MetaChat - John Prine!

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

06 January 2008

John Prine! Last night, we went to see John Prine in concert at Carnegie Hall→[More:]The tickets were a gift from me to my girlfriend, who's a huge fan. I only discovered him through her, in the last year or so, but I really like him too. The concert was awesome -- Carnegie Hall looked like it was sold out, I'd never seen so many white people in one place in New York City. :)

What I was most struck by was his incredible generosity as a performer. He played almost three hours without a break, revisiting a lot of his older stuff, and playing some stuff from his newer albums too. One of the highlights of the show was when the sound techs put another microphone on the stage, and Iris Dement walked out and joined him for a fast four or five songs, including my favorite, "In Spite of Ourselves."

I freely admit that when he broke into "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," I got a little verklempt. I don't know if it's the election season, or this never ending war, but it just seemed so sad to me that this song came out over thirty years ago, and it's still so relevant to us today. Anyway, great concert.

post by: Lassie at: 11:46 | 14 comments

Lassie, me and Pips have dubbed 'In Spite Of Ourselves,' as the theme song of our marraige. And 'All The Best,' is probably the best country breakup weeper of all time (and despite the fact that he came up through the folkie scene, he is a country singer at heart, listen to "Yes, I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You"). He's also funny as hell ("Illegal Smile") and can even rock out convincingly (the Sweet Revenge album, which sports one of the great covers ever. Wish I'd been there. As for all his whiteness, soul singer Swamp Dogg did a nice cover of "Sam Stone," back in the day.

posted by jonmc 06 January | 11:58

me and Pips have dubbed 'In Spite Of Ourselves,' as the theme song of our marraige.

I can see that, somehow. :) My girlfriend and I enjoy singing that in duet to each other too.

"Sam Stone" is such a beautiful, heartrending song, as is "Angel from Montgomery," both of which he played, along with "Illegal Smile". Really, the set list went on and on. He didn't play "Yes, I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You," but I've heard it before.

As for his pedigree, a friend of mine (who knows much more about these things than I do) thinks of him as part of the progressive country music family, which includes Willie Nelson and some others. I definitely think of him as more of a country singer than a folk singer, although maybe I'd think differently if I'd been listening to him in the 70's. He's really very versatile -- he did two numbers last night that I didn't recognize which were so guitar heavy, they didn't sound country at all. And at times, I could close my eyes and hear why people compared him to Dylan when he first got popular.

posted by Lassie 06 January | 12:15

I love John Prine. I saw him in concert a few years ago, on a bill with, wait for it ...

- Steve Earle
- Nanci Griffith
- Emmylou Harris
- Elvis Costello

It was a benefit gig for landmines, I believe. Everyone sat on stage in a line, taking it in turns to play and sing. Awesome. Elvis stole the show with his version of 'Shipbuilding' and John Prine came a close second with 'In Spite of Ourselves'. It was Steve Earle's birthday. There was caik for all :-)

posted by essexjan 06 January | 13:07

Holy cow, ej. That's some show. Your show last night also sounds awesome, Lassie. John Prine is a towering talent, an understated and great songwriter, and one of my faves, too. I agree with the 'progressive country' genre tag - it's about as apt as those categorizations can get, and his song structure and style draw from that tradition. Thanks for the review!

posted by Miko 06 January | 13:14

I have the CD from that show, EJ and Miko. (Or I used to. I'm pretty sure it's on my computer, though.) I can send y'all songs from it if you want.

The John Prine concert sounds great, Lassie. I'm glad he got over his throat thing. Cancer, I think it was?

posted by mudpuppie 06 January | 13:31

Yes, apparently it was throat cancer. I'm happy to report there was nary a sign of it last night, although you can tell from the Youtube videos of his current tour I posted above that his voice is qualitatively different than it was when he was younger.

That concert sounds outstanding, essexjan. I'd love to hear some songs from the show, mudpuppie, if you feel like sharing any.

Not to derail my own thread, but I'm now eating a tofurkey sausage wrapped in a tortilla with chevre, red onions, and some thai hot sauce on it that I swear is the best meal I have ever made for myself ever.

posted by Lassie 06 January | 13:49

I think that Spanish Pipedream may be one of my all time favorite songs. It never fails to make me happy for some reason. I got introduced to John Prine by my mom who is probably one of his biggest fans. She's been to see him in concert about nine times. :)

posted by triggerfinger 06 January | 14:16

I cried the first time I heard "Sam Stone".

"There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes..."

posted by essexjan 06 January | 14:38

Hmm, it appears that I never ripped the Landmine CD, and I don't think I have the actual CD anymore. Sorry, false alarm!

(It was a good one, though.)

posted by mudpuppie 06 January | 15:15

Nice. I love small venue shows like that - they are worth every dime! I bet your girlfriend was elated, Lassie.

posted by chewatadistance 06 January | 15:55

"Illegal Smile" is the greatest campfire sing-along ever. At least the chorus is, if drunkenly sung by the group with numerous solo improvisations on the "well-done, hot dog bun, my sister's a nun" part.

John Prine is a national treasure.

Please don't bury me
down in that cold cold ground
I'd rather have 'em chop me up,
and pass me all around

Give my knees to the needy
and the blind can have my eyes
and the deaf can take the both of my ears
if they don't mind the size

Dammit. Now I'm gonna go spend money on iTunes.

posted by BitterOldPunk 06 January | 18:19

Ah! What a brief moment of excitement followed by letdown. Oh well. Thanks for the offer, mudpuppie.

posted by Miko 06 January | 21:44

When I was a clueless git of maybe 14 or 15, John Prine was the opening act of of one of the very first live concerts I went to without parents, at the Palace Theatre in Albany, NY. I think Arlo Guthrie was the headliner. Might've been a triple bill with Ritchie Havens.

Perhaps that early experience contributes to my longstanding practice of not skipping the opening acts, despite nearly 20 subsequent years of evidence that the opening band usually sucks.

posted by Triode 06 January | 23:15

Heh. I saw him backing up Arlo Guthrie as well, sometime around 1987 I am guessing. That is, we went to see Prine and stuck around for Arlo. It was a wonderful show - very sincere, funny, charming. Loved it.

posted by rumple 07 January | 02:51

← A little jazz funk for Sunday || 2 Kittehs 1 Bucket →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN