A Biography
| A Biography | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 6, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1977–78 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Rock, heartland rock | |||
| Length | 42:58 | |||
| Label | Riva | |||
| Producer | John Punter | |||
| Johnny Cougar chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from A Biography | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [2] |
A Biography is the second album by the American musician Johnny Cougar.[3] Recorded in London, it was released in the UK and Australia by Riva Records on March 6, 1978.
Due to poor sales of Mellencamp's debut album, Chestnut Street Incident, A Biography did not receive a U.S. release upon its 1978 debut. Two of its tracks, "Taxi Dancer" and the single "I Need a Lover," were also included on his 1979 album John Cougar, which was released in the U.S.
In Australia, however, "I Need a Lover" became a Top 10 hit, giving Mellencamp his first taste of success. The song would eventually crack the Top 40 in the U.S. in late 1979 when released as a single from his John Cougar album. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine described "I Need a Lover" as Mellencamp's "first good song."[1]
A Biography, along with all Mellencamp's other Riva Records/Mercury Records albums, were remastered and re-released in 2005, marking the first time A Biography was released in the United States.
Mellencamp has often spoken negatively about his early albums, and A Biography is no exception. He stated in Tim Holmes’ 1986 biography: “A Biography is so bitter. I mean I don’t even like to listen to it. I can’t believe it’s me. The songs were written in ’76 or ’77. The lyrics were real awful. They were real ‘I hate you. I hate this.’ And that’s the way I felt at that time."
Track listing
All tracks are written by John Mellencamp
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Born Reckless" | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Factory" | 3:02 |
| 3. | "Night Slumming" | 4:40 |
| 4. | "Taxi Dancer" | 4:05 |
| 5. | "I Need a Lover" | 5:37 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Alley of the Angels" | 3:58 |
| 2. | "High C Cherrie" | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Where the Sidewalk Ends" | 3:56 |
| 4. | "Let Them Run Your Lives" | 5:55 |
| 5. | "Goodnight" | 2:05 |
Personnel
- Johnny Cougar – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, background vocals
- Brian BecVar – keyboards, background vocals
- Larry Crane – guitars, background vocals
- Robert "Ferd" Frank – bass, background vocals
- Tom Knowles – drums, background vocals
- Andy Mackay – saxophones
- Ann Odell – string arrangement on "Taxi Dancer"
- David Steen – photography
References
- ^ a b "A Biography – John Mellencamp". AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
- ^ "John Mellencamp". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20.
- ^ Pesselnick, Jill (Jul 14, 2001). "Mellencamp named 2001 Century Award Honoree". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 28. pp. 1, 105.
