108: John Prine - John Prine (1971)

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“He sings rather quietly, and his guitar work is good, but he doesn't show off. He starts slow. But after a song or two, even the drunks in the room begin to listen to his lyrics. And then he has you.”

–Roger Ebert

Wipe that illegal smile off your face! Phil has been immersed in the music of John Prine for his entire life, and he’s brought along John and Ben to discuss the Maywood, IL, singer/songwriter, who unfortunately was one of the earliest victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. When Prine recorded his 1971 debut, industry execs saw him as a Midwestern rube, to the point of posing him on top of a hay bale on the album cover, even though hay bales are in short supply in the Chicago suburbs. But he’s a witty, intelligent, insightful, and empathetic songwriter with the ability to make listeners laugh and cry in the space of a single line, and his songs have been covered by legends including Johnny Cash and Bonnie Raitt. Prine’s passing led to a surge of interest in his music, to the point where this album charted higher in the spring of 2020 than it ever had in the previous five decades, so if he’s has flown under your radar to this point, this episode is a great opportunity to learn all about a true genius of American folk music.

Miscellany

• The version of “The Frying Pan” in the artist history comes from the collection The Singing Mailman Delivers, which includes John Prine’s earliest studio recordings in August 1970, as well as a complete live performance from November 1970 at a small Chicago nightclub.

• If you enjoyed John’s deep dive into the regional planning origins behind the wealth inequality between Maywood, IL, and its neighboring townships and want to go further down the rabbit hole, we recommend reading up on the Public Land Survey System, which the U.S. government used to divide up its land holdings in the Midwest and most of the western United States.

• As cool as it is that Prine’s request for his ashes to be spread in the Green River was honored, part of Phil wishes they'd honored his other request, as expressed in "Please Don't Bury Me.”

• Clarification: When Ben refers to David Bowie performing as a dying old man, he’s referring to Bowie’s work in the ‘90s, not Blackstar, when he actually was an old man on the verge of death. 

Other links 

• John Prine's official website (johnprine.com)

• John Prine’s label, Oh Boy Records (ohboy.com)

• Roger Ebert's review of John Prine (rogerebert.com)

• Discord & Rhyme’s John Prine playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Phil Maddox (host)

• John McFerrin (moderator)

• Ben Marlin 

John Prine tracklist 

1. Illegal Smile

2. Spanish Pipedream

3. Hello in There

4. Sam Stone

5. Paradise

6. Pretty Good

7. Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore

8. Far from Me

9. Angel from Montgomery

10. Quiet Man

11. Donald and Lydia

12. Six O’Clock News

13. Flashback Blues 

Other clips used

John Prine:

• Sweet Revenge

• Grandpa Was a Carpenter

• The Frying Pan (early version)

• Take the Star out of the Window

• Blue Umbrella

• Six O'Clock News (live)

• Christmas In Prison

• Fish and Whistle

• Dear Abby 

Others:

• Afroman - Because I Got High

• Brewer & Shipley - One Toke Over the Line

• The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches

• The Beatles - Across the Universe

• The Band - Rockin' Chair

• Johnny Cash - Sam Stone (live)

• Bob Dylan - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

• Phil Ochs - Love Me, I'm a Liberal

• Bonnie Raitt - Angel from Montgomery

• Talking Heads - No Compassion

• Bob Dylan - The Man in Me

• Tom Waits - Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)

• Everclear - Thrift Store Chair

• Spiritualized - Cop Shoot Cop

Band/album personnel 

• John Prine – acoustic guitar, vocals

• Reggie Young – lead guitar

• Leo LeBlanc – pedal steel guitar

• John Christopher – rhythm guitar

• Bobby Emmons – organ

• Bobby Wood – pianos

• Mike Leech – bass

• Gene Chrisman – drums

• Heywood Bishop – percussion

• Steve Goodman – harmony vocal (5), acoustic guitar (5, 13)

• Dave Prine – fiddle (5)

• Neil Rosengarden – bass (5)

• Noel Gilbert – fiddle (13)

• Mike Leech – bass (13)

• Heywood Bishop – drums (13)

• Gene Chrisman – tambourine (13)

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• John Prine - Illegal Smile (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream John Prine and other albums by John Prine at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Prine’s first four albums are still controlled by Atlantic Records, but you can buy his later work directly from his record label, Oh Boy! Records, at www.ohboy.com. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.