While researching a post about Joe Ely I came across this band. What a band it was. This was a one-off supergroup that was formed in the 1990s. I love jangle and this song has it…it’s called Sweet Suzanne and was written by John Mellencamp…he did assemble a supergroup. They all take turns singing lines…
The members included John Mellencamp, Joe Ely, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, and James McMurtry. Mellencamp said this was his answer to The Travelin’ Wilburys. The band’s one-and-done status was by design, Mellencamp said. I wouldn’t expect an album or anything, It really was a one-shot deal.
In 1992, Mellencamp made his acting and directorial debut in the film Falling From Grace, a drama that cast the Midwestern singer as a country-music star who gets caught up in a Jerry Springer-level family drama during a trip home to Indiana. He needed another song for the soundtrack album.
The band all traveled to Bloomington Indiana to record the song in Mellencamp’s studio. They all stayed in a Best Western and McMurtry said: “Not long after I checked in, there was a knock on my door. I opened the door and there was John Prine and Joe Ely. Prine had a half-empty pint bottle of vodka in his hand and a big grin on his face. I don’t remember what happened after that.”
This song was from the Falling From Grace soundtrack. The song was an outtake from either The Lonesome Jubilee or Big Daddy album. Sweet Suzzane peaked at #68 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1992.
Released as a single to country radio, the song ended up being nominated for the 1992 CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year. It lost to Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt’s This One’s Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time).
Sweet Suzanne
Now, Right now,
Look at the place I`m in,
When I think about things that I could have done
It´s impossible for me to pretend.
But I see it now as the lights grow dim
and the world starts to close its eyes.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I hear the music playin`
but I no longer understand,
Around the corner, down the street
It’s got to be better than where I am.
I see it all now, as the light grows dim
And the world starts to close its eyes.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Just wanted to see if everything was all right,
Just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
Time goes by
Oh, so quietly,
Hazy days and memories
And in the end there was only me.
Wouldn`t have been, I ask sometimes,
But I see myself inside this rhyme.
Enjoyed what I had back then,
Would I do it again?
Well, I see it now
As the lights grow dim
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
I just wanted to see if everything`s all right
Just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
I just wanted to see if everything` s all right,
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
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You were wrong…I never heard of this band. I’ll admit to being a John Prine fan since his first album in 1971. My first venture out after surgery a few years ago was to see Dwight Yoakum. While I knew Joe Ely from his work with The Flatlanders, it was Los Super Seven that really got me to listen to him. But all of them together, along with McMurtry & Mellencamp – that was new to me this morning. Thanks for the wake up call!
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Oh this wasn’t the one…I found this song last night and decided to post it today…but I like it. I knew nothing about this one shot band. I do wish they would have done more together.
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What a great name for a band. Never heard any of this or recall it. Great read Sir.
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Thanks Deke…they were new to me also.
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Dude, and I thought I knew all about John Mellencamp, one of my longtime favorites – I had never heard of Buzzin’ Cousins! “Sweet Suzanne” sounds, well, pretty sweet – great find. And what a neat super-group Mellencamp put together for it. Great find!
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Well Christian…join the club! As I was looking for more info last night on Ely….this popped up. I was amazed I never heard of them before. I like the jangle….
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Great find! John Mellencamp is touring again or still touring. While I’m tempted to see him again, I really need to dial back my expensive passion for live music this year. I just got hit with a major knock on the home front!
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Ah…you never know when they are going to call it quits though. Bailey and I decided to catch one performer on “the next tour”….and that was Tom Petty on his last tour. I did see him in the 90s but I do wish we would have gone.
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I know, I know. That’s really a big part why I decided to get a ticket for the Stones. With Mick and Keith now both octogenarians, you just have to wonder whether this could be the last time. At some, inevitably, biology is gonna take its course!
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Yea I know…you just never know which will be the last. You are right…not only that but you just wonder if one of them just can’t do it anymore…because of just age alone.
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A sweet song with some morbid lyrics.
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Once again you find a real gem! Like the other commenters this seemed to slip through the cracks. I’m not sure how I missed this since I like all of these artists! Thanks Max, really enjoyed this one. If you get a chance check out Ray Willie Hubbard with McMurtry’s brilliant song “Choctaw Bingo”
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As I was looking for Ely…this popped up in an article…I couldn’t believe it and did a double take…I dont’ know how I never heard of them before! Even for one song…
I heard it last night for the first time! The one I didn’t know much about was McMurty so I checked his stuff out and yea I really like it. I love finding new artists….well for me. I listened to both of them do it….great song.
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Such a great find Max!
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Thanks Randy!
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Well I like that and never knew it existed! Great mix of different vocals and a good song. I knew about that film but have never seen it. A good find there, Max. Coincidentally – or not – he wrote another song about a ‘Suzanne’ for ‘Human Wheels’ a year or two later.
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Yea I didn’t know about it either. I found it by looking for more info on Joe Ely. You would have thought out of all of the Mellencamp posts we had we would have ran across them.
Good song nonetheless… I liked it right away. Some country-rock plus some Byrds.
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That kind of sound is more in his usual wheelhouse than glossy rock the record company had him make early on.
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Yes it does…it would have fit on one of his albums at the time.
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Man you had me on tis one. This is a deep dig. I forgot all about it. I have the soundtrack. I was about everything Prine, Ely and John back then. A little gem from an obscure film. So it was just the one song correct? Great surprise. I like all those guys
(Hemmingway shot I guy I know in another movie)
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Yes just this one song…Yea man I don’t know how this slipped by me all of these years. As I said…I was looking for more info on Ely…which was going to be a post today but this side tracked me completely. Of all the Mellencamp posts I made…this one never showed up in research. I didn’t know much about McMurtry but I like what I’ve heard.
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I like the idea of “one and done” something cool about that. I had no idea about McMurtry until this. He has a lot of good stuff. Ely and Prine are staple with Mellencamp not to far behind. Again Max you dug for this one.
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Glad you liked it CB…it was one of of the coolest finds for me.
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All above said it, soi ditto. Your comment about Country Rock/Byrds is pretty apt.
(Love the bit about ‘Prine, Ely and half a bottle of vodka… and then not remembering anything. So true.)
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Those guys would have been fun to hang with….well not the next day.
They did a good job on this…it sure flew under the radar for me.
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First time I heard it/them. ‘Yer listening to Max’s late breaking wax offerings! Now, we’ll be back after this quick word from my sponsor…’
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Max on Wax….thats it!
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That could be a keeper!
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I may use that for a new series.
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Max, add me to the list of people who learned a lot here today. I’m surprised I never heard of the band before. Good tune!
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Thank you Bruce! That makes both os us.
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