:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EX465RQ/?tag=imwan-20

He's got dozens of stray tracks spead over CD singles, tribute/charity albums, and soundtracks. A couple CDs of rarities would boost my interest considerably.

Did you ever pick up the Rural Route box set?

Yes, but wasn't that mostly demos and previously unreleased stuff? And rather skimpy for the high list price.

That box was lousy.

This one could certainly make me interested as I own nothing buy the man.

Would they have new remasters or the existing ones?

And yes, I'm with Jimbo-a rarities disc or two like the BOC set would make total sense and I would buy this right away.

If not, I will consider it.

Agreed, but it's the only significant consolidated source of Mellencamp rarities I can think of...

I'm guessing that these would be largely ports of the existing remasters which featured one or two bonus tracks on many of the PolyGram discs, but who knows?

Collectors Choice has this listed at a rather cheap $119.98.

I've never used them for anything. Anyone?

Some years ago, Jay did one of his incomparable odds & sods sets for Mellencamp.

Jay, care to share the track list with us again here?

the "rural" box was set was grossly over priced, i forget the exact number, but it didn't contain a whole lot of unreleased material....jimbo?

I may be the only one, but I like the Rural Route box.

If these CDs are remastered I'll get the box.

He switched labels to CBS in the early 2000s...I wonder if Universal bargained for the rights to those albums.

I made my own 'best of' compilation a couple years ago with his previous remasters.

Disc One

1) Check It Out
2) Jack & Diane
3) Authority Song
4) The Real Life
5) Get A Leg Up
6) Theo And Weird Henry
7) This Time
8) Rumble Seat
9) Let It All Hang Out
10) Lonely Ol' Night
11) A Little Night Dancin'
12) Jackie Brown
13) R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.


Disc Two

1) I Need A Lover
2) Pop Singer
3) Play Guitar
4) Void In My Heart
5) Between A Laugh And A Tear
6) Hotdogs And Hamburgers
7) Minutes To Memories
8) Rain On The Scarecrow
9) Crumblin' Down
10) Cherry Bomb
11) Hurts So Good
12) Small Town
13) Pink Houses
14) Jackie Brown (Acoustic)


Of course, these are the songs I like.

They're okay, but if I recall, everything I've ever ordered from them has taken an eternity to arrive.

Jim,

Let me see what I can find.

Columbia material was on Island's 2 CD best-of in 2004 so that should not be an issue. he's been on other labels since but with the title 1978-2012 it certainly implies everything will be there.

Maybe we ask Meg Ryan (she looks like hell lately)?

Jim,

Here was the last version I had:


DISC 1:

1. Kicks (contract demo) – Johnny Cougar

2. Hit The Road Jack (Chestnut Street Incident outtake/later released on Skin It Back) – Johnny Cougar
3. I Need Somebody Baby (Chestnut Street Incident outtake/later released on Skin It Back) – Johnny Cougar

4. The Whore (The Kid Inside outtake/later released on Skin It Back) – John Cougar
5. The Man Who Sold The World (The Kid Inside outtake/later released on Skin It Back) – John Cougar

6. Skin It Back (DeFries-era outtake) – John Cougar
7. Little Heroes (DeFries-era outtake) – John Cougar
8. Last Of The Big Time Spenders (DeFries-era outtake) – John Cougar
9. When I Was Young (DeFries-era outtake) – John Cougar

10. Take Home Pay (John Cougar outtake) – John Cougar

11. Latest Game (Nothin’ Matters And What If It Did outtake) – John Cougar

12. American Fool (American Fool outtake) – John Cougar

13. Under The Boardwalk (Scarecrow outtake/single B-side to “R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.”)

14. Never Too Old (The Lonesome Jubilee outtake/single B-side to “Paper In Fire”)
15. Shama Lama Ding Dong (The Lonesome Jubilee outtake/single B-side to “Cherry Bomb”)
16. Pretty Ballerina (live) (The Lonesome Jubilee outtake/single B-side to “Rooty Toot Toot”)
17. Cold Sweat (live) (The Lonesome Jubilee outtake/single B-side to “Rooty Toot Toot”)
18. Blues From The Front Porch (The Lonesome Jubilee outtake/outtake)

19. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (A Very Special Christmas – V.A.) [11/87]

20. Rave On (Cocktail – O.S.T.) [7/88]

21. Do Re Mi (Folkways: A Vision Shared - A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly – V.A.) [8/23/88]

22. Seventh Son (Big Daddy outtake/single B-side to “Jackie Brown”)

23. It Don’t Scare Me None – John Mellencamp (Falling From Grace – O.S.T.) [12/91]

DISC 2:

1. Sweet Suzanne – Buzzin’ Cousins (Falling From Grace – O.S.T)
2. Nothing’s For Free – John Mellencamp (Falling From Grace – O.S.T.)

