portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Saturday, October 14, 2023

John Prine’s Birthday

 John Prine would have been 77 this October (10th) but was taken from us by Covid-19 early on and had been struggling with poor health since his neck cancer. Bob Dylan admired his song writing and loved the great song Lake Marie ( a favourite of all Prine fans I reckon) of John Bobby said that his lyrics were “pure Proustian existentialism,” and “Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree.” But it wasn’t just Prine’s capacity as a writer that impressed Dylan. “And he writes beautiful songs,” he continued, expressing his adoration of songs like ‘Sam Stone, in which Prine sings about a drug-addled Vietnam veteran who eventually dies of an overdose . . . . [Far Out Magazine ]

John here with his great hero - that’s love in that gaze right there

It took me the longest time to listen again to John’s singing and it just plain hurt to damn much but we are getting there. We miss him


Speed of The Sound of Loneliness - Live



and if that’s too sad for you (he’s singing it with his ex-wife for pity’s sake !) one of the things I always enjoyed about John is his chat between songs often explaining where a song might come from . . .this one is no exception and it remembers his buddy Steve Goodman

You Never Even Called me by My Name (Goodman/ Prine)

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