Celebrating John Prine (Thread Started in 2017, Still Going Strong)
 

John Prine wins Americana Awards.

Great to see fine music still being recognized in our little folk world.

Congrats to John and Brandi:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-prine-883271/

A poignant poet and touching musician. Prine's seeming simplicity belies the profound power of his songs. I've seen him at least 7 times and each was so moving. Really don't know how to put into words how important his music has been to me.

JP is one of my favorites. I started listening to him back in the mid 70's when I lived in Chicago. Saw him many times performing at the "Park West".:D
I still get choked up when I hear/play "Hello In There" and "Sam Stone"

Amazing writer and performer. A great talent...

Yep, John Prine, Steve Goodman, Jethro Burns and Jesse Winchester, can't go wrong with any of this crew. "Hello in There" is one of my favorite John Prine tunes. Can't hardly get though it without choking up.

"Angel from Montgomery" is a masterpiece.

While Jesse Winchester is special, John Prine is in a class all his own, for me. Everything on that first album is a masterpiece. I've been a big fan ever since my brother in law turned me on to it back in 1976. I've been a lifelong fan and I finally got to see him live last November in Mobile. When he did Hello In There, I teared up. My wife caught me and gave me a smile only a wife can give. Pure magic that.

My favorite cut on the first album is Donald and Lydia. Parts of it speak directly to a very lonely time, a long time ago.

One last note - he has a book coming out soon. I've pre-ordered it, I can't wait for it to show up.

Sweet Revenge was an island of dry wit in a sea of balls out rock and roll back in the day. The rock has faded away, John Prine's songs are here to stay. God bless John Prine.

Details, please ... can't find anything about it.

Yes, the first album was brilliant. Have you ever heard the story of how Steve Goodman was responsible for JP being discovered by Kris Kristofferson?

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John Prine
 

'Hello In There' is my favorite John Prine tune, but 'Souvenirs' is a close second. Let's not forget the "Happy Enchilada" song ('That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round). :)

Really. I mean, who else thinks up stuff like "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" and "In Spite Of Ourselves":D

Nobody, that's who.

John could easily have been a stand-up comic if the music thing didn't pan out. For those of you who have never heard the "Happy Enchilada" story, here's a hilarious clip from YT. I'm not gonna be a spoiler. The joke and story comes near the end of the clip.

Enjoy!



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Good stuff! I like Dear Abby and Paradise, plus so many more.

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When my daughter was small, I would either read her a story at night or play a few tunes on the guitar as I put her to bed. It grew into a very special time for us. I have always played some John Prine tunes as best I could. The chord changes usually fit me pretty well.
Now that my daughter has grown up and is on her own, it has been especially nice to see that her affinity for John Prine is alive and well. I pre-ordered tickets for her a couple of years ago so she could see him at the National Theater in DC where she works. She loved it. She especially liked his commentary. After someone in the audience shouted out a song request, John said, "We play all our songs in alphabetical order...but I'm not sayin' which alphabet."
Last fall I managed to pre-order tickets for his show at the Birchmere, one of my favorite haunts when I lived in DC many years ago (my daughter was born there -- DC, that is, not the Birchmere). I flew up and we went to the show together. John Prine at the Birchmere -- life doesn't get that much better, but it was sweeter to share it with my daughter.
I am fortunate to own a 1966 Gibson J200 that John traded into Gruhn's several years ago. I have a handwritten note recalling the songs he used the guitar for on "The Missing Years." That guitar has all the bad construction attributes Gibson was doing in 1966, and it still sounds killer. Mojo.
I don't know if John Prine changed my life, but his songs and his humor and his truths sure changed my attitude about life.
Exactly odo, Quasimodo!
Long live JP!

In the spring of 1973 I was attending NIU in DeKalb, IL when I asked the guy across the hall, in the dorm, about an album he had that showed a fellow sitting on a hay bale. He said his brother bought it as a birthday gift, thinking it must be country music, but he said, "It's not country music, it's more like folk or something...pretty good, you want to hear it?"

So, he put it on the turntable and I was enthralled with Prine's first album.
After hearing both sides, I asked if he had anything else. He said, no, that was all he had by John Prine. I told him I was going to find out if there was anymore and I walked 4 blocks to the campus record store and found Prine's second album, "Diamonds in the Rough".
Needless to say, I've been hooked ever since.

As someone has mentioned, you can't talk about Prine without bringing Steve Goodman into the discussion. What a duo to rise out of the Chicago folk scene at the same time.