Larry Crane

Larry Crane (born October 8, 1956) is an American rock musician and songwriter from Seymour, Indiana. From 1976 until 1991, he appeared alongside John Mellencamp as guitarist and contributor to the arrangements and production of the Mellencamp sound (often labelled as "heartland rock.")

History As Mellencamp's guitarist, Crane contributed to twenty Billboard charted singles, including "Ain't Even Done with the Night", "Hurts So Good", "Jack and Diane", "Hand to Hold on To", "I Need a Lover", "Crumblin' Down", "Pink Houses", "Rain on the Scarecrow", "Small Town", "Lonely Ol' Night", "Rumbleseat", "R.O.C.K in the U.S.A.", "Paper in Fire", "Check It Out", "Cherry Bomb", "Martha Say", "Jackie Brown", and "Pop Singer". Though not often recognized as a songwriter, Crane did receive a co-writer credit for "Play Guitar" on the Uh-Huh album.

After the release of Big Daddy, Crane left the Mellencamp band due to his impression that "he and his bandmates were underpaid." Since leaving the band, Crane has launched a solo career. During his 30-plus year career, he has also toured and recorded with several other influential musicians, including John Prine, Steve Earle, Bonnie Raitt, Rosanne Cash, Carl Perkins, James McMurtry, Mitch Ryder, Lou Reed and John Fogerty. He has also collaborated with producer Bob Johnston. Larry announced his retirement from music on Oct 8, 2017 on Facebook.

Discography

Solo recordings Year Title 1993 Eye for an Eye 1994 Larry Crane 2003 Wire & Wood 2010 Tropical Depression

Recordings with John Mellencamp Year Title Credits 1976 Chestnut Street Incident Lead guitar, back up vocals 1977(released in 1983) The Kid Inside Lead guitar, back up vocals 1978 A Biography Guitar, background vocals 1979 John Cougar Guitar, background vocals 1980 Nothin' Matters and What If It Did Guitar, backing vocals 1982 American Fool Guitar 1983 Uh-Huh Guitar 1985 Scarecrow Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals 1987 The Lonesome Jubilee Guitar, mandolin, harmonica, autoharp, banjo, backing vocals 1989 Big Daddy Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin

Other recordings Year ArtistTitlesCredits 1983 Mitch Ryder Never Kick a Sleeping Dog Vocals, guitar 1985 Rosanne Cash Rhythm & Romance Guitar 1987 Rosanne Cash King's Record Shop Guitar 1988 Various Artists Folkways: A Vision Shared Guitar 1989 James McMurtry Too Long in the Wasteland Vocals (background), guitar 1991 Various Artists Falling from Grace Composer, vocals, performer, producer, guitar 1995 Rosanne Cash Retrospective Guitar 1996 Carl Perkins Go Cat Go Guitar 1996 Dave Sharp Downtown America Arrangement, guitar 1997 John Prine Live on Tour Vocals (background), guitar 2002 Keith Sykes Don't Count Us Out Additional guitar

Time to Pay (film) Falling from Grace, 1992