On the Rural Route 7609


On the Rural Route 7609 is a box set by rock singer/songwriter John Mellencamp that was released on June 15, 2010. The first part of the title refers to the song "Rural Route" from his 2007 album Freedom's Road and the fact that Mellencamp's music and lifestyle have always been very rural in nature, and 7609 references that the set spans Mellencamp's entire recording career from 1976 to 2009. Said Mellencamp in the set's liner notes: "I started making records in '76, and the most recent track on the collection was done in '09. So Rural Route 7609; it's like an address. I thought it sounded cool."
The liner notes for On the Rural Route 7609 were penned by veteran rock journalist Anthony DeCurtis, who also wrote the liner notes for Eric Clapton's Crossroads and Billy Joel's My Lives. DeCurtis wrote a 4,500-word essay on Mellencamp, and Mellencamp provides track-by-track commentary.

Summary

This box set contains four discs and 54 tracks and each disc is set up as an individual album with common themes rather than being presented in chronological order. The purpose behind this set is to highlight Mellencamp's songwriting.
While there are many standard album tracks included on the set, there is also quite a bit of previously unreleased material, although no new unreleased songs. Highlights include Mellencamp's newly recorded version of "Colored Lights" – a song he wrote for The Blasters in 1985 – "Jenny at 16", a demo which ultimately became "Jack and Diane", and recently recorded solo acoustic versions of "Sugar Marie" and "To M.G. ".

Reception

Rolling Stone magazine senior editor David Fricke gave "On the Rural Route 7609" four stars in the July 8, 2010 issue. Fricke wrote:

Track listing

Disc one

  1. Longest Days
  2. Grandma's Theme – In the Baggage Coach Ahead
  3. Rural Route
  4. Jackie Brown
  5. Rain On The Scarecrow
  6. Jim Crow with Cornel West **
  7. Jim Crow
  8. Big Daddy of Them All
  9. Deep Blue Heart
  10. Forgiveness
  11. Don't Need This Body
  12. Jenny at 16 *
  13. Jack And Diane *
  14. Jack And Diane

    Disc two

  15. The Real Life with Joanne Woodward **
  16. Ghost Towns Along The Highway
  17. The Full Catastrophe
  18. Authority Song *
  19. Troubled Land
  20. To Washington
  21. Our Country *
  22. Country Gentlemen
  23. Freedom's Road
  24. Mr. Bellows*
  25. Rodeo Clown
  26. Love And Happiness
  27. Pink Houses

    Disc three

  28. If I Die Sudden
  29. Someday
  30. Between A Laugh and a Tear
  31. Void in My Heart *
  32. Death Letter
  33. Sugar Marie *
  34. Theo And Weird Henry
  35. When Jesus Left Birmingham
  36. L.U.V.
  37. Thank You
  38. Women Seem
  39. The World Don't Bother Me None*
  40. Cherry Bomb *
  41. Someday The Rains Will Fall
  42. A Ride Back Home

    Disc four

  43. My Aeroplane
  44. Colored Lights *
  45. Just Like You
  46. Young Without Lovers
  47. To M.G. *
  48. Sweet Evening Breeze
  49. What If I Came Knocking
  50. County Fair
  51. Peaceful World *
  52. Your Life Is Now
  53. For The Children
  54. Rural Route *
* = Previously unreleased

** = Spoken word reading of lyrics