John Mellencamp (#13) & Elvis Presley (#14) - Evan’s 111 Artists

A day at Graceland with the AOL Music crew and John Cougar Mellencamp, shooting our show Sessions in the Jungle Room was a life moment.

I knew I Need a Lover from rock radio. It was always on the end-of-year best song countdowns, top 20 even, a staple. But really, MTV introduced me to John Cougar in ’82. Hurt So Good, then Jack and Diane. The guitars and drums sounded so good, super crisp and simple, like something we could do in the basement. And he seemed like a bit of an outlaw, a tough guy from a place I knew nothing about. Where was Indiana anyway? I had heard of it from the bike racing movie, Breaking Away.

He followed up with Uh-Huh a year or so later, though not as good, still solid. With the release of the single Pink Houses they painted a house pink and gave it away. That’s right. While it wasn’t Cougar’s actual home, it was in Bloomington, Indiana. That’s the kind of cool promotion that took place on MTV, emulating radio promotions back then, but bigger. John helped tell the story of it in a fun and authentic way, but supposedly it all turned into a bit of a disaster with the house MTV purchased being in a toxic location.

A few years later Scarecrow came, which had a darker feel to it and more depth. When I was in 10th grade, my buddy Mike Beckman got tickets to see him at Madison Square Garden. This was a huge show. Cougar, a country boy from Indy, at MSG, HUGE. Not many artists could play and sell out that room back then.

My brother drove while we drank a ton of beer on the way in from Jersey. Myself with Beckman, and maybe, but not sure, Carl. We had the best time—it was a high-energy, sing-along kind of vibe the whole way through. In the middle of I Need a Lover (the first encore), the house went dark. No sound, no lights. WHAT???

Cougar came back on after a weird 20 minutes or so of complete confusion with the house lights on, he said he’d offer a refund to everyone, OR ticket sales (they cost less than $20, I’m sure) would go to Farm Aid, our choice. That was cool. Funny, it’s still referenced that there was a power issue, yet when I asked John many years later he smiled and said, “that was the union.” They killed the power because he went past curfew. Total NYC.

I spent the first eight years of my career at BMG. Our label, RCA REcords, was home to the King, and we also worked closely with his estate marketing the vast catalog, which was ‘steady’—with way too many SKUs.

That was about to change, thanks to the success of the Beatles #1’s and some amazing plans, which included Elvis #1’s and Lilo & Stitch.

By this time our team from BMG had jumped to create AOL Music—Kevin first, then Bill brought Jared, and Scott and I came six months later after asking BMG to let us out of our contracts.

At AOL we were on a mission to create a new way to discover and experience music digitally.

AOL Music Crew with John in the Jungle Room at Graceland.

We launched a streaming show that was becoming well known in the business (and with 20 million fans), where we shot live performances in studios and intimate settings. We called it Sessions at AOL, and eventually AOL Sessions. We asked each artist to do a cover. It was only natural to bring in John Cougar Mellencamp to commemorate the anniversary of the King.

We arranged for AOL Sessions to take place AT Graceland, in the Jungle Room, with a performance by John—a huge Elvis fan.

The day started with a press frenzy. John did TV interviews on the lawn, and midday they closed Graceland to tourists. We all went inside, put on white gloves, and started moving Elvis’ furniture. This was surreal.

With most productions, there’s a ton of downtime. In this instance, instead of crappy little rooms in a studio, we all just hung out in Elvis’ house talking, telling stories. If you’ve never been to Graceland, what’s so interesting is how small the rooms and the overall space feel compared to home designs today. I mean, this was Elvis’ house… GRACELAND. And in a strange way, it felt kind of intimate.

I used to roll Drum cigarettes, and John was a chain smoker. We sat out back and talked for a while. His family was there. Diane was with me. Jared, Scott, Michelle, Ann, Cheri and our sound guy Scott from AOL, along with John’s legendary publicist Jim Merlis, and his day-to-day manager Rich Schaefer.

Did Elvis used to sit out back and smoke? The backyard at Graceland is cool.

What an absolutely epic day that will stay with me forever. Afterwards we all went out on Beale Street and Jim broke out one white glove and started dancing, MJ style.

The funny thing was, John was as blown away being in the house of the King as we were, maybe more.

My Dad was an Elvis fan.

I played Elvis records a lot when I was really young, especially Gold Records. I lost interest over the years, though I still liked a lot of the songs.

My dad was a big fan and talked about how much he loved Elvis when he was young—and I’m pretty sure all the guys tried to look like him.

Suspicious Minds remains a favorite. Pete Yorn did a great live cover in ’03, right around when all of this activity was going on.

__________

“Dad, you always say this song is a F*CKING MASTERPIECE… make a list.”

John Cougar Mellencamp and Elvis masterpieces are listed below, and more on my 1k+ song Spotify Playlist — Evan’s 111 Artists

Check it Out, Hand To Hold On To, Thundering Hearts. Rain On The Scarecrow, Small Town, Rumbleseat, I Need A Lover, Jack & Diane, Pink Houses, Smal Town

Suspicious Minds, In theGhetto, Can’t Help Falling In Love, A Little Less Conversation, Always On My Mind