John Prine....

[Larry Pattis]

As a slight diversion, anyone that is intrigued by Prine's works would undoubtedly like both Greg Brown and TR Ritchie.

[StephenHD35]

The Late John Garfield Blues is one of my favorite Prine tunes.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by downtime

My favorite Prine song to play is Souvenirs

Great song. I think there might be at least a few of you who have never heard of Steve Goodman, who should always be mentioned in the same breath with John (and he would be the first one to tell you that). He was John's best friend out of Chicago, and they frequently toured together. Goodman was a supremely gifted acoustic lead player, one of the best of the last fifty years, on top of being drop-dead funny onstage and a helluva songwriter. If you don't recognize the name, he wrote "The City of New Orleans" (no, Arlo didn't write it), voted the best train song ever written by almost everyone. Steve died thirty years ago of leukemia, at age 36. Here is their version of "Souvenirs." The boy could play.

[Charmed Life Picks]

And another....

Steve and John wrote probably the funniest send-up of country music ever penned. Watch him lay flat half the members of Congress at a gala event in D.C. Anyone who ever saw Steve live will tell you they'll remember it the rest of their life.

[Cabarone]

I imagine we all have our favorite tunes we play. I do all of them I can learn and remember...as has been said, most are real simple chord structure...great, great songs and a whole bunch of 'em...

As for which albums, JP commented in an interview that it seemed most people still like his first couple albums best even late in his career...that first one had (probably) his most "powerful" songs; I think his first four or five are my faves, just 'cause I've known them the longest...IMHO, he's never had a bad stretch...

Not to hijack, but did anybody see that article on the JP Fans FB page about how Johnny Cash changed (or JP changed it for him) the line about Jesus in "Sam Stone"?

[Charmed Life Picks]

If you've never heard the "happy enchilada" story from JP, you're in for a real treat. He definitely could have been a standup comic -- and a very successful one -- if he hadn't made it in music.

Here's a live retelling. I promise you'll love this.

[nedray]

I consider his first three to be his best--or at least most iconic--albums. The first, eponymous record with the hay bales has most of the songs most identified with Prine. I first got acquainted with him when Diamonds in the Rough was current and that remains one of my favorites. But Sweet Revenge is a lot of fun too. If I was just discovering JP now, I would start with those three, but then go on and get the others too.

[AgentKooper]

"Angel from Montgomery" and "Paradise" are two great songs to start with, as others have mentioned. These are two strummers, whereas Prine typically Travis picks on most tunes. You can find some videos of him on YouTube playing these and learn the tunes pretty easily from watching him. Another great online resource is Jerry's Guitar Bar. He has great video lessons of many choice Prine tunes, including good tabs.

Best albums to starts with are early ones, IMO:

John Prine (self-titled debut)
Sweet Revenge
Bruised Orange

Plenty of other great records too, obviously: The Missing Years; In Spite of Ourselves; his first live album.

[windfall]

I've been playing Storm Windows. Got One Red Rose lined up for next OM. Aand this is an overlooked gem
https://youtu.be/NH3d7s1iJWI

The Missing Years is his best post-70s album.

[Cabarone]

Here's the link to a comprehensive website all about him. Has all his songs/chords/lyrics in alphabetical order and by album...


http://www.jpshrine.org

BTW, last week I was playing some tunes for my beautiful wife...I had recently learned Angel From Montgomery and she started singing along under her breath...I had no idea she knew it; she doesn't have a clue who JP is...now I got to get her to start doing it w/me...

[brancher]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

You all know me and my stance on "done-to-death" covers. I love all John Prine tunes, been a fan since '79. I have all his albums, most as LP's. But....
Paradise, Angel and Sam Stone are done to death...

...like a million other songs -- Landslide, Pirate-40, Ring of Fire, Blackbird, and on and on. Nothing like spending a month getting a good instrumental ready, only to have somebody at an open mic look quizzically and ask if I know Folsom Prison Blues. But I do know that song and I do play it and others. And folks like it.

Not to be contrary, but many of the best (and most loved) songs are stupidly simple -- but that also gives you LOTS of room to do stuff with the song - experiment with breaks, keys, etc. Especially if you are just getting going!

....but I try not to do much 'music-to-slit-your-wrist-by' while folks are trying to have a beer and a good time after a long day....

[leew3]

Originally Posted by brancher

Granpa Was A Carpenter
Illegal Smile
Sam Stone
Angel fr Montgomery
Hello In There
Dear Abby

+1 for ^^^ this!

[llew]

Angel from Montgomery is probably my favorite with Paradise a close second. But In Spite of Ourselves is just a fun song to play at a gathering. My wife (who rarely sings) will join in and help me with it.

[Slothead56]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Great song. I think there might be at least a few of you who have never heard of Steve Goodman, who should always be mentioned in the same breath with John (and he would be the first one to tell you that). He was John's best friend out of Chicago, and they frequently toured together. Goodman was a supremely gifted acoustic lead player, one of the best of the last fifty years, on top of being drop-dead funny onstage and a helluva songwriter. If you don't recognize the name, he wrote "The City of New Orleans" (no, Arlo didn't write it), voted the best train song ever written by almost everyone. Steve died thirty years ago of leukemia, at age 36. Here is their version of "Souvenirs." The boy could play.

Good video...love both these guys.

Interesting. Prine, who I would normally associate with a Martin D 28, is playing a Guild-looks like a 25 or 35-and Goodman, typically a Martin OM 21 guy, is playing something I can't identify. What are the odds.

[Jeff56]

There are gems on most of his albums, Sweet Revenge from 1973 and Fair and Square from 2005 are two of my favorites.