John Mellencamp – “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” – In 1987, Mellencamp was at the height of his musical trajectory. His “Lonesome Jubilee” album synthesized rock, country, folk and old-timey instruments into a peculiar (though accessible) piece of art. The shows that supported the record put on display one of the best bands I have ever seen live, and I’ve seen hundreds, both great and crappy. I saw John first in ’85 at Detroit’s Cobo Hall during the “Scarecrow” tour and it was my first real taste of what kind of power a band that behaved like that could have; it was the combination of 60’s Mitch Ryder-like rock and roll, Kinks-via-America blue collar lyrical poetry and really loud g
uitars and drums. Two years later, in ’87, that same band had become even more nuanced without losing its power or its garage rock backbone, while adding a fiddle and accordian to the mix. So when I found myself deep in the lawn at Pine Knob Music Theater (again, Detroit) for the second leg of that tour, the intensity, James Brown-ish polish and the momentum of a bunch of radio singles made it one of the best five shows I have seen in my life. The “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” video was recorded during that tour, before one of the shows. It captures that unique-for-the-times Mellencamp sound – rustic, rootsy rock and roll. I would call it brilliant. It is a Mellencamp era that I miss to this day.
He’s had a helluva career, still does what he wants – with integrity – and has moved into a more traditional rock sound for his live shows, though the fiddle still plays an important part in defining the Mellencamp concert sound. Rewind to a era captured on video, of an Indiana punk grown up just enough to build himself one of the great, underrated live bands of the rock era, successfully reinventing a holiday classic.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsat4e8jgHA]