Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, & John Prine, 1975
Bonnie Raitt: "There'll never be anyone like John Prine, we just have to keep playing his music. Tell your kids to tell their kids to keep it going."
“Angel From Montgomery” was written by John Prine and was originally released to critical acclaim by Atlantic Records in 1971 as part of his self-titled debut album, John Prine. (The album was subsequently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015 and was also listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as #68 of the Greatest Country Songs of All Time). Reviewers and critics alike were struck by the maturity and folksy wisdom of the singer-songwriter and his subject matter. In the liner notes which accompanied the record, Kris Kristofferson commented that: “Twenty-four years old and he writes like he’s two hundred and twenty”; and in 2009 Bob Dylan famously described Prine’s work as “pure Proustian existentialism…. Midwestern mind-trips to the nth degree.”
A cover version of the song by Bonnie Raitt on her 1974 album Streetlights helped to further propel the song to wide recognition. In a 2000 interview, Raitt stated: "I think 'Angel from Montgomery' probably has meant more to my fans and my body of work than any other song, and it will historically be considered one of the most important ones I've ever recorded. It's just such a tender way of expressing that sentiment of longing...without being maudlin or obvious. It has all the different shadings of love and regret and longing. It's a perfect expression from [a] wonderful genius.”
Photo: ALAN L. MAYOR / Bobby Hotel
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