The first time I saw John Prine was also the first time I saw Bonnie Raitt, I think it was early 1973, in Mankato, Minnesota. I went because the college radio station was playing a lot of Raitt's first album - Prine was an unexpected gift. I'm happy to see several people mention Dear Abby. I first heard it at that concert and completely broke up laughing by the second chorus - it was so clever that (of course) it was the same as the first but also that the chorus was Abby's advice, which was always the same no matter what the complaint was. It's really hard to write good funny songs and he is as good as it gets. Deeply funny. Prine's generation produced many great songwriters but I think he's in a class by himself. So effective at using simple melodies to convey profound thoughts - thoughts worth expressing.
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