My John Prine story

[maxrandb]

So, my bride and I had just moved to Norfolk VA. We saw in the paper that Arlo Guthrie was going to be at Chrysler Hall.

My darling was a huge Bob Dylan fan. When I met her in college (she was attending, I was drinking); the first time I went to her apartment, she had her albums in old wooden orange crates... alphabetized.

Almost one whole crate was Dylan. I, on the other hand, was a WHOligan and British Invasion fan. I did eventually come around to Dylan.

So, since there was a Woody Guthrie/Dylan/Arlo connection, we got tickets for what we thought was an Arlo Guthrie concert. Neither of us had ever heard of John Prine.

We go to Chrysler Hall, Arlo Guthrie comes out and announces that he is the "opening act" and soon John Prine would come out.

I don't know how we missed his name on the bill, but to us, this was supposed to be an Arlo Guthrie concert.

Arlo played a lot of his hits and put on a great show. There was a brief intermission and then this guy just walked out with an accoustic guitar.

I don't know how to describe it, but after a couple of songs we had never heard before, neither of us could take our eyes, or ears off the stage. It's as if I was just in a trance. I was hearing these great songs for the first time, and it just took my breath away.

We became huge John Prine fans that night, and we didn't even know he was the headliner of the show.

[hlthe2b]

1. Great story... I learned of Prine from a very young, early John Denver, who was doing folk primarily

and did really nice recordings of Angel from Montgomery, Paradise and Spanish Pipedream (blow up your tv). These early recordings resonated and I had to look up the songwriter.

What a loss. RIP, (both) Johns!

[Clash City Rocker]

2. Great story

It reminds me of a friend who went to two consecutive concerts by The Who and the Grateful Dead (they took turns being the opening act). The Who did the exact same show both nights, but the Dead didn’t play one song from the first show on the second night, and he was hooked. He went in hardly knowing who the Dead were, but as a result became the biggest Deadhead I’ve ever known. It’s like how a movie is always better if you go to the theater knowing nothing about it.

Prine was unique in a folk music field of guys who were trying to be the New Bob Dylan. He blazed his own trail, and was one of the best songwriters of our time. It feels like we can’t go a month without the death of a musician I love any more.

[Docreed2003]

3. And even Dylan considered him to be one of the best songwriters

[PJMcK]

4. I met John Prine last June

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at their annual dinner. He was seated at the next table and we chatted several times during the evening. Great guy, very friendly and humble. His death is a hug loss to the world of music.