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John Prine — 264

Hello in there John Prine

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.

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The Coolest Cover Yet of ‘Angel from Montgomery’–by WPC

In this blog post  is  a song.

Play it.

Christopher M. Viner. and Sasha G. Alcott  PHOTO CREDIT: Cait Bourgault

Push the sideways triangle.

It’s a cover by When Particles Collide  of ‘Angel from Montgomery’ and it may be a challenger for  the best  cover yet of that song or at least puts it  in that conversation.

And believe me that’s saying a lot considering who has covered this John Prine classic:

  • Bonnie Raitt (she has done duets of this song with Prine, Tracy Chapman, Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby and more.)
  • Susan Tedeschi
  • John Denver
  • Cameo
  • John Mayer
  • Dave Matthews
  • Ben Harper
  • These are just a few who have covered it. The list goes on and on.

See what you think.

You, audience, are the first to hear this outside the inner circle. It’s a little different than Raitt’s famous version(s). It hits you with a little more force, urgency. It replaces melancholy and hopelessness with the beginnings of raw pain, and anger. For me the flies take on a  bigger buzz.

There’s flies in the kitchen
I can hear all their buzzin’
And I ain’t done nothing since I woke up today
How the hell can a person
Go to work in the morning
Come home in the evening
And have nothing to say

When Sasha sings the above, she spits out the last four lines and we suddenly wonder what the woman has done. The ambiguity in Prine’s  poetry starts to melt  away.

Give a little listen  w headphones.

Back ground here: Earlier in these bloggies, I wrote about this great  group When Particles Collide. I saw them  several months ago, a husband-wife band, performing on the back porch of my  basketball buddy Eric Stockman’s home here in the Birmingham area.

These 40-somethings from Maine had quit their day jobs and took WPC out on a 14-month U.S. tour. I picked up a record of theirs and loved their hard rocking style.

I wrote that I’d like to also hear some softer stuff, such as “Angel from Montgomery” cover of John Prine, which they had  played in the back porch concert.

I requested the song from this band and  like all good bands they played it. Not only played it, but recorded it and sent it to me. (I can’t swear to these time sequences, they may have already had this song recorded or plans to record it before I made the request about a month or so ago. But I like to think they fulfilled my request in the  rock and roll tradition.  And, as I have announced, they are coming out with an acoustic album , Eric tells me.

Learn more by going to WPC’s website.

www.whenparticlescollide.com/

To comment  or weigh in on the best ‘Angel’ cover, click the blog title and scroll to the end.