john mellencamp joins us to talk hurts and made it sound so good. john mellencamp joins us to talk about his musical influences. e/e/e/e/e/e/e/ e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/ how new is the new edge with myford touch? well you could never do this before. or this. or this. you definitely couldn't do this. play kate's mix. or this. temperature, 72 degrees. say hello to the new edge with myford touch.™ quite possibly the world's smartest crossover. is a powerful force. set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it. because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving. ♪ let's keep it moving. when i saw all the jobs disappearing, i knew i needed to find a better way to support my daughter. at age forty, greg flowers went back to school. i got a job as a computer applications engineer. but now some in washington want regulations restricting access to career colleges and universities, denying opportunity to millions of p

john mellencamp joins us to talk hurts and made it sound so good. john mellencamp joins us to talk about his musical influences. e/e/e/e/e/e/e/ e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/e/ how new is the new edge with myford touch? well you could never do this before. or this. or this. you definitely couldn't do this. play kate's mix. or this. temperature, 72 degrees. say hello to the new edge with myford touch.™ quite possibly the world's smartest crossover. is a powerful force. set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it. because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving. ♪ >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with cynthia mcfadden. >> well, he was born in a small town and has made a career of putting what he learned there into song. john mellencamp has worked his way into the dna of america, and you can hear it in every word of his new album, "no better than this," which is out now. tonight, he tells us

he would ton john, gregg allman, elvis costello, john mellencamp, neil young -- reforming buffalo springfieldp? >> it was the "the speaking clock revue". >> larry: "the speaking clock revue." >> yeah, we just played three dates, washington -- no, not washington, boston, new york and san francisco. had a great time. >> larry: you're so diverse. you're a classic -- most great character actors don't win academy awards for the lead, right? it was -- although you had been nominated for "the last picture show," best supporting actor for "shouldn'ter bolt and lightfoot." nominated best actor for "starman" and best actor for "the contender." i was proud to be in that movie. that was a hell of a movie. you played presidents. >> yeah. >> larry: and carmakers. >> yeah. >> larry: and piano players. >> yeah, shake it up. >> larry: and country singers. >> yeah. >> larry: how do you approach a role? i mean, take me into the formula. >> pretty much basically the same way every time. i look -- you read the script and you -- people in the characters in the script will talk about your character and that help --