View source for American Fool

{{more citations needed|date=March 2009}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = American Fool
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[John Mellencamp|John Cougar]]
| cover        = JC_American_Fool.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = {{Start date|1982|4|12}}
| recorded     = 
| venue        = 
| studio       = 
* [[Cherokee Studios|Cherokee]] ([[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]])
* [[Criteria Studios|Criteria]] ([[Miami]])
| genre        = {{hlist|[[Rock music|Rock]]|[[heartland rock]]}}
| length       = 34:26
| label        = [[Riva Records|Riva]]
| producer     = {{hlist|John Mellencamp|[[Don Gehman]]}}
| prev_title   = [[Nothin' Matters and What If It Did]]
| prev_year    = 1980
| next_title   = [[The Kid Inside]]
| next_year    = 1983
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = American Fool
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Hurts So Good]]
 | single1date = April 1982
 | single2     = [[Jack & Diane]]
 | single2date = July 1982
 | single3    = [[Hand to Hold Onto (John Mellencamp)|Hand to Hold Onto]]
 | single3date = October 1982
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r12908|pure_url=yes}} |title=''American Fool'' |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |website=[[Allmusic]] |accessdate=January 14, 2012}}</ref>
| rev2      = [[Robert Christgau]]
| rev2Score = B<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist2.php?id=688 |title=CG: Artist 688 |first=Robert |last=Christgau |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=RobertChristgau.com |accessdate=November 5, 2012}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/american-fool-19820902 |title=American Fool |first=Ken |last=Emerson |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=September 2, 1982 |accessdate=November 5, 2012}}</ref>
}}
'''''American Fool''''' is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter [[John Mellencamp]] (credited as John Cougar), released on April 12, 1982. The album was his commercial breakthrough, holding the No. 1 position on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart for nine consecutive weeks. A remastered version of ''American Fool'' was released on [[Mercury Records|Mercury]]/[[Island Records|Island]]/[[Universal Music Enterprises|UMe]] on March 29, 2005; it includes one bonus track, the previously unreleased title track.<ref name=officialsite>{{cite web |url=http://www.mellencamp.com/discography.html?dd_id=39 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821112509/http://www.mellencamp.com/discography.html?dd_id=39 |archive-date=2010-08-21 |title=John Mellencamp - Official Website :: Discography}}</ref>

==Production==
Producer [[Don Gehman]] stated in a 2011 interview that ''American Fool'' was fraught with layers of problems. "We had 20 or so songs, we had a record company that was hoping we were making a [[Neil Diamond]]‑type album, and after we spent two or three months in the studio recording these songs and mixing them to the best of our ability, I can remember an [[A&R]] guy in a pink shirt coming in to listen to them and basically thinking we had nothing. At that point, they put a stop to the project. We had ‘[[Jack & Diane]],’ we had ‘Hand to Hold On To,’ we had ‘Weakest Moments’ — we had some good songs — and while I don’t know the precise nature of the discussions that took place, [[Riva Records|Riva]] went from wanting to get a new producer to not even wanting John on the label anymore. Finally, they came around to letting us finish it but wanting to hear the new songs we were going to cut."

According to a 1983 article in the ''[[Toledo Blade]]'', the song "Danger List" originated when John Mellencamp heard his guitarist [[Larry Crane (guitarist)|Larry Crane]] playing some chords in a basement rehearsal room. "I turned on the tape recorder and sang 30 verses,” Mellencamp explained. "I just made them up. Then I went and weeded out the ones I didn't like."

==Track listing==
All songs written by [[John Mellencamp]], except where noted.

# "[[Hurts So Good]]" (Mellencamp, [[George Green (songwriter)|George M. Green]]) – 3:42
# "[[Jack & Diane]]" – 4:16
# "Hand to Hold On To" – 3:25
# "Danger List" (Mellencamp, [[Larry Crane (guitarist)|Larry Crane]]) – 4:28
# "Can You Take It" – 3:35
# "Thundering Hearts" (Mellencamp, Green) – 3:40
# "China Girl" (Joe New, [[Jeff Silbar]]) – 3:34
# "Close Enough" – 3:38
# "Weakest Moments" – 4:07
# "American Fool" (2005 re-issue bonus track) – 3:46

==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"|Chart (1982)
! scope="col"|Peak<br/>position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=197}}</ref>
|align="center"|18
|-
{{album chart|Canada|1|chartid=6520|rowheader=true|access-date=9 November 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|Sweden|30|artist=John Cougar|album=American Fool|rowheader=true|access-date=26 February 2025}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|37|date=19821107|rowheader=true|access-date=26 February 2025}}
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|1|artist=John Mellencamp|rowheader=true|access-date=9 November 2024}}
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1982)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (''RPM'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6170&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6170.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6170|title=RPM Top 100 Albums of '82|publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]]|access-date=23 November 2024}}</ref>
|align="center"|3
|-
!scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/Billboard_Top_Albums_1982|title=Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1982|website=BestSellingAlbums.org|access-date=23 November 2024}}</ref>
|align="center"|4
|-
!Chart (1983)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/Billboard_Top_Albums_1983|title=Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1983|website=BestSellingAlbums.org|access-date=23 November 2024}}</ref>
|align="center"|32
|}
{{col-end}}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for ''American Fool''}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=John Mellencamp|title=American Fool|award=Platinum|number=5|type=album|relyear=1982|certyear=1988|access-date=23 November 2024}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=John Mellencamp|title=American Fool|award=Platinum|number=5|type=album|relyear=1982|certyear=1996|access-date=23 November 2024}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==Personnel==
* [[John Mellencamp]] – lead vocals, guitar, tambourine
* [[Larry Crane (guitarist)|Larry Crane]] – guitar, background vocals
* Mike Wanchic – guitar, background vocals
* [[Kenny Aronoff]] – drums, [[LinnDrum]]
* [[George "Chocolate" Perry]] – bass
* [[Mick Ronson]] – guitar, background vocals<ref name=personnel>''[[The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988]]'' liner notes (1997)</ref>
* Robert "Ferd" Frank – bass, background vocals<ref name=personnel />
* [[Eric Franklin Rosser|Eric Rosser]] – keyboards<ref name=personnel />
* Dave Parman – background vocals<ref name=personnel />

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

{{John Mellencamp}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:John Mellencamp albums]]
[[Category:1982 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Don Gehman]]
[[Category:Riva Records albums]]