John Prine – John Prine …album review

Ever since I wrote up the John Prine song Paradise (thanks to  halffastcyclingclub) I knew then I had to write up the album. This album is very daunting to write up. If one person listens to it, then my job is done. It is one of the best debut albums I’ve ever heard in rock, pop, country, folk, or anything else. I’m truly ashamed I didn’t dive into John Prine sooner. I knew some of his well-known songs like Dear Abbey, Angel From Montgomery, and a few other songs of his, but it was the song Paradise that totally won me over. Like the old lyric I remember from a long time ago…listening to this album is like taking a trip without leaving the farm. 

John Prine was working as a mailman in Chicago, delivering letters by day and sharpening songs by night. He began playing open mics at the Old Town School of Folk Music, where his storytelling and humor transfixed the audience. One night in 1970, Kris Kristofferson wandered in, heard Prine sing Sam Stone, and reportedly told his record label mates he’d just seen “the best songwriter I’ve ever heard.” That moment changed everything for Prine.

Atlantic Records moved quickly, pairing Prine with producer Arif Mardin, a surprising choice. Mardin, known for polished soul and pop productions. He immediately understood that these songs didn’t need a big production. Sessions were kept deliberately restrained, focusing on clarity and feel rather than polish. Many of the songs were already road-tested long before they were recorded. Hello In There, Sam Stone, and Paradise had been perfected in coffeehouses and small clubs

At 24 years old, he plays thirteen songs that feel lived in, warm, sly, funny, haunted, and most importantly, human. There is one thing I found out about this album. On first listen, I thought it was charming. On the tenth, it is devastating. On the twentieth, it feels like a friend you have known your whole life, and I’m not exaggerating.

Right from the opener Illegal Smile, Prine is already telling you “Last time I checked my bankroll, it was gettin’ thin, Sometimes it seems like the bottom is the only place I’ve been”. Then comes Spanish Pipedream, which practically bursts out of the speakers, preaching the joys of ditching society’s noise. blowing up your TV, and finding your own piece of mind. But the album’s heart and soul song runs deeper. Sam Stone, with its unforgettable line “there’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes,” still lands like a gut punch.

And then, of course, there is Angel from Montgomery. If Prine had written only that one song, he would still have ended up on songwriter Mount Rushmore. I won’t go over every song, but if you like great lyrics and great melodies, this is the album for you. Google the lyrics on this fine Sunday and sing along with John Prine. It will be a beautiful Sunday…trust me on that. My personal favorites? Paradise, Sam Stone, Illegal Smile, Angel from Montgomery, and…ah, just listen to them all.

Sam Stone

Sam StoneCame homeTo his wife and familyAfter serving in the conflict overseasAnd the time that he servedHad shattered all his nervesAnd left a little shrapnel in his kneeBut the morphine eased the painAnd the grass grew ’round his brainAnd gave him all the confidence he lackedWith a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back

There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goesAnd Jesus Christ died for nothin’, I supposeLittle pitchers have big earsDon’t stop to count the yearsSweet songs never last too long on broken radiosMmm-hmm-hmm-hmm

Sam Stone’s welcome homeDidn’t last too longHe went to work when he’d spent his last dimeAnd soon he took to stealin’When he got that empty feelin’For a hundred dollar habit without overtimeAnd the gold rolled through his veinsLike a thousand railroad trainsAnd eased his mind in the hours that he choseWhile the kids ran around wearin’ other people’s clothes

There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goesAnd Jesus Christ died for nothin’, I supposeLittle pitchers have big earsDon’t stop to count the yearsSweet songs never last too long on broken radiosMmm-hmm-hmm-hmm

Sam Stone was aloneWhen he popped his last balloonClimbing walls while sittin’ in a chairWell, he played his last requestWhile the room smelled just like deathWith an overdose hoverin’ in the air

But life had lost its funAnd there was nothin’ to be doneBut trade his house that he bought on the G.I. BillFor a flag draped casket on a local heroes’ hill

There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goesAnd, Jesus Christ died for nothin’, I supposeLittle pitchers have big earsDon’t stop to count the yearsSweet songs never last too long on broken radiosMmm-hmm-hmm-hmmHmmHmm-hmm-hmm-hmm

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

27 thoughts on “John Prine – John Prine …album review”

  2. Pingback: John Prine – John Prine …album review – MobsterTiger

  3. When Prine was dying from COVID-19, I wrote this about him: “Prine demonstrated more genius in his first album than most of us do in a lifetime. I still remember the first time I heard that record, at the apartment of a co-worker after a meeting in 1971. I thought I had a crush on her at the time, but it might have been John Prine instead.”

    Prine writes characters and inhabits them. I agree – “There’s a hole in daddy’s arm…” says more in one line than we have any right to expect. He makes his words work overtime. Thanks for getting me to listen again.

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    1. Thank you for your memory. Paradise… turned something on in me to start looking closer rather than just knowing some of his songs. Its the one that made me realize…this man was special in many ways. I still can’t believe he was only 24 when he made this album.

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  4. I came pretty late to John Prine – what an incredible songwriter! The album you picked is a perfect illustration.

    Prine had the great ability to write true story songs. If I could pick only one, I’d probably go with “Angel From Montgomery.” I first heard that song by Bonnie Raitt. I think it’s one of her best renditions. That said, I also love Prine’s original.

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  6. Definitely a solid, talented songwriter. I only know a few of his songs but I quite like what I have heard. Now I hear ‘Angel from Montgomery ‘ as much as any of Bonnie Raitt’s hits, but I didn’t hear it at all until perhaps a decade back

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      1. Youre hitting on a lot of my favorites. I was listening to Jimmie Dale and Dave Alvin yesterday. After the album finished the loop went into other music. One of the songs that came up was Great Rain by Prine but it was sung by Shemekia Copeland. She did a good job. There’s a lyric where the character sings “I was standing by the river talking to a young Mark Twain”. That’s Prine for ya.

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      2. I will admit…that is a great lyric! The kind of lyric makes me wish I would have wrote it… but knowing good and well my brain doesn’t work that way. I have listened now to this album probably 30 times…and it just keeps getting better.

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  9. An artist I really only knew in name only, aside from hearing a tune here and there over the years. I know he has a stellar reputation as a storyteller, and it sounds like it is a well-earned one.

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  11. Don’t know what I can say to add to what’s been said. My sister had left some records at my house years ago, and one of them was a John Prine best of. I listened, and that was my introduction to him. After I read so many things praising the debut album as one of the best ever, I got it. There never was, nor will there ever be anyone like John Prine.

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    1. And I just really…I mean really found him in the past few years. Like I said…it was the song Paradise that did it for me….I knew Dear Abbey and others but Paradise hit a nerve and I had to find out more. I’ve listened to this album now countless times.

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      1. Don’t know if you’ve heard the story about Steve Goodman, Prine’s friend who originally had the audition and basically said,”If you think I’m good, you should hear my friend John”.

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