Bob (rsdean) posted a tribute song to John Prine shortly after his passing.
I thought that was a really nice idea. So I thought I would follow his lead.

Prine's first album ("John Prine" - 1971) was my "songwriting bible".
My buddy and I used to get to rummage through the basement of our local easy-listening radio station (very small town in upstate New York).
They put all the promotional records they got and didn't play down there.
We found Prine's debut a few weeks before it was released.
(We also found Jimmy Buffet's first and Springsteen's first and second, Jackson Browne's first)
After hearing it, I ran out and bought my own copy as soon as it was in the store ($3.12 - the regular price for records then)
I wore that record out. It taught me much of what I know about songwriting.
We played many of the songs in bars in the summers (as a duo). Long before most folks had heard of Prine.
When I moved to Nashville to work at writing "commercial" Country, I had to stop listening to Prine...
Otherwise, half of what I wrote came out sounding like a Prine song (Which certainly didn't fit the need at the time).
It was hard at first, but I eventually locked all those songs out.
I did not listen to any John Prine records for the next 25 years.

In the past few years, I have gone back to playing my favorites occasionally when I sit down with a guitar.
"Far From Me"..."Hello In There"..."Angel From Montgomery"..."Paradise"...
John's passing broke my heart.
I have, since, been lsitening to his entire catalog - one record per day.
Many of the later ones I haven't heard before...
If you don't know John Prine (I can't imagine many would not), you owe it to yourself to listen to his debut.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prine_(album)
It is a songwriting masterpiece.

So this is about all of that.


If you are familiar with Prine's records, you should recognize many of the production elements from those early records.


A tribute to my biggest "song writing hero/mentor"...



LET IT BLEED

I kept it bottled up for years
held it back like unshed tears
so no one would know
what's inside me
thinkin' now what a big a mistake
you get so filled up the dam's bound to break
how could i deny
the man who baptized me
   
   sometimes you've got to let it go
   the volcano is bound to blow
   let the devils out
   let the angels shout
   it's a primal need
   throw off the chain
   unlock the locks
   open up pandora's box
   open up that vein
   let it bleed

i left him back some time ago
to find what i thought he didn't know
looking to win the fight
he hadn't fought
now he's gone it breaks my heart
the man who showed me how to start
to find the words to tell the world
just what i thought
   
   sometimes you've got to let it go
   the volcano is bound to blow
   let the devils out
   let the angels shout
   it's a primal need
   throw off the chain
   unlock the locks
   open up pandora's box
   open up that vein
   let it bleed
   
   open up the pain
   let it bleed



The BAND:
RealTracks in style: 521:Bass, Electric, Pop Syncopated Ev 136
RealTracks in style: ~~407:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 165
RealTracks in style: ~406:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 136
RealTracks in song: 1667:Pedal Steel, Soloist CountryPaul Ev 065
RealTracks in song: 3099:Organ, Rhythm AmericanaSlow16thsMike Ev16 060
RealTracks in song: 3198:Guitar, Acoustic, Soloist PopBalladBrent Ev 065
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleBrushesCountryPopEv16



"The sky is black and still now
On the hill where the angels sing"
- John Prine "Far From Me"


Your passing saddens me.


fj

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