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
Amazon.com essential recording
Prine's 1971 self-titled debut set the tone for the rest of his career. A critical smash and a commercial disappointment, the record contains many of his best known compositions. Proving himself capable of tackling folk balladry, country, and rock with ease, Prine seems to spring into being as a fully formed singer-songwriter at age 24. Lyrically diverse, Prine offers topical songs such as "Sam Stone," the tale of a drug addicted Vietnam vet, achingly sad songs, such as the oft-covered "Angel from Montgomery," and, of course, his trademark wit gets ample time in the spotlight. Produced by the legendary Arif Mardin (Aretha Franklin, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Hall and Oates), the record is understated, letting Prine's comfy voice drive things. When needed, the famous house band at American Recording Studios in Memphis kicks in tasteful backing. --Ian Landau
|
John Prine
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1990-01-24)
- Publisher: Atlantic / Wea
- Label: Atlantic / Wea
- Studio: Atlantic / Wea
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 51 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #3850
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Positively Prine 2008-10-24
Comment: When you are 22 and just out of the army like I was in 1971, finding John Prine was like finding someone who could see inside your soul. I don't know if I have ever experienced such sadness and such whimsy all in one hour of listening. I think he used his whole life in this album, from his army experience, his Kentucky roots, and even his mail carrier days in a poor suburb just outside Chicago's city limits. I wonder if on his route in Maywood, Il (he was my brother-in-law's mail man) he met not only Donald and Lydia, but maybe even some old folks who were just waiting for someone to say 'Hello In There'. This is an album you feel every bit as much as you listened to.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just what my father was looking for... 2008-07-07
Comment: My mother had been looking a particular song for my father. She mentioned it to me in a call prior to Father's Day this year. I told her to just give me a second and I found it on Amazon.com quickly and easily. She said that my father loves it and listens to it every time they get in the truck. Thanks...
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: American classic 2008-06-18
Comment: as timely today ,as it was in '71.This is a must listen for anyone with a heart and soul.It's the kind of music thats too good for radio,have a listen to what a real songwriter can do.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Prine's First, His Best? 2008-04-05
Comment: In my mind, this was the ultimate John Prine. His best work. Before he got side tracked, before he got fame, before a whole bunch of stuff. Pure John Prine. It will make you smile, it will make you nod in recognition, it will tear at your heart. It is only topped by his most recent album. So start here.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: DOWN-TO-EARTH, AUTHENTIC AND COMPASSIONATE (John Prine's debut includes some of his greatest songs) 2008-02-05
Comment: Illegal Smile, Hello In There, Sam Stone, Paradise, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore, Angel From Montgomery, Donald And Lydia. These are some of John Prine's greatest songs, and they're all included on his 1971 self-titled debut. This is definitely the place to start your John Prine collection if you want more than a compilation.
John Prine is a sometimes wry, sometimes plain-spoken American country-folk singer-songwriter. His songs are real-life, down-to-earth reflections that are intelligent, penetratingly insightful and genuine. A thoughtful working class troubadour, his songs can make you think, cry, laugh or seethe with anger.
In Hello In There, John sings of an elderly couple trying to come to terms with a world that no longer seems to need them.
We had an apartment in the city
Me and Loretta liked living there
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown
A life of their own, left us alone
John and Linda live in Omaha
And Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean War
And I still don't know what for
...don't matter anymore
A lot of these songs are performed on an acoustic guitar, folk style, and others are quietly country-folk with a competent band.
John played the folk-music scene in Chicago after serving in the Army and working for the postal service. It was there that he was discovered by Kris Kristofferson, and hailed as "the next Bob Dylan". Sort of a workingman's Dylan, Prine is much more down-to-earth, and has a personality that's somewhat more accessible than Bob's.
In other songs on this album, Sam Stone is the haunting story of a Vietnam veteran's drug addiction and overdose, Donald And Lydia is a low-rent tale of two wandering fantasies of love that go bump in the night, Illegal Smile is a pleasantly stoned escape from reality, and Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore is a war protest.
But Your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven anymore
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven anymore
|
John Prine
Enlarge View