John Prine - Biography
By J Poet
John Prine was one of the many singer/songwriters tagged as “the next Dylan,” but the two artists have little in common beside their craggy voices and an ability to write compelling, introspective songs that can move listeners to tears or an illegal smile, to plagiarize a phrase. Prine’s career built slowly, but gathered more momentum after he left the majors and created his own label, Oh Boy. Free to pursue his muse on his own terms, he soon garnered three Grammy nominations for German Afternoons (1986 Oh Boy), The Missing Years (1991 Oh Boy), and Lost Dogs and Missed Blessings (1995 Oh Boy), and took home a Best Contemporary Folk Album Grammy for The Missing Years. While he’s never had a major hit, his songs have been covered by a who’s who of contemporary artists including the Everly Brothers, Bette Midler, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Tammy Wynette, Don Williams, Gail Davies, Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Swamp Dogg. A bout with throat cancer nearly ended his life and singing career in 1998, but in 1999 he bounced back with In Spite of Ourselves (1999 Oh Boy) a collection of duets with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Iris DeMent, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless and Connie Smith. He’s only made 17 studio albums since his 1971 debut, but there is rarely a weak track on many of them. Prine shows no signes of slowing down, and unlike many long time songwriters, his recent material is just as compelling as the songs on his debut John Prine (1971 Atlantic).
Prine was born in Maywood, IL, a Chicago suburb, in 1946. His parents hailed from Paradise, in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, a town immortalized later in his tune “Paradise.” His father was a coal miner and moved north so his family would have a better life, but Prine spent many summers in his your visiting relatives in Paradise soaking up their stories and their music, folk, country and pop. His brother Dave, who often plays on Prine’s albums, introduced him to country, folk and blues. When Dave started an old time music band, he asked Prine to play rhythm guitar. Prine was 14, and soon learning how to fingerpick and write songs, two of which – “Fryin’ Pan” and “Sour Grapes” – later appeared on his album Diamonds in the Rough (1972 Atlantic).
Prine worked as a mailman and wrote songs at night until he was drafted in 1966 and sent to Germany. By 1969 he was back at the post office and appearing at open mikes in Chicago folk clubs. Steve Goodman, who was just getting his career started, became Prine’s friend and mentor, introducing him to Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson brought Paul Anka to hear Prine play one night and they were so blown out that they booked Prine a flight to New York to open a show for Kirstofferson at The Bitter End. Jerry Wexler was in the audience and 24 hours later Prine had a deal with Atlantic Records.
Atlantic tried to market John Prine (1971 Atlantic) as a folk album, but it didn’t work. The album contains some classic Prine cuts including “Sam Stone,” “Hello in There,” and the low key protest songs “You Flag Decal Won’t get You into Heaven Anymore.” Diamonds in the Rough (1972 Atlantic) another stunner, got rave reviews but didn’t fare any better commercially. Sweet Revenge (1973 Atlantic) is a country rock collection that would have been called Americana had it been released 25 years later, and shows off Prine’s dark humor on tracks like “Dear Abby,” “Christmas in Prison” and the title track. Steve Crooper produced the R&B flavored Common Sense (1975 Atlantic) and it too got more good reviews than sales figures. Prine moved to Elektra/Asylum for Bruised Orange in 1978, produced by Steve Goodman. Despite Prine’s unfortunate hairstyle on the cover, it was another classic with tunes like “Fish and a Whistle,” “Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone,” and “That's the Way the World Goes 'Round.” For Pink Cadillac (1979 Asylum) Prine went to Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips and his songs Jerry and Knox. It was a solid rockabilly outing with a mix of Prine originals and Sun Records hits. Storm Windows (1980 Elektra, 1989 Oh Boy) a more sedate country flavored collection ended Prine’s major label oddesy.
In 1981 Prine moved to Nashville and started co-writing tune with Nashville hit makers. “Unwed Fathers” a co-write with Bobby Braddock, became a hit for Gail Davies and “Love Is On A Roll” a collaboration with Roger Cook became a #1 hit for Don Williams. He also wrote a few tunes with John Mellencamp including “Jackie O” from Uh-Huh (1983 Mercury) and “Take A Look At My Heart” from Prine’s Grammy Winning The Missing Years (1991 Oh Boy). In 1984 Prine and his manager/business partner launched Oh Boy! Records, and released Aimless Love (1984 Oh Boy), a brooding collection that included “Unwed Fathers” and “People Puttin' People Down.”
Prine really hit his stride with his Oh Boy records, turning out classic after classic. German Afternoons (1986 Oh Boy) got him his first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album and included “Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness,” a hit for Nanci Griffith. It took six years to write the songs for the next album, the Grammy winning The Missing Years (1991 Oh Boy). It was produced by Heartbreaker Howie Epstein and included contributions from Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Heartbreakers Benmont Trench and Mike Campbell, David Lindley, and Bonnie Raitt. In 2005 he released Fair & Square, an album of all new material, followed by Standard Songs For Average People in 2007, a record of covers recorded with Bluegrass and Country legend Mac Weisman, a live record called In Person & On Satge in 2010, and Singing Mailman Delivers (a reference to his early days as a postman) in 2011. Prine continues to perform.