Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited
"Don't forget, I've been listening to this record since it came out," he says, adding that it must be appreciated on vinyl. "But every time I hear it feels like the first time -- it's totally nutty."

The Seeds: "Pushin' Too Hard" [Listen]
The Seeds are one of Mellencamp's favorites from the legendary Nuggets garage-rock compilation: "Making Freedom's Road, we listened to, and dissected, the Nuggets records."

The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street [Listen]
Mellencamp also used the Stones for inspiration: "It wasn't quite garage. But it wasn't polished, either. It's almost like they abandoned it before it got out of control. Awful damn good stuff."