Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Prime Prine
I did my graduate work at a College in Nashville, TN. For the five years I lived there I only saw 2 famous music people. One was the back of Reba McKintire's head as she screamed down Westend Ave. in a small red (big surprise) sports car. The other was John Prine.
I had gone to The Bluebird Cafe one night to see this blues act. It was very dark, but not very crowded. I sat down across from some other guy to share his ashtray (back when I smoked) and the guy was John Prine. Very cool fellow.
Prine is not really folk and not really country, he is part of what is called Americana music. From the heart breaking "Sam Stone" and "Bruised Orange" to the sentimental "One Red Rose" and "How Lucky Can One Man Get", Prine is able to expose those aspects of ourselves that we thought we had kept hidden and protected from the world.
Prine introduces characters to the listener that we all seem to know in our real lives, from the girl behind the checkout counter to the guy/gal staring at us in the mirror every morning. No one is spared by his critical eye, they are seen with warts and all, but noone is demoralized either. One can tell that Prine must like the, sometimes messy, combinations of angel and vice that make us all very much human.
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I had gone to The Bluebird Cafe one night to see this blues act. It was very dark, but not very crowded. I sat down across from some other guy to share his ashtray (back when I smoked) and the guy was John Prine. Very cool fellow.
Prine is not really folk and not really country, he is part of what is called Americana music. From the heart breaking "Sam Stone" and "Bruised Orange" to the sentimental "One Red Rose" and "How Lucky Can One Man Get", Prine is able to expose those aspects of ourselves that we thought we had kept hidden and protected from the world.
Prine introduces characters to the listener that we all seem to know in our real lives, from the girl behind the checkout counter to the guy/gal staring at us in the mirror every morning. No one is spared by his critical eye, they are seen with warts and all, but noone is demoralized either. One can tell that Prine must like the, sometimes messy, combinations of angel and vice that make us all very much human.
# posted by Joe Florida @ 6:37 PM 
