Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues by Bob Dylan

I suppose I am like most fans of music. We grow familiar with certain artists and music types as we grow older and that is what we listen to the most. I think, however, that I do a better job than most in at least trying to be open to new music. Of course some of the new music I discover is very old, still it qualifies as new to me. My recent discovery of John Prine certainly falls into that area.

For me something became apparent the other day as I was listening to my always on the Satellite Radio Outlaw Country. Bob Dylan is amazing. Bob Dylan was amazing. There is no comparison to this incredibly gifted songwriter. I will admit that the voice perhaps has to be considered an acquired test. The voice however, certainly in the sixties, was not bad and there are lists of singers that were not great technical singers.

This song, it is not the best song Dylan did. What makes it so great however is that it is still great. Dylan wrote so many great songs in that era between 62 and 66 that it is hard to keep track of them all. This song from Highway 61, just one of many great songs on that album and certainly overshadowed by Highway 61 and Like a Rolling Stone is underrated. I might not have not heard it for years and yet when out of the blue I heard it in the truck I just said to myself Wow.

We cannot try so hard to embrace the new that we forget what is amazing in our roots. Bob Dylan was and is the greatest songwriter in the rock era. If you are a Dylan fan then you can come up with scores of characters in his songs that you remember. I had a friend in college who had a party where everyone was supposed to come as a Dylan character. Of course many people were lazy and came with tambourines but how many singers could you have a party and attempt that with their songs.

God is God and no one should compare a mortal with God. But perhaps someday in the future we can say of a singer that we think is amazing and say they are Dylan like. That will be the ultimate compliment.

John Prine

The very first album by John Prine was released in 1971. Many albums later, many paths and detours on the way, and if one wants to know what the music of John Prine is about he has not far to go.

Simply pick up this self titled first album and do what I did. Realize that quite a few of these songs are songs that you have heard before, if not Prine's version, then one of the many, many covers of these songs have been recorded.

Prine has influenced so many singers. He is a singers songwriter. Artists from Johnny Cash to Roger Waters have listed him as among the greatest songwriters of the era, and indeed he was blessed with the uneasy title of the next Dylan upon the release of this, his first album.

Dylan he was not. No one could be. Prine has inevitably done well in his career. With double digit album releases, tours, and publishing fees there is no need to feel bad for John Prine.

He is one of those artists who never sold out for commercial success. He has been around so long there have been generation of folk, country-rock and alt country artists have sung his praises and accepted his blessings.

This first album is a rarity. It is an album with great lyrics, a strong voiced singer and a message.

The album opens with Illegal Smile, telling of how one can cheaply correct a day when one is having no fun. It is a standard still on tour and for good reason.

Later the song Hello in There an essay on the loneliness we all feel and hope to have broken is still relevant.

The first of many political songs written by Prine was Sam Stone about a returning wounded Vietnam veteran who " has a hole in his arm where all his money goes."

Songs such as Paradise take on Corporate Coal long before it was popular to do so. Mulenberg county was ruined by the Coal Train and Prine laments this beautifully.

On Far From Me, the song Prine often tells as his favorite we meet a man who loves a waitress named Cathy whose love he has lost.

Pretty Good, Quiet Man, and Donald and Lydia have all become staples of the country rock genre, performed by Prine or someone else.

The most famous song on the album and perhaps of Prine's career is a strong protest song. Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore addresses the Vietnam War and advises that Heaven is too full from war to offer a guarenteed entry into all our public patriots.

John Prine is most likely an acquired taste. If you like Todd Snider, The Avett Brothers, James McMurtry or Kris Kristofferson it is likely you will find an affection for these songs. If you want someone to make you feel good about the status quo you most likely will not enjoy Prine's music.

Still in 1971 everyone wrote politically tinged music. Prine just did it better, and when he was not he was writing affecting songs of people on the edge with a feeling an depth which made you assume that wherever he came from he had seen the cliffs as well.

This is not only a good album, a great album, for influence alone it is one of the quintessential albums of all time.

John Prine

John Prine has been making music for a long time. I have heard his name around the fringes of my music knowledge for many years. Usually indicated as an influence of other artists I had never really explored his music.

Christmas in Prison is a song I have heard a couple times at Christmas when a Deejay tired of playing the standard accepted Rock Christmas Songs but that was my only experience.

Until today. Hearing a song called Paradise on Outlaw Country this morning I was struck by what a fine song it was. I love old school country, I like lyrics that tell a story. One cannot listen to Prine and not hear Springsteen and Gram Parsons and scores of other artists that truly have been influenced by John Prine.

Spotify makes it easy to explore new artists or older artists you never gave enough attention to. Tonight I have listened to about a half hour of Prine's music on random on Spotify. Hearing Souveniers, Jesus the Missing Years, In Spite of Oursevles I feel like I have just found a diamond in a spot that I passed every day for years.

Life is busy. I read, write, watch old movies and of course listen to music. New idea for the day, find time to listen to as much of John Prine's catalog as I can. He is amazing.