Search - John Prine :: John Prine

Len S. (3)
Reviewed on 2/20/2023...

It doesn't get any better than this.

If, by some chance, you have never listened to this CD, please act on my insistence that you do. If you hear a nasally tone that just doesn't sound like a singer, be patient. Listen to the words. You will be rewarded with some timeless observations that will make you wonder what special lens John had that allowed him to see so deep into the human experience. His voice will grow on you.

According to John, this photo session was the very first time he'd seen actual bales of hay. Honesty, insight, and humor are some of the things John's known for--and they're all front and center throughout his epic CD.

For Those of Us Who Heard The Call, We Hear It Again

L. Dann | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States | 04/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I used to sing, "There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes" to my own kids and anyone who would listen, when the mood struck. This album was like a shockwave to people like me, the anti-war, idealists who thought that they'd already grasped the essence of life, and these songs, and this voice made the whole thing even more certain. Prine and the late Steve Goodman were first heard in Chicago, a city I frequented during my Wisconsin college years. His songs were the poems of a country rebel,with unpreposessing wisdom- I can't find one thing about them that isn't just as perfectly suited this many years later. "Your flag decal won't get you into heaven any more." The irony of that, is just too perfect for comfort. I saw him a few times in later years, when he opened for Nanci Griffith, when I thought it should've been the other way around. He was just as irreverent and kind of shy, wisecracker, with that almost unbearable, sensitivity broken with a relief of inspired wit. Some of the songs have been remade, like "Hello In There." Every time I hear it I can't help but think that it won't be long when that could be me, he's singing about. I asked my college age son when I saw that John Prine was giving a concert at his school, what he thought about him, and he said, he liked "Angel From Montgomery," ironically, one of the few I couldn't sing all the words to. But that son enlisted, the war on whatever the hell it is, and here's one hardline old leftie with a broken heart. Anyone who buys this album can grasp the late 60's that were actually the 70's when Bill Clinton was opposing the war and other's went and died. Lyndon Johnson's tapes revealed that he knew it was a lost cause, and yet, we and the older members of the anti-war movement, could only get comfort through the music and the sense of belonging. "That Illegal Smile," is what we've been trying to drug test our kids for my own son, is "Far From Me." Peace."

Give john his due

David G. Smith | Fairfax, CA United States | 10/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"a long time ago, I wrote this for amazon as music lover from California. I have now decided to come clean. Do I get my two votes? Here is how brilliant John Prine is. Bette Midler covered Hello in There" and it still comes off well! I remember seeing this album in a stack of vinyl when there was only vinyl. It was the era where flag decals were given with copies of Reader's Digest. I remember hearing the song "Flag Decal" and thinking how awesome it wass that I understood the song. Last year I bought the tape of John Prine for my car. I hadn't heard it in twenty five years...but it seems as relevant today as it was twenty five years ago. Songs laced with pathos, sardonic humor, and most importantly.,heartbeats of the human condition, John Prine is a treasure still, managing to be both a time capsule, a record of the time is was written in and a current event lesson. I listen to alot of music and am not a John Prine head, nor am I a John Prine groupie. I have this album, and this one only...but it is an exceptional one. I say hooray to all kinds of music, but let's give folkies like John Prine his due. Here is one fabulous songwriter that deserves a listen"