Other People’s Stuff, as its title implies, is a collection of songs that John Mellencamp has covered at one time or  another. It’s something of a holding pattern until he gets around to recording another batch of his own tunes but, taken on its own merits, it’s a fulfilling listening experience and—as cover collections tend to be by default—offers more insight into who the artist is at heart. Mellencamp has always enjoyed a good story song, and most of the 10 tracks here offer a rich narrative. The Civil Rights anthem “Eyes on the Prize”—its roots dating back a century or more and recorded by Mellencamp at the White House during the Obama era—is as poignant today, if not more so, than when he performed it. The gospel-informed “To the River,” co-written by Janis Ian and Jon Vezner, is a spirited slice of classic Americana that Mellencamp included on 1993’s Human Wheels , while “Wreck of the Old 97” is a nearly century-old folk song previously cut by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and countless others. Mellencamp often turns to the blues when he wants to remake a song. Several tunes on Other People’s Stuff end up falling into that category, among them the gutbucket “Stones in My Passway,” one of two Robert Johnson standards that Mellencamp borrowed from an earlier covers collection, 2003’s Trouble No More . Not everything is so weighty though: The set bows out with a 50-year-old Stevie Wonder nugget, “I Don’t Know Why I Love You,” a necessary reminder that sometimes a simple amorous declaration says all that needs to be said.