PRIME PRINE: Prolific songwriter plays Ogden
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By Linda East Brady
Standard-Examiner staff
John Prine has written songs about almost everything, from many points of view.
He may be best known as an old woman reminiscing about her lost cowboy lover in "Angel From Montgomery." He's sung of teenage pregnancy from the perspective of "Unwed Fathers."
He's slyly addressed fighting the power, hippie-fashion, in "Illegal Smile," and talked tongue-in-cheek of what heaven is like in "Fish and Whistle."
Said Doug Wintch, a singer/songwriter from Salt Lake City: "The thing about Prine as a songwriter, is that he gave people like me a green light to even try such stuff. ... He'll sing a song and it'll be a joke and a sad story at the same time -- that's quite an accomplishment. "
Prine brings his music and humor to the Austad Auditorium on the Weber State University campus on May 11.
One of us
Prine's voice is not pretty, but rather warm and husky, with a vaguely Southern accent. This homey yet indefinable dialect likely comes from being raised in Illinois and spending his summers among kin in Kentucky.
He first made his mark on the Chicago folk scene of the late '60s, breaking through in 1971 when Kris Kristofferson took Prine and fellow Windy City folkie Steve Goodman under his influential wing.
Eric Wagner, president of the Bridger Folk Music Society in Logan, first saw Prine in 1980 in Fort Collins, Colo., on a double bill with Goodman.
"Prine's songs tend to be quirky, and I kind of like quirky," said Wagner, who is also a performer and songwriter. "I follow the 'News of the Weird' and such things, and his songs can get right to that element, yet still be moving. I think he captures strange in a way no other songwriter does."
Donna Land Maldonado, general manager of community radio station KRCL and host of the music program "Le Cafe Folk," spins Prine's stuff regularly.
"He has almost a cult following," Maldonado said. "But then, Prine has been around for a long time now, storytelling. I think his stories really resonate with us common folk, because they're about common folk. Plus the way he puts the stories to music is just so listenable somehow."
Playing Prine
Rob Ramage of Farmington, another admirer of Prine's work, can remember hearing "Dear Abby" and "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" on the Doctor Demento radio show.
He saw Prine once before, in 1990 at a Chicago festival, and won tickets to the upcoming show from the radio station The River 105.7 FM.
"Prine's like Bob Dylan or Neil Young -- you either like that voice or you don't, and I really like hearing him play his own stuff best," said Ramage. "He appeals to me because even when he is dealing with a serious subject, he manages to find the humor, or sometimes irony, to be found there.'<2009><2009>"
Wintch said he's learned about 50 Prine-penned tunes over the years, using many in his own shows.
"If (you played) and a weird or rowdy crowd was there, you wouldn't want to play an original right off the bat," said Wintch. "They'd eat you alive. You had to get them in your back pocket firs that with Prine.
"So out would come 'That's the Way the World Goes 'Round,' or 'Fish and Whistle' -- with that chorus?" Wintch sings, " 'Father forgive us for what we must do/ You forgive us, we'll forgive you/ We'll forgive each other till we both turn blue/ Then we'll whistle and go fishing in heaven.' That's really just perfect."
Genuine article
Maldonado said that one Prine cut in particular keeps popping up as a request on KRCL shows. The song, "Sam Stone," from Prine's first album, tells the story of a returning vet, injured in the war and addicted to narcotics.
"I think 'Sam Stone' came from an era that touched and wounded so many people," Maldonado said. "With some of the feelings about the present-day war, and some of the same issues confronting the returning vets, it's a song that touches people once again."
Wintch, Maldonado, Ramage and Wagner agree that Prine's appeal as an entertainer comes from the genuine-article quality that he brings to the stage.
"He is just so damned believable and authentic," Wintch said. "That's why it is a good idea for songwriters to learn his songs. When they come flying out of your mouth, they make you feel a certain way, make you feel at home. And feeling that makes you want to make you, and your audience, feel that same way again -- but with your own songs.
"I think, if there is some kid who is 20, who wants to write songs, he or she should look to Prine first. His whole library ... can give you a Ph.D. in songwriting, without ever setting foot inside a classroom."
PREVIEW
WHO: John Prine
WHEN: 8 p.m. May 11
WHERE: Austad Auditorium, Browning Center, 3850 University Circle, Weber State University, Ogden
TICKETS: $49.50/floor, $39.50/balcony. Available from the WSU box office, (800) WSU-TIKS
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