The Best That I Could Do collects the singles that led John Mellencamp into the radio/jukebox pantheon he celebrated in "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Cherry Bomb." While albums such as American Fool, Uh-Huh, Scarecrow held Top 10 spots for months, their spinoff hits made this Hoosier disciple of Jagger, J.B., and Iggy into something like a Reagan-era John Fogerty: not only were "Pink Houses," "Paper in Fire," and "Crumblin' Down" wise (and wiseacre) dispatches from an America where it wasn't always morning, they could fill a dance floor and get you pounding the dashboard on the way home. --Rickey Wright
DETAILS:
- Artist: John Mellencamp
- Format: Audio CD
- Run Time: 55 mins
- Label: Mercury Records
The Best that I Could Do song titles:
| 1. | "I Need a Lover" | A Biography | 5:38 |
| 2. | "Ain't Even Done with the Night" | Nothin' Matters and What If It Did | 4:37 |
| 3. | "Hurts So Good" (Mellencamp, George Green) | American Fool | 3:39 |
| 4. | "Jack and Diane" | American Fool | 4:16 |
| 5. | "Crumblin' Down" (Mellencamp, Green) | Uh-Huh | 3:36 |
| 6. | "Pink Houses" | Uh-Huh | 4:45 |
| 7. | "Authority Song" | Uh-Huh | 3:50 |
| 8. | "Lonely Ol' Night" | Scarecrow | 3:46 |
| 9. | "Small Town" | Scarecrow | 3:41 |
| 10. | "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." | Scarecrow | 2:55 |
| 11. | "Paper in Fire" | The Lonesome Jubilee | 3:53 |
| 12. | "Cherry Bomb" | The Lonesome Jubilee | 4:49 |
| 13. | "Check It Out" | The Lonesome Jubilee | 4:20 |
| 14. | "Without Expression" (Terry Reid, Graham Nash(uncredited)) | Previously unreleased | 5:06 |
