John Prine: Quit Hollerin' At Me
[purchase]
John Prine: Sam Stone
[purchase]
We've posted several John Prine classics here at Star Maker Machine in the few months since this wonderful collaborative took root, and with good reason: this John knows how to rock the weariness, saving his strength for just the right moment, the perfect sighing phrase, the delicate guitar solo.
As a cover collector, I hear Prine's songbook plenty; no matter who sings it, something of the outsider's awe that characterizes his narrative explorations of topics from love lost to heroin addiction always shines through. But John Prine's power is in his performance, not solely his songcraft; his own take on his work deserves respect and careful listening. Here's one of my favorite live cuts from a decade back, and a much quieter but no less powerful piece from September 2001; though Prine on record makes for some incredible, precious folkpop, his blueswork has been stuck in my brain recently.
As a bonus, head back to this old post about Angel From Montgomery to hear the original songwriter with one of his most famous songs, though most people know it through the work of blueswoman Bonnie Raitt. Something about that emotion Prine brings to the first line -- the way we are immediately confronted with the rough, masculine voice claiming that he is an old woman; the way we accept it anyway -- says everything about Prine: who he is, what he can do, and why we should care.
