Prime Prine
John Prine
These types of pronouncements can border on the ridiculous, but for the sake of having a writing device, we'll just make it anyway -- John Prine is the most important artist to play the Cascade Theatre to date.
One immediate argument that could blow that statement out of the water is Merle Haggard. But we'll take local acts off the table for now.
Lyle Lovett rivals any songwriter and has a brilliant band. Buddy Guy is on the Mount Rushmore of blues guitarists. John Hiatt's an amazing songwriter. Artists like Bela Fleck and Bruce Hornsby are nothing short of sublime.
But in terms of folk or Americana music, Prine, who performs Monday night at 8 p.m., is a titan on so many levels.
The songs themselves make him an icon. His self-titled debut album alone contained enough important songs to make a career for anyone else with tunes such as "Angel From Montgomery," "Hello in There," "Sam Stone," "Paradise" and "Illegal Smile."
As a performer, his laid-back finger picking style perfectly supports his songs. His voice, strained from a battle with cancer in the 1990s, remains a gravelly jewel. His incredible wit makes the moments between songs nearly as special as the songs themselves.
That humor, continually interwoven through his lyrics, defines his music to a large degree. It makes you smile and chuckle to hear the lines. They're fun to repeat or sing yourself or even read.
From "Illegal Smile": "A bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won/And it was twelve o'clock before I realized that I was havin' ... no fun."
From "Ain't Hurtin' Nobody": "There's roosters laying chickens and chickens layin' eggs/Farm machinery eating people's arms and legs/I wasn't hurtin' nobody/I wasn't hurtin' no one."
Every Prine song seems to contain some kind of memorable line. Those lines combine to form portraits of universal truth about the human experience.
It's such a subtle art, combining words with music to create something interesting. Prine has a master's touch.
Bob Dylan may be the greatest songwriter of all time, but even he's in awe of Prine. He appeared unannounced at one of Prine's early club appearances, anonymously backing him on harmonica. Just this year, Dylan said this: "Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree."
From his debut through his last studio album (the brilliant Grammy-winning "Fair & Square"), Prine has set a huge high standard throughout his career.
A new tribute album, "Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine," features an assortment of modern artists (Old Crow Medicine Show, Conor Oberst, the Avett Brothers, Drive-By Truckers) paying homage to Prine's songs. But you could have picked a group of artists from anywhere over the past four decades who would have been thrilled to contribute to such a project.
Monday night's concert has enjoyed strong ticket sales. Some balcony seats remain, but the floor is mostly gone. Prine tickets are being sold at a pretty standard rate of $49.50.
The show also has an intriguing opener in Dan Reeder, an innovative songwriter who came to craft later in his life. Reeder makes the instruments he plays and fearlessly sings about topics that please him -- watching the rain, chasing women, cowboys' misconceptions about women. Reeder's lyrics are the perfect antitheses to pop songs designed for the masses.
It's easy to see why Reeder's irreverent lyrics appeal to Prine.
Here's a couple fun videos. First Prine in his kitchen several years back:
Here's a video of Dan Reeder's "Cowboy Song":
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For another north state post on John Prine, read Jim Gilmore's blog in the Jefferson Agrarian.
"If your heart doesn’t break listening to 'Lake Marie,' you’d better check to see if you’ve got one," Gilmore writes. Nice words.
Oops, maybe I better change my headline. The Agrarian had this one first.
Aw, it's public domain by now... it was the title of his first "Best Of" album from Atlantic Records as well.
I don't care if you can only get last row balcony tickets... GET THEM!!! Believe me, Prine's songs will reach you there.
I was introduced to Prine by the estimable cartoonist above and have been thanking him ever since. Get the balcony tickets, you lucky citizens of Shasta County! Get 'em right now.
Brilliant writing Jimmy, it was picked up by Expectingrain.com as well.
I remember seeing Prine at the Britt in Jacksonville, Or. with Hana and my parents. We stayed at the Rogue Regency, I believe. Whatever the case, it was where John and the band was staying. We got back after the show and I asked my Dad if he wanted a pop in the bar. He replied laconically that he was going to have a cigar first.
I went to bed, he hung out in front and had a smoke. He ended up talking to Prine.
We discussed the show while eating our breakfast the following morning: eggs over medium, sausage, bacon, hash browns, toast, orange juice, and coffee. Hana and my Mom asked if we really needed both sausage AND bacon. The answer was a simultaneous, silent, eyebrow-raised, telepathic YES!
At a lull in the conversation, Dad drops the bomb: "That John Prine is a really cool dude." I knew that there was more to that statement than an observation of the obvious. The words were laden with the confidence of personal knowledge.
"What!" I barked. "Did you stalk him?"
"I was just having a cigar," Dad cooly intoned, "when he walked up."
John Prine, has the ability to connect with his audience at a cellular, spiritual level. This ability, akin to that of fathers and sons to answer a question in precisely the same fashion at exactly the same time, with no coaching, is a gift that transcends technology and any other man made system. Unlike so many other gifts, it can't be bought and it can't be faked.
To be in such a moment is a gift for the audience: it makes you feel really good and it is difficult to articulate, but it is proof that we are not only all in this thing together, but we are all one, no matter how big and goofy that makes this old world feel.
Thanks for the great piece, Jimmy, you lodged some old memories loose as usual.