John Prine : Prime Prine
Genre: Singer - Songwriter	Dates: 1971-1976

Prine has written so many indelible, hilarious, heart-rending songs that a single disc just can’t sum him up—but, unfortunately, our budget was limited. We hope we can rectify that with future grants, but the man’s still writing away, so we have our work cut out for us. Suffice it to say that if you’ve never heard the man he’s a whackier, kinder, countrier version of Bob Dylan, without whom he never could have existed: he is one of the few to have survived the “New Dylan” hype. A simple listing of some of the subject matter here will tell you whether you need to sample him: Vietnam vet gone to seed; organ donation way before its time, parcelled out with sly imagination; a drive-in movie romantic tragedy that’s an allegory for our involvement in the Vietnam War; the uncomfortably but humorously abstract love affair between two desolately lonely souls separated by serious geography; a barrage of hilarious personal dilemmas dispatched with uncommon common sense by a “Dear Abby” of Will Rogers’ dreams; a call (from a writer still in his twenties) to reach out to senior citizens. All in all—maybe even smarter than Dylan, when it comes down to brass tacks.

Playlist:
1. Sam Stone
2. Saddle In The Rain
3. Please Don't Bury Me
4. Great Compromise, The
5. Grandpa Was A Carpenter
6. Donald And Lydia
7. Illegal Smile
8. Sweet Revenge
9. Dear Abby
10. Souvenirs
11. Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard
12. Hello In There