John Prine died yesterday. Any list of the greatest singer-songwriters in American history would have to include the man from Illinois who, over the last 50 years, gave us 18 albums and countless live performances of the most personal and resonant songs of his generation. While working the folk club circuit in Chicago in 1970 he was lucky enough to snare an audition with Kris Kristofferson, himself one of the greatest songwriters in American Music history. Kristofferson couldnt believe what he was hearing.. Here is what he wrote in the liner notes of Prine's debut LP….
John Prine caught us by surprise in the late-night morning let-down after our last show in Chicago. Steve Goodman (who’d shared the bill with us that week) asked us to go to Old Town to listen to a friend he said we had to hear, and since Steve had knocked us out all week with his own songs, we obliged.
It was too damned late, and we had an early wake-up ahead of us, and by the time we got there Old town was nothing but empty streets and dark windows. And the club was closing. But the owner let us come in, pulled some chairs off a couple of tables, and John unpacked his guitar and got back up to sing.
There are few things as depressing to look at as a bunch of chairs upside down on the table of an empty old tavern, and there was that awkward moment, us sitting there like, “Okay, kid, show us what you got,” and him standing up there alone, looking down at his guitar like, “What the hell are we doing here, buddy?” Then he started singing, and by the end of the first line we knew we were hearing something else. It must’ve been like stumbling onto Dylan when he first busted onto the Village scene (in fact Al Aronowitz said the same thing a few weeks later after hearing John do a guest set at the Bitter End). One of those rare, great times when it all seems worth it,, like when the Vision would rise upon Blake’s “weary eyes, Even in this Dungeon, & this Iron Mill.”
He sang about a dozen songs, and had to do a dozen more before it was over. Unlike anything I’d heard before.
Sam Stone, Donald & Lydia. The one about the Old Folks. Twenty-four years old and writes like he’s about two-hundred and twenty. I don’t know where he comes from, but I’ve got a good idea where he’s going. We went away believers, reminded how goddamned good it feels to be turned on by a real Creative Imagination.
What Prine sang for Kris that night was what would become his debut LP in 1971. What I consider one of the greatest albums of its genre ever recorded. There is nothing special about the spare instrumentation…or John's singing…but like Dylan before him, many people have covered John's songs, but nobody can sing them like he does. Prine, had in fact, been lumped in with the “New Dylan” label that had been bandied about by music writers as they looked for the next “poet of a generation” while the real thing was hiding out in upstate New York. The comparison is apt, to a point, but lets face it, it's not fair to compare anyone whether it was Prine or Goodman or even Springsteen to Bob Dylan.
I discovered Prine late as he didn't get played on the radio around here and none of my friends were into him either. In fact, I don't believe I heard him until I got to college in 1975 when he was four albums in and someone at 90fm was playing him while I was in the studio. I was immediately captured by his lyrics. The stories his songs told…the characters you were introduced to…the images evoked…the heartbreaking nature of his imagination.
I want you to experience his first album if you haven't already so I have included all of the songs from the LP in order. I'll bet I've listened to these songs hundreds of times and for me they never get old. I hope they have that kind of effect on you as well.
Prine wrote a ton of great songs in his career ranging from The Great Compromise to Dear Abby. From Grandpa was A Carpenter to Souvenirs. He has done covers of classic country songs and whole albums of duets with country greats. You can spend some great hours diving into the Prine catalog but it all began with the debut…John Prine….and in my opinion rarely got better.
Some twitter tributes from Bruce and Bonnie:
“Over here on E Street, we are crushed by the loss of John Prine. John and I were “New Dylans” together in the early 70s and he was never anything but the lovliest guy in the world. A true national treasure and a songwriter for the ages. We send our love and prayers to his family.”
“Words can't even come close.
I'm crushed by the loss of my dear friend, John. My heart and love go out to Fiona and all the family. For all of us whose hearts are breaking, we will keep singing his songs and holding him near. ”
@JohnPrineMusic
He also, of course wrote a tongue in cheek tune for when this day came.