3. Jailhouse Rock – John Mellencamp (Honeymoon In Vegas – O.S.T.) [8/11/92]

4. Like A Rolling Stone (live) – John Mellencamp (Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration – V.A.) [8/24/93]
5. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (live) – John Mellencamp (Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration – V.A.)

6. Baby Please Don’t Go – John Mellencamp (Blue Chips – O.S.T.) [2/22/94]

7. Life’s A River – John Mellencamp & Mick Ronson (Heaven & Hull – Mick Ronson) [5/3/94]

8. Teddi’s Song (When Christmas Comes) – John Mellencamp (Christmas Of Hope – V.A.) [10/24/95]

9. Like A Rolling Stone (live) – John Mellencamp (single B-side to “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)”)

10. Gambling Bar Room Blues – John Mellencamp (The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute – V.A.) [8/19/97]

11. Without Expression – John Mellencamp (The Best That I Could Do (1978-1988) – John Mellencamp) [11/18/97]

12. Yours Forever – John Mellencamp (The Perfect Storm – O.S.T.) [6/20/00]

13. Hey Gib (live) – John Mellencamp (Best Buy-exclusive Cuttin’ Heads bonus disc)

14. I Don’t Know Why I Love You – John Mellencamp (Conception: An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s Songs – V.A.) [3/18/03]

15. I Couldn’t Believe It Was True (live) – John Mellencamp & Willie Nelson (Willie Nelson and Friends: Live and Kickin’ – Willie Nelson) [6/3/03]

16. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way – John Mellencamp (I’ve Always Been Crazy: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings – V.A.) [8/19/03]

17. What Say You – John Mellencamp & Travis Tritt (My Honky Tonk History – Travis Tritt) [8/17/04]

18. Wreck Of The Old 97 – John Mellencamp (The Rose And The Briar: Death, Love And Liberty In American Ballads – V.A.) [9/28/04]

19. Walk Tall – John Mellencamp (Words & Music: Greatest Hits – John Mellencamp) [10/19/04]

DISC 3:

1. Thank You – John Mellencamp (Words & Music: Greatest Hits – John Mellencamp) [10/19/04]

2. This Land Is Your Land – John Mellencamp (Song Of America – V.A.) [9/18/07]

3. Someday The Rains Will Fall – John Mellencamp (NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack Vol. 2 – O.S.T.) [11/3/09]

BONUS TRACKS:
4. Ghost Towns Along The Highway (acoustic) – John Mellencamp (Best Buy-exclusive Freedom’s Road bonus disc)
5. Someday (acoustic) – John Mellencamp (Best Buy-exclusive Freedom’s Road bonus disc)
6. Rural Route (acoustic) – John Mellencamp (Best Buy-exclusive Freedom’s Road bonus disc)
7. The Americans (rough mix) – John Mellencamp (Best Buy-exclusive Freedom’s Road bonus disc)

8. Pink Houses (live) – John Mellencamp (The Unplugged Collection, Vol. 1 – V.A.) [12/6/94]

9. R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A./Little Latin Lupe Lu (live) – John Mellencamp (The Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – V.A.) [9/17/96]

10. Rain On The Scarecrow (live) – John Mellencamp (Farm Aid, Volume One: Live – V.A.) [9/12/00]
11. Paper In Fire (live) – John Mellencamp (Farm Aid, Volume One: Live – V.A.)

12. Jack And Diane (live) – John Mellencamp (VH-1 Storytellers – V.A.) [8/25/00]

13. In My Time Of Dying (live) – John Mellencamp (Best Buy-exclusive Cuttin’ Heads bonus disc)

14. Peaceful World (live) – John Mellencamp (The Concert For New York City – V.A.) [11/27/01]
15. Pink Houses (live) – John Mellencamp & Kid Rock (The Concert For New York City – V.A.)

You're missing the Mellencamp/Grimley duet version of "Jack And Diane":

Terrific, thanks Jay!

As much as I'm looking forward to this set (hey, how else are you going to get A Biography), there's something about this set that worries me. With the Sandy Denny, John Martyn and now John Mellencamp sets, Universal/island seems to be trying to consolidate all of their catalogs from these artists into a single physical package. It's like they are giving the hard core fans one last shot at CDs, before they abandon the format. This trend seems to be accelerating what with all the Complete "this" and Complete "that" sets that are popping up. Are the majors just burning off inventory and creating small runs of their "final" digital versions of the albums for posterity? I sure hope not. But hey Capital, it's never too late to put together that Complete Steve Miller (you hold all the rights) or Bob Seger (you can get the rights to the early stuff) box sets.

That's classic!!