Prine on Prine: Interviews and Encounters with John Prine by Holly Gleason
What's It About?
Prine on Prine: Interviews and Encounters with John Prine is both a fine tribute and excellent resource provided by the inimitable author Holly Gleason.Prine on Prine: Interviews and Encounters with John Prine is the next best thing for dedicated fans and curious music lovers to experience the impossible: sitting down to an intimate conversation with one of the Kings of American Roots Music. We are told that reportedly John Prine flat-out hated interviews, thus this collection is a gem which includes some of the earliest and best conversations and articles gathered together in a single treasured volume.
Nashville writer, producer, critic and music industry consultant Holly Gleason has assembled and edited a series of interviews with the self-effacing singer/songwriter/record company founder beginning in 1970 and concluding with the final interview conducted in late November, 2019 and published shortly before John Prine’s unanticipated passing on April 7, 2020. He had conquered cancer three times in the previous decades but was unable to vanquish Covid.
He was dubbed “the singing mailman” for his six years as a postman and hailed as “the new Dylan”, which he eschewed. His influences included Merle Travis and Ike Everly, both friends of his father, as well as Hank Williams and Roger Miller.
John Prine established his reputation early as a man of the people: a songwriter first and singer who wrote storytelling songs with pathos, poignancy, humor and heart. Bonnie Raitt instantly adopted Angel from Montgomery as one of her signature set pieces; Bette Midler took and ran with Hello in There and Tammy Wynette may have sung the most widely known version of Unwed Fathers. The number of performers who have sung and continue to sing his covers would fill several pages.
This Chicago native bled Kentucky blue with family roots planted deep in Muhlenberg County in Paradise, a hamlet bought up piecemeal and eradicated by Peabody Coal Company. The eponymous song Paradise has been the song most recorded by other artists.
A Personal and Professional Connection
Holly Gleason knew John Prine nearly as well both personally and professionally as his wife and business partner Fiona Whelan Prine and their three sons. Early in her career as a lauded music journalist, while still in college and writing for the Miami Herald, Holly met and interviewed John and began a friendship that lasted until his death. She traveled on his tours in the late 1980’s, chronicling tales and events and assisted in representing him in the 2000s with media and awards campaigns for two of his albums. In June 2023, she was honored with the Entertainment Journalist of the Year Award by the LA Press Club and won in two other categories: Music Criticism and the Entertainment News (Magazine) and also received two second-place awards for Entertainment Feature and Best Arts Commentary.
Prine on Prine is not intended to serve as a comprehensive biography but contains great personal stories and insights direct from the source and reporters. There are a number of unauthorized biographies of John Prine as well as websites devoted to the man and his songs. http://www.jpshrine.org is one maintained for and by truly obsessive fans, self-proclaimed “Johnnie Junkies” that is a virtual biographical site that includes album listings, song lyrics as well as partial concert dates complete with setlists. Here are three additional official sites: https://www.johnprine.com/, https://www.facebook.com/JohnPrine/, and https://ohboy.com/ operated by the Prine family. Oh Boy Records, founded in 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee by John Prine and his friend, manager and business partner, the late Al Bunetta, is the second oldest artist-run independent label in the U.S.A.
From their website: “The label continues to expand its catalog with a dedication to authentic voices, giving songwriters a platform to create art while speaking their truth.” The first releases were fan-funded by people who sent in their money and waited for the records to be completed and distributed. Music, merchandise, and tour dates are all available on this well-maintained site.
From Beginnings to Lucky Breaks
There are ten parts to Prine on Prine. For the presumably few readers who may have stumbled upon this book and are unfamiliar with the truly legendary John Prine, Part 1 is entitled “The Singing Mailman Emerges”. It contains his breakthrough first interview with Roger Ebert published in the Chicago Sun-Times and a WFMT-FM-Chicago hour-long conversation with Studs Terkel broadcast in 1975.
Both thoroughly delve into his beginnings and some lucky breaks engineered by his good friend and occasional collaborator Steve Goodman. He is best known for writing Arlo Guthrie’s classic City of New Orleans and acknowledged as the man who grabbed pal Kris Kristofferson after their set and hustled him over to the small club where John Prine had wrapped for the night.
Within days, Prine was on a plane heading for New York and signed to Atlantic Records by Jerry Wexler. His first album John Prine was released in 1971 to rave reviews and modest but steady sales. It finally achieved gold record status in 1987! It’s done well for the record label which 50+ years on retains the publishing rights to his best-known songs.
Cameron Crowe, too young to have a driver’s license, was driven by his sister to his interview titled The Postman Sings Twice published in the Los Angeles Free Press on February 9, 1973 is reprinted in Part 2. Not all interviewers or their publications will be as well known to readers but they are noteworthy and remain fresh. Prine on Prine: Interviews and Encounters with John Prine is both a fine tribute and excellent resource provided by the inimitable author Holly Gleason.
Prine Touches Many with His Music
On a personal note, I am also a John Prince fan since the early days but never met nor spoke to him. Washington, DC clubs were bursting with live performers in the era when his first album debuted. Emmylou Harris could be found at Clyde’s; Roberta Flack played piano and sang during Sunday brunch at Mr. Henry’s and Mr. Smith’s piano bar was known for great live jazz. Walk down the Exorcist Stairs to 34th & M Streets to The Cellar Door. It was, perhaps, the greatest music club in DC with seating capacity for 163 patrons, inexpensive drinks and low ticket prices.
It was here in early November 1972, a friend and I saw John Prine perform, telling stories and singing his songs. Advance tickets were $3.00. The opening act was Bonnie Raitt accompanied by bass guitarist Freebo. It was the first time I heard her sing Angel from Montgomery. It was magical! I later heard John Prine perform in larger venues.
The last time I heard him speak and briefly perform was in Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday, May 20, 2017. The occasion was a conversation/author talk with the late Peter Cooper to promote the recently published John Prine: Beyond Words, a songbook. I was able to purchase one of a handful of signed copies.
Although not an obsessive fan, it was a privilege to have seen three stages of this remarkable man. First as a slender, dark-haired vibrant youth alone with his guitar, then the confident middle-aged performer backed by a full band and finally as a lively senior citizen somewhat ravaged by time and multiple surgeries who nonetheless still enthralled his audience.
I fervently hope, wherever he is now, the words of his song Spanish Pipedream will resonate:
“Blow up your TV, throw away your paper
Go to the country and build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lotta peaches
Try and find Jesus, on your own”
About Holly Gleason:
Holly Gleason is a Nashville-based writer and artist development consultant. She’s written for Rolling Stone, The LA Times, NY Times, Oxford American, No Depression, PASTE, Lone Star Music, Texas Music, Spin, Musician, CREEM, Interview, PLAYBOY, The Palm Beach Daily News, The Vineyard Gazette, Tower Pulse, Request, Rockbill, Bam, Rock & Soul and Mix. She loves songwriters, roots music, country, r&b and very early rap, as well as life moments, fame and its impact on who we are. (Photo Credit: Allister Ann)
