THE JOHN PRINE ANTHOLOGY: great days

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John Prine

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I wasn't introduced to the music of John Prine until 1978, but I became an instant fan upon hearing his self-titled debut. I can't think of another more fully developed debut and at six tracks it is (of the 14 albums on this anthology) the one most represented. [Too bad they didn't also include "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," the funniest song about patriotism you'll ever hear.]

But don't mistake Prine's humor as an attempt to merely go for a laugh; it usually is there to help mask pain or anger or to make his message more palatable. Mark Twain made this observation in "The Mysterious Stranger": "For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

Prine uses this weapon effectively. Whether he's urging us to blow up our TVs in "Spanish Pipedream" or looking at the lighter side of death in "Please Don't Bury Me," his songs are full of charm and wit. And then there's the serious side of Prine's songwriting like the pathos of "Hello In There" and its look at aging, or the plight of the Viet Nam war vet in "Sam Stone."

Many of these songs, like "Paradise" and "Angel From Montgomery," have become standards. Quite simply, Prine is one of the best songwriters of the past thirty years (he wrote or co-wrote all but one of these songs) and for longtime fans even this generous 41-track collection will be incomplete. It's a great introduction, but I'll bet you'll want to buy the individual albums after giving this a few listens. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED