Jack & Diane Mellencamp and Don Gehman (with Gehman also engineering), and backing Mellencamp were guitarists/backing vocalists Mick Ronson, Mike Wanchic, Larry Crane, drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist/backing vocalist Robert Frank, and keyboardist Eric Rosser. In 1982, producer and guitarist Mick Ronson worked with Mellencamp on his "American Fool" album, and in particular on "Jack & Diane." In a 2008 interview with "Classic Rock" magazine, Mellencamp recalled: Mick was very instrumental in helping me arrange that song, as I'd thrown it on the junk heap. Ronson came down and played on three or four tracks and worked on the "American Fool" record for four
Jack & Diane or five weeks. All of a sudden, for 'Jack & Diane,' Mick said 'Johnny, you should put baby rattles on there.' I thought, 'What the fuck does put baby rattles on the record mean?' So he put the percussion on there and then he sang the part 'let it rock, let it roll' as a choir-ish-type thing, which had never occurred to me. And that is the part everybody remembers on the song. It was Ronson's idea. The opening guitar riff and drum beat of "Jack & Diane" were sampled as a hook on Jessica Simpson's single "I Think I'm