John Mellencamp - Mr. Happy Go Lucky (1996)
Tracklist front / back album covers
"Overture" (Mellencamp; arranged by Miriam Sturm) – 1:56
"Jerry" – 4:24
"Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)" (Mellencamp, George M. Green) – 4:54
"Just Another Day" – 3:28
"This May Not Be The End of the World" (Mellencamp, Green) – 5:29
"Emotional Love" (Toby Myers) – 3:20
"Mr. Bellows" – 4:26
"The Full Catastrophe" – 3:11
"Circling Around The Moon" (Mellencamp, Green) – 5:48
"Large World Turning" – 3:55
"Jackamo Road" – 1:37
"Life Is Hard" – 3:15
"What If I Came Knocking?" (live) (2005 re-issue bonus track) – 5:26
John Mellencamp Band Members / Musicians
John Mellencamp – vocals, guitar
Mike Wanchic – guitars, dobro, background vocals, mellotron, organ, mandolin
Andy York – guitars, background vocals, chamberlain, organ, harmonica, mandolin, mellotron, percussion
Toby Myers – bass, background vocals, keyboards, percussion
Kenny Aronoff – drums, percussion, loops, vibes
Moe Z M.D. – loops, organ, backing vocals
Raphael Saadiq – bass, backing vocals
Miriam Sturm – violin
Milton Davis – bass
Jimmy Ryser – violin, backing vocals
Lonnie Pitchford – slide guitar
Pat Peterson – backing vocals
Jeff Pedersen – organ
Harvey Phillips – tuba
Tim Riggins – trombone
Dennis Riggins – saxophone
Mr. Happy Go Lucky is the 14th album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp. It was released on September 10, 1996. It was his first album released after his heart attack in 1994. Mellencamp's music on the album is said to reflect his brush with death. The album was recorded in Belmont, Indiana, in Mellencamp's Belmont Mall recording studio. The first single from the album, "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)," peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is his last Top 40 single in the United States to date. "Just Another Day" was the album's second single and stalled at No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mellencamp told the Associated Press of his concept for Mr. Happy Go Lucky: "When we started making this record, I thought I'd marry the rhythm of black music of the '90s, which is rap, and the sounds of black blues music of the '30s and '40s. We'd have Robert Johnson-type guitar licks playing with this rap rhythm underneath it. It didn't always work out that way, but that's the place we started from."
An outtake from Mr. Happy Go Lucky, "All Night Talk Radio," was included on Mellencamp's 2017 album Sad Clowns & Hillbillies.
