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A Biography

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A Biography
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 6, 1978
Recorded1977–78
Studio
GenreRock, heartland rock
Length42:58
LabelRiva
ProducerJohn Punter
Johnny Cougar chronology
Chestnut Street Incident
(1976)
A Biography
(1978)
John Cougar
(1979)
Singles from A Biography
  1. "I Need a Lover"
    Released: April 12, 1978
  2. "Factory"
    Released: May 31, 1978
  3. "Night Slumming/Goodnight"
    Released: September 22, 1978 (Australia)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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

[edit]

All tracks are written by John Mellencamp

Side One
No.TitleLength
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
Side Two
No.TitleLength
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

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "A Biography – John Mellencamp". AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  2. ^ "John Mellencamp". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20.
  3. ^ Pesselnick, Jill (Jul 14, 2001). "Mellencamp named 2001 Century Award Honoree". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 28. pp. 1, 105.