John Prine has won five Grammy awards and was inducted into both the Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Grammy Hall of Fame. His famous fans include Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Better Midler.
On the death of Prine in 2020, the recording Academy released a statement. ‘We join the world in mourning the passing of revered country and folk singer/songwriter John Prine. Widely lauded as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, John’s impact will continue to inspire musicians for years to come’.
The extraordinary time that was the 70’s.
Prine was a singer/songwriter legend in the American country-folk genre. In the 1970s, he played the same clubs as Bob Dylan, Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Steve Goodman and Kris Kristoffersen. Rolling Stone magazine said that, “in his humble, hilarious way, Prine was one of America’s greatest songwriters.”
“John and I were the New Dylans together in the early 70s,” said Bruce Springsteen. “He was never anything but the loveliest guy in the world – a national treasure and a songwriter for the ages”.
Bob Dylan described his songs as “Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the n’th degree” and chose Lake Marie as his favourite Prine song.
David Bowie said, ‘we were creating the 21st century in 1971’.
Convoluted path to an artist via Colbert and Midler
People discover musicians and singers in different ways. Recommendations from friends and publications are a good source but sometimes the path to an artist is convoluted and leads to more complex and satisfying links between your musical tastes and listening history over many years.
Stephen Colbert, host of the US highest rating The Late Show, teared up when announcing Prine’s death. Colbert is a singer (and comedian) with broad tastes. Colbert’s band leader for 7 years was the hugely talented Grammy Award- winning musician Jon Batiste and I first saw Kendrick Lamar (Pulitzer Prize winner for music) on The Late Show. I trust Colbert. He made me dive into the Prine story and, as is often the way, I discovered familiar songs but I had never known who wrote them.
Prine’s lyrics are poignant, often deeply emotional but also funny. Don’t dismiss his music as the “Yeehah! My wife has left me and my dog has died”(or vice-versa?) kind of Country music. Listen to the lyrics. NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers also paid tribute to Prine: “As I’ve gotten older, I realised John Prine is cool because every cool person I know loves John Prine.”
There are too many Prine songs to mention but Rolling Stone listed his Top 25 here.
Hello in There gets the Divine Miss Midler treatment
One of his most well-known and covered songs is Hello in There. Bette Midler sang it on her Divine Miss M album in 1972. She turned it into a heartfelt ballad – in stark contrast to the loud, camp theatrical style of her usual live performances. (Her act was honed in a famous gay sauna in New York with her accompanist, Barry Manilow. But that’s another story) I like to think that Prine, writer of the very clever and oddly romantic song, Let’s talk Dirty in Hawaiian might have been amused by Midler’s hilarious “Hawaiian War Chant” which she sang as her kitsch, cheesy lounge act character, Vicki Eydie.
Brandi Carlile sings Hello in There
Perhaps the most beautiful and heartfelt covers of Hello in There was sung by multi-award-winning singer songwriter Brandi Carlile. The purity of her voice (comparisons between her and Joni Mitchell are inevitable) does full justice to the poetry of the lyrics and the sentiments in the song. Listen and marvel at Prine, as a young man of 22 could write with so much understanding of growing old, loving and loneliness.
In Stephen Colbert’s tribute to Prine in 2020 he introduces Brandi at the 2 min mark.
Vicki Arnold
Tangents and Trivia
Steve Poltz tells ultimate fan boy story about John Prine
Treat yourself to this hilarious video of Steve Poltz (singer songwriter, comedian) describing the time he met his idol John Prine. A gentle bedtime fairy tale for adults. Once upon a time in a decade long, long ago.
Prine writes song for Billy Bob Thornton film, Daddy and Them
Billy Bob Thornton asked Prine to write a song for the closing credits for Daddy and Them, a 2001 film he had written and directed. It starred Thornton, along with John Prine, Laura Dern, Andy Griffith, Ben Affleck, Kelly Preston, Diane Ladd, Brenda Blethyn and Jamie Lee Curtis. Prine’s song is In Spite of Ourselves, a folky, funny, romantic song he sang with Iris DeMent. Daddy and Them (Rotten Tomatoes score, 86%) is available to rent on Apple TV and Amazon.
