Artist:John Prine
Song:Dear Abby
Album:Great Days:The John Prine Anthology
I suppose the best way to describe singer songwriter John Prine would be he's Bob Dylan with a sense of humour. He was born Oct. 10, 1946 in Maywood, IL and grew up in Kentucky. Along with his best pal Steve Goodman (City Of New Orleans), He bacame a fixture on the Chicago folk scene in the late 60s. Kris Kristofferson heard Prine and helped him get a record contract with Atlantic in 1971. Prine's songs are in the tradition of someone like Bob Dylan but he uses humour in a lot of his songs somewhat like Tom Paxton. Except he's more cynical than Paxton. Dear Abby is a good example. It's a commentary about whiners and how to respond to them. Prine had a good run with Atlantic and then Asylum but was dropped in 1980. He immediately started his own label Oh Boy Records with manager Al Bunetta and has been very successful. This Rhino comp is a good overview of his career. Prine was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 but recovered after undergoing treatment. He's still recording & touring and his new CD with bluegrass legend Mac Wiseman Standard Songs For Average People is out next month. Here's John Prine from 1990 performing Paradise, talking briefly about Kentucky and then performing Donald & Lydia.
Thanks for the John Prine tunes and update. I'll be looking for his Max Wiseman collaboration now that you mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteHi Frank,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see someone describing John Prine with such accuracy (he's like Bob Dylan with a sense of humour) and to watch rare video footage.
If you have any other information and/or videos about John Prine, please get in touch.
Best Regards
Chuck Micallef
info@ChuckMicallef.com
I have seen John Prine in concert 3 times and there has never been an artist that enjoys being on stage more than him.In an age of copycats he is one of the last American orginals
ReplyDeleteFantastic video! With another great, Peter Rowan in the band none the less.
ReplyDeleteAh great memories. I remeber seeing this in the UK. It was part of a series aired on Channel 4 called Town and Country.
ReplyDeleteHI thanks for the video, Iwas playin my guitar along , Almost like being there. Saw John when he came to Concord NH Down right awesome. although I've heard the Bob dylan comparison before and I think Mr. Prine in a class by his self.
ReplyDeleteThanks again
Earlmatt