Prime Prine

Prime Prine

ASIN: B000002I8Z

Track Listings

1. Sam Stone

2. Saddle in the Rain

3. Please Don't Bury Me

4. Great Compromise

5. Grandpa Was a Carpenter

6. Donald and Lydia

7. Illegal Smile

8. Sweet Revenge

9. Dear Abby

10. Souvenirs

11. Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard

12. Hello in There

Tracks:

Sam Stone
Saddle In The Rain
Please Don't Bury Me
The Great Compromise
Grandpa Was A Carpenter
Donald And Lydia
Illegal Smile
Sweet Revenge
Dear Abbey
Souvenirs
Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard
Hello In There

Customer Reviews:

It was for my boyfriend.......2007-01-19

My boyfriend had this cassette years ago and someone took it. He told me about it. I wanted to do something extra special for him so I bought him this CD. He listens to it ALL the time!

DO NOT BUY THIS COLLECTION. [Unless You Absolutely Must..].......2006-12-13

Let me cut to the chase: John Prine is our Greatest Living American Folk Artist. Resoundingly so now that Johnny Cash is dead, and even before then it was a tie for first. Dylan barely touches the frayed hem of his coat.

He's put out some 19 albums, I think. I own six, and have most of the rest of his songs off concert bootlegs & such. This collection, though the first collection of his I ever bought, I do not consider as one of the them. The fact that I do not own everything John has recorded is cause for slight shame. I excoriate myself for this inadaquacy publically, so as to goad myself to action: My brother, my sister, we all ought immerse ourselves in the ocean of Prine. Get all pruny in Prine. Taste the primordial essence rich on our lips, lap it succulent with our tongues, suck marrow lush from the bone.. Ummm... Yummy.

Don't be ashamed. Don't be like I've been, like I am. Embrace the Prine, allow the anarchic hobo hippie beat bluecollar wobbly patriot mystic in you free. We need all aquire the entirety of John Prine's work.

I mean, allow me to clear this confusing silliness up here: this collection was issued in 1976. Thirty years, and some fifteen albums ago.. "Great Days: The John Prine Anthology" would be a better compilation for a broader taste of his career. Still,

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SELECT TEN - OR ANY OTHER NUMBER OF - SONGS BY JOHN PRINE AND LABEL THEM HIS "BEST."

His "best of collection" is his entire opus. Trying to select amongst that profusion of genius is a raw rancid obscenely ridiculous charade indulged in my record company flacks so as to rip you off. Not of your money - or not simply of your money - no, of something far more precious than mere filthy lucre (which is all those blinking scoundrels apparently care about, God help them) No, what they are gypping you of is the full beauty of John Prine's work. You need to bite the bullet and acquire it all. Every song. Do not deny yourself.

John is the equal of Townes Van Zandt, transcendent comedy to Townes' tragedy. An American folk Aristophanes to Euripides.

Analogy: Trying to pick the best of Prine is like trying to pick the best of Led Zepplin. I used to be a Zepplin fanatic, ages past, when I was still teething. It's a perfect analogy: Any true Zepplin fan would just shake his head if you suggested abridging the corpus. I mean, they only put out eighty songs. Once you've heard and loved one of them, you will inevitably hear and love them all. I mean, Sam Stone and Dear Abby may be equivalent to Stairway to Heaven and Black Country Woman.. excellent songs that everyone knows when they hear them.

But they're just the surface:

Christmas in Prison. Angel from Montgomery. The Hobo Song. In Spite of Ourselves. Sleepy Eyed Boy (I tear up a little just thinking how good this song is..) Muhlenburg County. City of New Orleans. Big Fat Love. I Just Wanna Dance with You. That's the Way the World Goes Round. Clocks & Spoons. Chain of Sorrow. The Accident (Things Could be Worse.) People Putting People Down.

I mean, Holy Freaking Smokes. All of these Songs are all utterly incredible, and NONE OF THEM ARE ON THIS COLLECTION!! Sheer travesty. A bloody silly joke.

Don't restrict yourself foolishly. Dive. Plunge into Prine. You will not - never ever - regret it.

This album is not even a primer, let alone a "best of album." These are all great songs, for sure - Dear Abby, Sam Stone, The Great Compromise, Sweet Revenge, Illegal Smile.. all great stuff.

So I give this album 5 stars +++ because I would never ever give John Prine anything less. But I recommend you NOT buy it. Buy everything - everything - else he's done instead.

Long Live John Prine. Keep picking my friend.

Remarkable!.......2006-05-25

if you're expecting something common, you're in for a surprise. If you think that these themes have been used, Then think again.

Instead, you get blown away by things that no one has thought to write songs about. The genre is a mix of blues, Folk and country. but the thoughts behind the music are fresh and original. Prine's voice may not be perfect, but his lyrics are.

yes, the album was premature and lacks several good songs of his. But it gives a very good overview of John Prine, and I highly recommend it.

My sweetie's favorite.......2005-07-09

My man, Norman LOVES John Prine and this CD. we are going to see John in concert in a few weeks, oh boy! I'm not the fan my Norman is, but I like it fine. country meets Grateful Dead, and a wee bit more. dang good.
~~~
edited to add:
well, we went to the concert - I am now a full-fledged John Prine fan! I gotta have ALL his CDs! he's blues, country, folk, rock, a little Johnny Cash, a little Joan Baez. full of feeling and a lot of heart. and funny. Lake Marie, and some of the really good ones - I got tears in my eyes!

Not quite Paradise, but dern close.......2004-01-09

Look, I'm not going to feed you crap here. Prine is dang near the best songwriter ever. He is right up there with Dylan, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, and Randy Newman as one of the greatest American songwriters (as if we know any other kind of songwriters...Elton who?). This early "Best of" might have been a bit premature at the time, but has a great collection of songs, especially for anyone who is not familiar with Prine.
It's too bad that "Paradise" is not included on this set. If you're ready to drop a little more change and get a better range of John Boy's stuff, go for the Anthology. It's well worth it.
Prine was "discovered" by Kris Kristopherson, and wrote a lot of songs with Steve Goodman. If you're a fan of either of those artists, or any of the many they've influenced (Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, etc), then you'll love Prine.
If you're already a Prine fan, and you just want to know if this album is worth it, don't. Get the Anthology instead. It has better recording quality, and much more of Prine's hits.

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