With the help of Criteria Recording’s chief engineer, Ross Alexander, and staff engineer Greg Edward, Gehman gutted the Miami studio’s mobile unit and moved its equipment - an MCI console, 16-track tape machine and a few other items - into The Shack’s kitchen, which became the control room. and wanted to be close to his friends and family. The John Cougar-produced Never Kick a Sleeping Dog album by Mitch Ryder served as a test run for The Shack to see if recording on native soil would work better for the devoted Midwesterner, who felt too crazy and distracted in fast-paced L.A. Mellencamp agreed to lend them the money on one condition: that he could first use the space as a recording studio. Mellencamp’s sister, Laura, and her husband-to-be owned the house and the hog farm it sat on, but ran out of money before they could finish renovating their home. Mellencamp, guitarists Mike Wanchic and Larry Crane, drummer Kenny Aronoff and studio bassists Willie Weeks and Louis Johnson (standing in at various times for newcomer Toby Myers) headed to The Shack, an unfinished, rundown farmhouse between Brownstown and Seymour, Ind. Propelled by this creative surge, he called up producer/engineer Don Gehman, who had worked on American Fool and the largely forgettable John Cougar album, to come and record his next album. Mellencamp, still learning the craft of songwriting and arranging, sat down with a tape machine and described the man, and didn’t stop recording until he had “Pink Houses” fully written. “He waved, and I waved back,” Mellencamp told Rolling Stone. The Interstate ran within feet of the man’s front yard, but he didn’t seem disturbed by the commotion around him. After seven years of playing to near-empty dive bars, dealing with shady managers and having his name changed behind his back, he had finally achieved quantifiable commercial success.Īs he cruised along an overpass, he looked down and saw a black man sitting with a cat in his arms on the front porch of his weathered, pink shotgun shack. He had won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop Male that year, as well as his first and only Grammy Award - Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for “Hurts So Good” from his multi-Platinum breakthrough album, American Fool. Over and out, Friends.Early one summer morning in 1983, a 32-year-old John Mellencamp, dba John Cougar, drove himself home to Bloomington, Ind., from the Indianapolis airport. Has anyone ever been inside?! Would love to know a bit more about Charleston’s cutest house! And while I’ve never toured the inside and assume it’s quite narrow and small, I’d imagine that it’s perfectly quaint, cute and charming. And I’m so excited for the summer!Īnyway, I hope you enjoy these snaps as much as I do! I’ve been told, by the way, that 82 1/2 Tradd was an old “kitchen house” for its larger neighbor. As I type this, I’m feeling refreshed and reenergized. We’ve had a very cold spring in Chicago, but this little getaway has done so much for us. On this particular day, Mitch and I wandered some Charleston neighborhoods, walked the Battery, grabbed sandwiches at Circe’s Grotto, explored Harleston Village, walked East Bay, and had dinner at Fleet Landing on the water. I’m also somewhere between 5’4 and 5’5, and I didn’t need to have the jumpsuit hemmed!) I’m wearing my normal size here, and it’s perfect. (Looking for sizing information? I’d say it runs completely true to size. to 10 p.m., and it was perfect! Not too casual not too fancy.) I’ll admit that I didn’t adore the high neck feature, but I simply cuffed the neckline for a more laid-back look. I wore this jumpsuit (also here) a couple of days ago, and I loved how it took me from day to night. So my apologies for the repeat backdrops… but I couldn’t help but bring my giant camera out for a spin while there! Of course, it’s known to flood like crazy. And love this similar maxi dress.) / Sandals (So comfy! Also available at Zappos and Lord & Taylor.) / Navy Monogrammed Crossbody c/oĬlearly, my favorite neighborhood in Charleston is the “South of Broad” area. Striped Jumpsuit ( On sale! You can also find it here.
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