Today, I have 6 stunning John Prine covers for you. The songs are performed by a variety of singers, and I truly hope you enjoy them.
But before we go any further, I want to take a moment to acknowledge how HUGE of an impact John Prine had on the acoustic music community.
John Prine’s music impacted almost every corner of the music industry. His lyricism is unforgettable, his playing signature, and his attitude unmatched all the way to his final days.
So, thank you, John Prine. You will be missed, but we will always remember you through your songs and your legacy.
Now, in addition to covering 6 John Prine covers you might not have heard, I’ll also talk about the Journey Overhead Firstclass Parlor Guitar and a special message from the luthier community.
As always, you can catch Acoustic Tuesday at 10 am every Tuesday in these four places:
- Acoustic Life YouTube channel
- We Play Every Day Facebook Community
- Get show notes emailed directly to your inbox.
- Listen to audio-only below or in iTunes
Links:
https://youtu.be/7wC_WyanLhM – Roger Waters covering “Paradise”
https://youtu.be/CJPvc5vvKY4 – hear Joan Baez cover “Hello In There”
https://youtu.be/ntNuxE7q9oY – John Paul White covering “Sam Stone”
https://youtu.be/ZZ73sm1iiPo – Trey Hensley covering “Souvenirs”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-m1IhGFPbM/ – Simon Flory covering “Angel From Montgomery”
https://youtu.be/mQA50JX-OEY – Sarah Jarosz playing “Unwed Fathers”
Guitar Review
https://youtu.be/Y9C3wluNHqE – Check out my full review of the Journey First Class Overhead Parlor Guitar (FP412)
https://journeyinstruments.com/product/solid-sitka-sapele-fp412/ – Learn more about the Journey FP412
Whenever you showcase a guitar, like today’s Journey overhead parlor guitar, you never mention the price or even a price “range”. Why is that?
GM Tony, Caught todays broadcast and just wanted to say thanx. Hurt my heart when I heard that JP got a hole in his bucket. Fortunately for me, I had the opportunity to see him in concert just last fall in Seattle. He was fantastic. His music will live on forever. Thanx again for sharing some JP things today. BTW….my personal favorite is “Christmas in prison”. Still workin on it myself an hope to get it right someday.
I saw him perform at Strawberry Music Festival on stage with Bonnie Raitt and they sang Angel from Montgomery together… classic…
My favorite cover of “Unwed Fathers” is by The Dry Branch Fire Squad on their Just for the Record album released in 1993 (Rounder 0306).
Great Show Tony! Thank You so much for dedicating TA# 140 to the contributions made by John Prine. Keep up the great work. Guitar Geeks United! My favorite JP remains Sam Stone, which was one of my early inspirations to pursue acoustic guitar, attempt to write songs and perform in front of others. I was fortunate to have seen John perform on two occasions, John’s music continues to inspire me and always will.
Favorite cover of Paradise is by John Denver, on the album Rocky Mountain High (1972). Just a tiny bit faster than John Prine’s original version. The song was new then; not yet a classic.
Johnny Cash covered Sam Stone… but he ruined it! Took out the most poignant line (for commercial reasons, not moral ones) and turned it from a folk song into country-western.
Friendship aside, Angel From Montgomery deserved a much better cover. Her’s my favorite from ‘The Road to Austin’ featuring Bonny Raitt & Ruthie Foster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnCX5OvBfD8
DOC!! Defintely the 4th on Flatpicking Mt. Rushmore!
John Prine had an undefinable quality in his Voice, Attitude, subtle Humor, “HE” did it All, from writing to performing, Himself, and ‘That Something’ can’t be ‘Covered’….Not even by ‘The Best’ ! Like someone ‘Trying’ (few) to ‘cover’ : “Neil Young” or “Rolling Stones” . Very few even Attempt it…there Is a Reason there?
Tony my guitar journey is a bit long so here goes I started playing when I was 15 my dad bought me a 1955 Les Paul and a 5 watt amp in a pawn shop as well as a a Mel bay learn to play guitar book for Christmas in 1970 for $30. I had no clue what I was doing and a friend of my older brother told me to put down the book and showed me how to make chords and how to understand how to change from one to another in the same scale. That brings me to my guitar hero’s first his name was bob Jagael the last time I saw him he was living in CA the next guitar hero was Jim croce and Maury Muehleisen because i saw them 3 weeks before the crash and it made learn to love the acoustic guitar and made me want to play it more so after that i buried my les paul in the closet and started to play the acoustic. i got a cheap Epiphone and loved playing it for about 7 years. Then i got married and gave it up for about 45 years. After we got divorced and while i was moving out i found my old les paul and the old epiphone acoustic in the garage. i Polished them and took them to sam ash for an evaluation and set up, they guy there said the les paul was worth $20.000 so i guess you know what i did. After that I started to look around at different online videos and came across your website which inspired me to buy a better guitar with the money i got from the les paul and learn to play the hell out of it and that brings me to my last guitar hero Tony polecastro because he inspires me to play every day, it doesn’t matter i’m it’s playing for hours or just picking it up and belting out something for 20 minutes thanks tony keep it up.
PS guitarsnial coming soon i narrowed it down to two guitars in my price range a Zager Zag20E or a Mackenzie and marr The Grand Manan Sunburst Dreadnought which one would you recommend
Kira Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, In Spite of Ourselves
Another terrific Acoustic Tuesday Show. Even though it may take me until Friday, I don’t miss an episode, “Love them”. My vote for Mt. Rushmore would be Molly Tuttle. Certainly a treat for the eyes for any tourist that would venture within eye shot of the mount. Keep up the wonderful world of guitardom.
Love ya
Tony Love
Hi Tony. I was watching a daily quarantine series by Amanda Shires called “I So Lounging” featuring the “I So Lounging” band consisting of Jason Isbell, Seth Plemmons, Kelly Garcia-Plemmons, and Zeyk the dog. Amanda and Jason were good personal friends of John and his family and covered 3 songs (Illegal Smile, Angel From Montgomery, and Clocks & Spoons) appear on an episode on Amanda’s Youtube channel. Each can be found individually in the “I So Lounging” playlist. Don’t know how they got through that livestream as they did it the day after John died and the raw emotion is palpable. Makes me cry every time.
Tony, thanks for the John Prine tribute. I was listening to Spotify recently and heard Grandpa Was A Carpenter and realized I knew the song most of the lyrics and did not recall it was a John Prine song. I suspect lots of his songs are part of our musical past and will re-emerge over time. What I most appreciate about Acoustic Tuesday is the exposure to artists. Today it was Sarah Jarosz and her rendition of Unwed Fathers. A simply stunning performance by an artist I have, so far, failed to appreciate. Thanks always for the time and the judgement you display in putting together the show.
The Foxes and Fossils band did an excellent cover of “Angel from Montgomery”. Sammi Purcell really does the song justice with her vocals. The whole band is very talented in their covers of a lot of songs. Check it out on YouTube.