I heard Sly sing 'hot fun at the country fair,' I said, 'Man, that's for me!' Years later, I saw that there was a lot more subtlety and intensity to his music than I first realized. And whether you hear the influence in Tone Loc or Arrested Development, Sly remains an undercredited inspiration in '90s rock 'n roll. He made street music, and I wanted things like 'Birmingham' to have the rhythm of the streets." Of the lead track, "When Jesus Left Birmingham", Mellencamp told Billboard: "I wrote 'When Jesus Left Birmingham' in Amsterdam in 1992 after driving back at 2 a.m. from a concert we'd done down in The Hague. When we got to the hotel, it looked like Sodom and Gomorrah, with dozens of well-dressed businessmen all around the area picking up prostitutes and going wild. I thought, 'There's something wrong here: It's a Wednesday night, at an hour when anybody sane is asleep, and these people are just getting started!' It gave you the sense that there's no bottom line any more in anyone's behavior." On the reflective "Sweet Evening Breeze," Mellencamp said in the liner notes to his 2010 box set On the Rural Route 7609: "Can you name another song that sounds like that? I think that song is beautifully produced and arranged." The album is dedicated to band member John Cascella, who died unexpectedly about halfway through production of the album. Promotion Mercury Records utilized a unique (for the time period) two-tiered singles campaign to promote the album. They released "What if I Came Knocking" to radio in July 1993, and followed it up a month later with a second single, "Human Wheels", which charted at No. 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. "The whole idea came from Jimi Hendrix," Mellencamp told Billboard. "He put out a single, and said, 'I did pretty good with that one, let's make another one.' Then they made an album." Track listing Personnel John Mellencamp – vocals, guitar Kenny Aronoff – drums, percussion David Grissom – guitars, mandolin, bass Lisa Germano – violin, mandolin, penny whistle, zither, background vocals Toby Myers – bass, background vocals Pat Peterson – background vocals, accordion, maracas, co-lead vocals on "Case 795 (The Family)", "French Shoes" Mike Wanchic – guitars, dobro, dulcimer, background vocals Malcolm Burn – organ, guitar, harmonica, synthesizer John Cascella – accordion, organ, background vocals, penny whistle, melodica Janas Hoyt