TAS Rated 3.5/5 Music, 3.5/5 Sonics in the December 2010 Issue of The Absolute Sound!
During his 2009 summer tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, Mellencamp recorded the 13 new & original tracks at three locations: the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA; Sun Studio in Memphis; and the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio.
In an age of auto-tuned, computerized recordings, John Mellencamp's approach on his Rounder debut, No Better Than This, is refreshing. The entire album was recorded with Mellencamp and his band all playing live in one room using a 55 year-old Ampex tape recorder and just one vintage microphone. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett captured the stunning thirteen new Mellencamp originals at three historically important locations: Sun Studio in Memphis, TN (where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all first recorded); the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA (the oldest Black church in North America, dating to 1775); and in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX (where Robert Johnson made his first recordings in 1936). The songs on No Better Than This reflect classic American musical traditions including blues, folk, gospel, rockabilly, and country, while addressing such themes as the need for hope, the nature of relationships, and narratives that recount extraordinary occurrences in everyday life.
"As John has explained previously, No Better Than This was conceived specifically with the sound of early country music, folk and rock in mind. So the recording process was geared toward achieving that level of classic audio quality. This goal, John says, has indeed been met.
"Equally unusual and significant, the album is in beautiful mono, says John, with all songs recorded using one microphone for all the vocal and acoustic instrumental parts.
The same mic I was singing into is the same mic that recorded the drums at the same time, John says. And everything was cut live with no overdubs or studio nothing! These are real songs being performed by real musicians--an unheard-of process in todays world. Real music, for real people! - from www.mellencamp.com
"...Mellencamp's hoarse musings add the soulful grit that raises the whole enterprise to an inspired exercise in invarnished Americana." - David McGee, The Absolute Sound, December 2010, 3.5/5 Music, 3.5/5 Sonics
Features:
Double LP
Gatefold jacket
Mono
Mastered by Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering, Hollywood, CA
Produced by T Bone Burnett
Recorded in Savannah, Memphis and San Antonio with 1 RCA 77 DX Microphone (Savannah & San Antonio) or 1 RCA 44 (Memphis) - Mono to An Ampex 601 1/4" Reel to Reel.
Musicians:
John Mellencamp, vocals, acoustic guitar
Andy York, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Marc Ribot, electric guitar, banjo
T Bone Burnett, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
David Roe, bass
Jay Bellerose, drums, percussion
Miriam Sturm, violin
Selections:
1. Save Some Time to Dream (Memphis)
2. The West End (Memphis)
3. Right Behind Me (San Antonio)
4. A Graceful Fall (Memphis)
5. No Better Than This (Memphis)
6. Thinking Bout You (Savannah)
7. Coming Down the Road (Memphis)
8. No One Cares About Me (Memphis)
9. Love at First Sight (Savannah)
10. Dont Forget About Me (Memphis)
11. Each Day of Sorrow (Memphis)
12. Easter Evening (Memphis)
13. Clumsy Ol' World (Savannah)
Recorded in Savannah, Memphis and San Antonio with 1 RCA 77 DX Microphone (Savannah & San Antonio) or 1 RCA 44 (Memphis) - Mono to An Ampex 601 1/4" Reel to Reel.
During his 2009 summer tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, Mellencamp recorded the 13 new & original tracks at three locations: the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA; Sun Studio in Memphis; and the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio.
In an age of auto-tuned, computerized recordings, John Mellencamp's approach on his Rounder debut, No Better Than This, is refreshing. The entire album was recorded with Mellencamp and his band all playing live in one room using a 55 year-old Ampex tape recorder and just one vintage microphone. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett captured the stunning thirteen new Mellencamp originals at three historically important locations: Sun Studio in Memphis, TN (where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all first recorded); the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA (the oldest Black church in North America, dating to 1775); and in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX (where Robert Johnson made his first recordings in 1936). The songs on No Better Than This reflect classic American musical traditions including blues, folk, gospel, rockabilly, and country, while addressing such themes as the need for hope, the nature of relationships, and narratives that recount extraordinary occurrences in everyday life.
"As John has explained previously, No Better Than This was conceived specifically with the sound of early country music, folk and rock in mind. So the recording process was geared toward achieving that level of classic audio quality. This goal, John says, has indeed been met.
"Equally unusual and significant, the album is in beautiful mono, says John, with all songs recorded using one microphone for all the vocal and acoustic instrumental parts.
The same mic I was singing into is the same mic that recorded the drums at the same time, John says. And everything was cut live with no overdubs or studio nothing! These are real songs being performed by real musicians--an unheard-of process in todays world. Real music, for real people! - from www.mellencamp.com
"...Mellencamp's hoarse musings add the soulful grit that raises the whole enterprise to an inspired exercise in invarnished Americana." - David McGee, The Absolute Sound, December 2010, 3.5/5 Music, 3.5/5 Sonics
Features:
Double LP
Gatefold jacket
Mono
Mastered by Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering, Hollywood, CA
Produced by T Bone Burnett
Recorded in Savannah, Memphis and San Antonio with 1 RCA 77 DX Microphone (Savannah & San Antonio) or 1 RCA 44 (Memphis) - Mono to An Ampex 601 1/4" Reel to Reel.
Musicians:
John Mellencamp, vocals, acoustic guitar
Andy York, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Marc Ribot, electric guitar, banjo
T Bone Burnett, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
David Roe, bass
Jay Bellerose, drums, percussion
Miriam Sturm, violin
Selections:
1. Save Some Time to Dream (Memphis)
2. The West End (Memphis)
3. Right Behind Me (San Antonio)
4. A Graceful Fall (Memphis)
5. No Better Than This (Memphis)
6. Thinking Bout You (Savannah)
7. Coming Down the Road (Memphis)
8. No One Cares About Me (Memphis)
9. Love at First Sight (Savannah)
10. Dont Forget About Me (Memphis)
11. Each Day of Sorrow (Memphis)
12. Easter Evening (Memphis)
13. Clumsy Ol' World (Savannah)
Recorded in Savannah, Memphis and San Antonio with 1 RCA 77 DX Microphone (Savannah & San Antonio) or 1 RCA 44 (Memphis) - Mono to An Ampex 601 1/4" Reel to Reel.
