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I had this album when it came out.
Some of it is deep, thoughtful, painful and some is delightfully silly.
Prines writing remains true, core and masterful. Two main stores in Manhattan did not have this in stock- boy, was I happy to find it here in CD form.
"Angel From Montgomery" is a time-tested classic and I had to hear it from the originator himself. Getting this CD stratched an itch I had for a while....
Thanks John!
PS Man; did I have good taste back when I was young....lol
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This is just a great CD. Had this as a recoed & a tape & am replacing it as CD for my IPOD.....
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John Prine's self-titled debut album appeared in 1971 when he was about 24 years old. The songs within it would be great coming from a 30 or 40-year old with significant life experience. Their depth, compassion and understanding are simply amazing coming from such a young person.
That said, the album opens with two counterculture songs, starting with the somewhat silly "Illegal Smile", which laments the balance between the "evil" of marijuana use and the penalties imposed by society. It's a great singalong song, and ends with the wonderful nonsense rhyme "well done, hot dog bun, my sister.....is a nun!" Next comes "Spanish Pipe Dream" in which Prine encourages us to "blow up your TV" and "move to the country", advice that's probably more relevant today than in 1970.
"Hello In There" is an immeasurably sad and poignant song about the lives of older people--again, it's hard to believe that a 24-year old could have such insight. Later Prine revisits the theme from a country perspective with "Angel from Montgomery", a song that's been covered countless times--Bonnie Raitt and Prine do a great duet on his "John Prine Live" album.
Two anti-war songs come soon after, the rollicking "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore" and the anguished "Sam Stone", one of the few Prine songs that ever got any mainstream radio airplay--strange given its graphic chorus "there's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes; Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose."
"Donald and Lydia" is another achingly poignant song, this time about a young couple separated by his life as a private at Fort Polk. Prine gives us another look at Army life with "Oh Heck"--a love song written by a soldier --the title comes from one of Prine's army buddies looking at the lyrics (which includes "the cannibals can catch me and fry me in a pan, long as I got my woman") and exclaiming "oh heck!"
In "Far From Me", the love affair is close range, but falling apart, "ain't it funny how an old broken bottle looks just like a diamong ring." In "Quiet Man", the love affair is over and Prine waxes elliptical in the beautiful chorus--"oodles of light/what a beautiful sight/both of God's eyes are shining tonight/rays and beams of incredible dreams/I am the quiet man."
Family turmoil is the theme of "Six O'Clock News"--again, it's hard to see how a 24-year old could have such insight. "Paradise" is autobiographical, I think, as Prine, who was raised in Illinois, visits his father's homeland in Kentucky only to see that "Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away." I've sung this song at open mike nights more times than I can remember.
Hands down the funniest song on the CD is "Pretty Good", which runs the gamut from used car salesmen to sex with aliens to "the saviours' feast" featuring Allah and Buddha. Has anyone written a funnier line than "up in the sky an Arabian rabbi fed Quaker oats to a priest"? "Flashback Blues" finishes the set, an OK song, but in my mind not the equal of all the songs preceding.
Prine's vocals are steady throughout and the arrangements all work, but the signature feature of "John Prine" and of much of his work over 35 years is the quality of his songs, a feature that made and has kept me a big Prine fan.
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john prine's 1st album is still his best. it would indeed be hard to top this record. each song is terrific. an absolute classic of american songcraft. enough said.
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I heard "Hello in There" years ago and marveled at what an incredibly sad song it was. But I never heard this album until a windy day I was out walking and the college radio station played the entire album. Afterwards, I thought "Donald and Lydia" was the saddest song on the album. But I was also transfixed by the "American grotesque" element, of small town people living small town lives but also being heroically American about it.
Nowadays, this music would be called alt-country or something, but back then it was folk and it is now more like Americana, nearly legendary. Few people listen to tis music, perhaps, but it is something easy to appreciate and it will change the way you think about things.
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