Live concert of John Mellencamp during the Farm Crisis in Chillicothe, Missouri on May 7th, 1986.

“This isn’t new for me to be worried about farmers,” said Mellencamp before the two-hour program of speeches and singing. “I grew up in a farm community of 15,000 (Seymour, Ind.). My friends are all farmers.” Mellencamp said he chose to sing Scarecrow, Pink Houses and Small Town because they all deal with the rural USA. “I believe we need to change the face of America. These people, farmers, are your people… We’ve got to help each other. I want to help and make the media and people in this country aware of farmers’ problems.”