Chauncey and Chumley's Dad

It was just too sad to lose both John Prine and Toots Hibbert this past year. At least the 2021 Grammy Awards has helped their legends live on. John Prine won both Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance for his song “I Remember Everything” and Toos Hibbert won Best Reggae Album for Toots and The Maytals LP “Got To Be Tough.”

Inappropriate of not, I think John Prine would have loved Jeff Tweedy’s tribute and cover of Prine’s song Please Don’t Bury Me.

John Prine (1946-2020)

Damn, it hurts to lose this guy. John Prine was one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time. Brilliant lyrics that capture moments in life like photographs. He could have you smiling with Illegal Smile, laughing with Dear Abby, and then bring you to tears with Sam Stone. When John released his first album in 1971, there were several excellent singer-songwriters at the time and most were rooted in Folk music. John, too, was rooted in Folk music, but he crossed over into Country. His 2016 album For Better, Or Worse was traditional Country at it’s finest. His parents were from Kentucky. That is likely how he got his Country influence, no doubt listening to the twangy sounds of Country and Bluegrass while he was a kid. He grew up in Maywood, IL, an old suburb just a few miles from where I grew up on the West Side of Chicago. Maywood looks urban compared to modern suburbs, but it also has a small town feel, looking like a run down Midwestern rust belt town. Although just outside of Chicago, it’s not hard to understand where John got his Folk-Country sensibilities. I still drive through Maywood on my way to work everyday and will continue to think of John Prine as I pass through his old stomping grounds.

John Prine (1946-2020)

Soundstage was an excellent live-music show that originally aired on WTTW Chicago from the mid-70′s to the mid-80′s. This John Prine episode was one of my two favorites. (The other being Arlo Guthrie, Steve Goodman and Hoyt Axton.) I remember being fascinated with it when it aired in 1980. It is an outstanding performance by Prine that captures the beauty of his songs and his humorous banter between songs. The highlight for me is Paradise, a song about Kentucky and the Peabody Coal Mining Company (a company my coal miner grandfather worked for in south-central Illinois). I have a friend, Steve, who was my roommate at SIU in Carbondale, IL. We have not seen a lot of each other since college, but when we do get together, we play some music, mostly Country and Blue Grass. With Steve on fiddle and me on acoustic guitar, Paradise is always my favorite song that we do. (Paradise begins at 28:00.)

John Prine (1946-2020)

One of the best things about going to see Tedeschi Trucks Band every January at the Chicago Theater is getting to hear Susan sing this gorgeous rendition of John Prine’s beautiful song, Angel From Montgomery.

Joan Baez dedicates a song to the ailing John Prine with a beautiful cover of Prine’s song Hello In There.

Come on John. Hang in there!

Some good new music on NPR’s first listen this week. A new LP, Head Carrier, by alternative band Pixies and a fine new traditional Country album, For Better, Or Worse by John Prine.