Way back in the late '60s and early '70's, there was a UHF station in Chicago (WSNS Channel 44) that featured an "all news" lineup (the format quickly failed). There was a show on at midnight called "Underground News" which often had John Prine on as a guest. I have all of John's appearances recorded on reel-to-reel tapes which are still in excellent shape (I installed a "line output" on our Zenith TV set and almost electrocuted myself). He was extremely prolific and his early stuff was "more Dylan than Dylan". He was also extremely witty and quite often left the host (a guy named Howie Samuelson) scratching his head in amazement.
I managed to track down a copy of Pink Cadillac after loving Chuck Prophet's version of Saigon for many years. It's an unusual album but not without its merits. And Saigon is just a fantastic rock'n'roll song.
I like the "more Dylan than Dylan" analysis. I've always thought he was pretty underrated compared to Dylan.
From Chuck's twitter feed. John Prine to play 1971 debut album at Station Inn. And people say Nashville is over . . . John Prine to play 1971 debut album at Station Inn »
Indeed. Despite the cliche cover and somewhat heavy-handed production in a few spots, the debut album is jaw-droppingly brilliant. I would suggest you just go in sequence and get "Diamonds in the Rough" next -- it's also pretty amazing.
I've been listening to lots and lots of 1960s C&W tracks recently, and one day it finally struck me who Ernest Tubb reminded me of...JP, of course, who's probably a big fan of Mr. T. himself.
Sam Stone is one of the greatest songs ever written... and Prine's performance of it is fantastic. One of the great Anti-War songs -- even though it isn't stridently Anti-War.
Haven't listened to John Prine in a while. He's an amazing talent - I don't think he's ever released bad album. Listening to Bruised Orange right now, which I think is my favourite.
Ummm no. I've been into flok music since I was 16 or so....1973...maybe it's a late 60's 70's thing. You'd have to have been there. Prine's first album was in heavy rotation back in the day.
I've never really thought of Prine as "folk," though if you must put him in a category, that's probably as close as any. That's a lot of why he never broke through in a big way commercially -- radio had no clue what to do with him for the most part. I listened to "Diamonds in the Rough" for the first time in a while the other night. I actually think it's even more brilliant than his first album. With a lighter production touch, the songs just reach out and grab you.
The new album is streaming in its entirety on the NPR web site. My first impression was that it sounds fine but is closer to the Mac Wiseman duets album than "In Spite of Ourselves", just based on the songs being more "mainstream" and less "out there". I enjoyed the quirkiness of the cover selections on "ISOO", not to mention the uber-quirkiness of the undie-sniffing title track.
John Prine and Stephen Colbert! Colbert is really enjoying himself: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Video - Stephen Colbert and John Prine perform 'That's the Way That the World Goes 'Round' - CBS.com »
I know how some feel about the Hall of Fame and I don't want to divert this thread. It is criminal this guy is not in, at least for his songwriting. Some of my favorites outside the great initial run............ 1. Bruised Orange 2. John Prine Live 3. The Missing Years 4. In Spite of Ourselves 5. The Singing Mailman Delivers
This is a huge album in my life since forever. Just last month I played it over and over while I stayed by myself in Nigeria.
I think it quite good. I am on week 8 of a separation with my wife and a lot of the songs were hard to listen to though. Of course I'm finding that with a LOT of songs right now...
