I gotsta believe there are some Prine fans on board.
The man hasn’t produced much in the past decade or so, but in his prime there were few who could equal his songwriting ability.
A few years back I got his Great Days Anthology CD and listened to it endlessly for quite some time. I popped it in today and was (once again) blown away by his genius.
And this depressing question occurred to me: Why is Lady Gaga wicked famous and JP is not?
mmm
Marketing?
And daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I’m sorry my son, but you’re too late in asking
Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away
You might guess that I’m a fan of Prine’s.
He and Warren Zevon are my two favorite musical artists. I don’t think there’s been a better folk songwriter than Prine. Not in the last 40 years, anyway. I think he’s a better songwriter than Dylan.
I was into John Prine back in the late seventies. I saw him in concert in Park City, Utah in '79 or '80. “Illegal Smile” was my favorite song.
If I remember correctly, I read somewhere that he works hard to avoid the limelight. Lady Gaga will never be accused of that.
I had kind of forgotten about Mr. Prine. Thanks, Mr. Mustard, for the remind. I will seek out the CD you mentioned.
Definitely. His songs hit a spot deep in my heart. Now you have me searching youtube for his videos!
He ain’t got laid in a month of Sundays
I caught him once and he was sniffin’ my undies
He ain’t too sharp but he gets things done
Drinks his beer like it’s oxygen
He’s my baby
And I’m his honey
Never gonna let him go
I love John Prine. He still tours and I intend to see him some day.
Damnit!
I limit myself to two MP3 albums from Amazon each month, and next month’s were supposed to be Sting’s first two solo albums.
Sorry, Sting, you’re just going to have to wait. There’s a hole in Daddy’s ear, where all the money goes.
I had the privilege of seeing John Prine play a few weeks back at his Alma Mater, Proviso East High School. It was a benefit for the Maywood Fine Arts folks and they were filming it for a documentary.
4 Hours. Four Hours! Every single song started with a backstory, where he was and what he was thinking when he wrote it.
We were spellbound. The kicker? All of his brothers came on stage for the encore and did Paradise together- his older brother on fiddle, younger on guitar. Steve Goodman’s mom was in the audience along with tons of other Chicago folk celebs.
It might just have been the greatest concert of my entire life.
Sam Stone - I smiled when I saw your name. Not to derail my own thread, but I love Zevon as well. Oddly enough, I was listening to his Anthology CD before I got myself reacquainted with Prine’s. Weird that you mention WZ.
buckyogi - My pleasure.
Deloris Reborn - Thanks for the lyrics - and the videos.
hajario - Prine was on Elvis Costello’s ‘Spectacle’ show last year, along with Lyle Lovett and Ray Lamontagne.
Frank - Sting vs. Prine: Prine will win every time 'round these parts. Good choice. The Great Days CD covers his career from '71 through '91.
MikeG - What a night! Just hearing the music is awesome, but the backstories must have made it so much more special.
From my favorite Prine song:
Clearly marketing, of course. But Prine would be hard to market. He first got noticed a member of the “Next Bob Dylan Club*,” but he was too country for the rock audience and too antiestablishment for the country audience.
Roger Ebert is a big fan.
*Originally, Bruce Springsteen, Loudon Wainwright III, Prine, and Eliot Murphy. If you think Prine’s overlooked, he’s a superstar compared to Murphy (who deserved better). Note that the four don’t have a lot in common musically other than being great songwriters.
I’m going to have to find the time to research this a little more closely, but I have a strong impression of John Prine from a roommate who used to play his records all the time. I greatly admired the way he wrote his songs–I recall that he got his rhythms just right, and didn’t depend on a lot of lazy near-rhymes. The problem I had was the persistent motif of helplessness: Sam Stone couldn’t deal with his memories and died with a needle in his arm; “Old people just grow lonesome waiting for someone to say, ‘Hello in there’”; even "please tell the Man I didn’t kill anyone carries a trace of it. He appears to think individuals are incapable of acting to change their own circumstances, and I find that a really lousy message to send.
So this means I had to fire up “Dear Abby”.
Dear Abby, Dear Abby you won’t believe this,
but my stomach makes noises whenever I kiss.
Just sharing the earworm.
Grandpa was a carpenter
He built houses stores and banks
Chain smoked Camel cigarettes
And hammered nails in planks
He was level on the level
And shaved even every door
And voted for Eisenhower
'Cause Lincoln won the war.
I love Prine. I try to see him perform every time he is anywhere close.
Sounds like we were both there the same night. I’ve seen JP probably 5 times, and that was likely the most fun. Drove by his house afterwards.
My fave story was about:
Thinking about the car wash and the hole in my street
…
made me scub the parking lot down on my knees
then I got fired for being scared of bees.
And I guess I never realized quite how tight he, Steve Goodman, and KK were. What a riot.
Got my hand in my pocket - thinking of you…
Big John Prine fan, here. I was in high school when his first album came out, and he was supposed to be the next Bob Dylan. Kinda went downhill after that, but that was one hell of an album. I’ve seen him play a few times, and he really is one of those guys who puts on a good show.
I grew up singing this with my kin, but never knew who originally sang it. We all knew it because we drove by Peabody coal mines every day. Off to iTunes!!
Oh yeah, I love me some Prine. Now I’m gonna spend the rest of the day talking dirty in hawaiian.
I had a chance to see him last month, but had to pass to see Kris Kristofferson instead.
Who else but John Prine could have written:
:D:D:D:D:D