ALBUM: John Prine 1971
MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$$ (First pressings and promo albums can be expensive.)
John Prine wrote some classic songs. Socially conscious, witty and biting, he upon further review should go down as one of America’s finest songwriters.
‘Angel from Montgomery,’ ‘Sam Stone,’ ‘Illegal Smile,’ ‘Hello in there,’ and ‘Donald and Lydia’ are major and minor classics. And that was just his first album. I believe I got this in Middle School (actually we called it Junior high school back then). I was about 9th grade. I remember hearing ‘Donald and Lydia’ and thinking I had to find this song. I had to tell my brother to turn down the Alice Cooper so I could figure out a way to find out who did that song and what was it called. It took some sleuthing. Spanish Pipedream was another favorite: “Blow up the TV, throw out your paper … go find Jesus on your own.”
Bob Dylan is reportedly a big fan.
In 2017 Rolling Stone did a profile calling Prine the Mark Twain of singer-songwriters.
Prine’s lyrics can be funny, biting and can make you cry — sometimes all within one song.
From Sam Stone he sets the tone, a family where ‘Daddy,’ a war veteran with a Purple Heart, has a drug problem:
‘There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don’t stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.‘
His much covered ‘Angel from Montgomery’ has these lyrics near the end of the song.. They always give me the chills because I think it is a strong hint that that she (the song’s protagonist killed her husband. I’ve been in debates over this, but here they are followed by a famous cover of the song by Bonnie Raitt.
There’s flies in the kitchen
I can hear ’em there buzzing
And I ain’t done nothing since I woke up today
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say — John Prine “Angel from Montgomery.’
Here’s Bonnie Raitt covering the song:
In the middle of the Vietnam War — Prine was drafted and did a tour of duty — he wrote this:
But your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more
They’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don’t like killin’
No matter what the reasons for
And your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more
Another example of his funny side.