DW told me last night. I knew he was critical the past week or so, so not a surprise. I figured I'd spend a good part of today listening to my old Prine records on the turntable.
Oddly, though I followed the Chicago music scene in those days, I only saw Prine a few times, and I'm not sure why. He may have been 'big time', and touring or playing bigger places then? Saw his counterparts, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc, Jim Post and many others dozens of times.
Nice. "
Naked as the eyes of a clown"! Now that's some song writing!
"Angel From Montgomery" was about as good a song as has ever been written.
Yep, that's one of his many greats. I love that that song sounds great in Prine's gritty voice, and it's also delivered beautifully with the wonderful voices of Bonnie Rait, Bonnie Koloc, Emmylou Harris, etc. I love playing that one on my Hammond B3 organ clone, and singing along where no one can hear me.
I couldn't pick a favorite song, but I do quote a line from one of his songs quite often, and I just love a few other lines, and that song "Far From Me", is the one that Prine calls his favorite, that he really felt like a songwriter after he wrote that.
That song has the line,
"And a question ain't really a question, if you know the answer too". Another few lines from that song, to me just describes so well a relationship that was once magical, but now falling apart
"Why we used to laugh together
And we'd dance to any old song
Well, ya know, she still laughs with me
But she waits just a second too long"
And this next line always grabbed me - is it just to add a little color, to make you "feel" a warm summer night, or is it also describing the singer, leaving the warmth of the relationship he once knew?
"Well, I leaned on my left leg
In the parking lot dirt
And Cathy was closing the lights
A June bug flew from the warmth he once knew
And I wished for once I weren't right"
And I imagine everyone knows the feeling of someone complaining to them about something, but they know it's not the "something", the other person is just aggravated with them at the time, and whatever they do seems annoying to them. Prine captures that here:
"
The radio played the hit parade
And I hummed along with the tune
She asked me to change the station
Said the song just drove her insane
But it weren't just the music playing
It was me that she was trying to blame"
And that's just the tip of the iceberg of his songwriting, and that's all in one song!
His guitar playing, while not fast and flashy, is really quite remarkable. He puts in those little leading notes to go from one chord to another, varies his picking style throughout the song. It's subtle, listen for it - you might miss it because it just fits so well, and that's a real talent.
There was an extended interview with him on NPR, I'll try to find that. He talks about the song "Paradise", and for many years I thought these were just imaginary places to fit the song. Then one day I was looking at a map, and found Paradise, Kentucky, in Muhlenberg County, and yes, it's by the Green River. All a true story of his past, where his Grandparents grew up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_Kentucky
RIP John.
-ERD50
