Republic RecordsJohn Mellencamp has unveiled full details about his forthcoming album, Other People’s Stuff, which will be released December 7. The 10-track collection features mostly previously released renditions of other artists’ songs that Mellencamp covered for his own studio albums, tribute records and other projects.
The sole new recording is a studio version of the civil-rights anthem “Eyes on the Prize,” which John previously performed live at the White House in 2010 in front of President Barack Obama as part of the “Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” event.
The album also features a cover of Jimmie Rodgers‘ “Gambling Bar Room Blues,” from a 1997 album paying homage to the country-blues great, and a rendition of Stevie Wonder‘s “I Don’t Know Why I Love You,” from a 2003 album celebrating the Motown legend’s music. Other tunes include Mellencamp’s takes on Robert Johnson‘s “Stones in My Pathway” and country artist Mickey Newbury‘s “Mobile Blue,” which previously appeared on John’s albums Trouble No More and Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, respectively.
In a statement about the album, Mellencamp says, “Most, if not all, of the songs on Other People’s Stuff come from The Great American Songbook. These are songs that have been recorded over the last 40 years of my career, but had never been put together as one piece of work. Now, they have.”
The new version of “Eyes on the Prize” is available now as a digital single and via streaming services; pre-order the album now and you’ll receive the track as an instant free download.
As previously reported, fans who order tickets online to Mellencamp’s 2019 tour will receive a free physical copy of Other People’s Stuff. The trek kicks off February 7 in South Bend, Indiana.
Here’s the album’s full track list:
“To the River” (from 1993’s Human Wheels)
“Gambling Bar Room Blues” (from 1997’s The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers — A Tribute)
“Teardrops Will Fall” (from 2003’s Trouble No More)
“In My Time of Dying” (from 1997’s Rough Harvest)
“Mobile Blue” (from 2017’s Sad Clowns & Hillbillies)
“Eyes on the Prize” (originally performed at The White House in 2010)
“Dark as a Dungeon” (from the 2017 National Geographic Channel documentary From the Ashes)
“Stones in My Passway” (from 2003’s Trouble No More)
“Wreck of the Old 97” (from the 2004 compilation The Rose and The Briar)
“I Don’t Know Why I Love You” (from 2003’s An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s Songs)
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