In 1972, Atlantic Records released a sampler LP in the UK that eventually found its way into record stores in America, a recording that today is a pretty desirable commodity to vintage vinyl collectors. Called The New Age Of Atlantic, the album featured then-unreleased tracks by Led Zeppelin and Yes, as well as cuts from other Atlantic acts like Buffalo Springfield and John Prine.
John Prine? Who the heck was John Prine?
Well, John Prine was a former Chicago mailman and folksinger type championed by pop icon Paul Anka, whose first album had been released on Atlantic the year before. His eponymously-titled LP did well enough to keep Prine signed, and anyone who knew anything about songwriting soon was hip to the work of this wry, insightful artist whose initial release contained some real gems. The question then was, what else has he got?
For over four decades now, the answer has consistently been outstanding, high-quality songs.
Prine went on to co-found his own label, Oh Boy Records, so he could continue to write ‘em as he heard ‘em, and he’s become a legend of sorts. His new book, Beyond Words, is a must-have for any serious fan of Prine or clever wordplay in general. The book contains the words and chords to 65 of his songs, and in many instances also includes Prine’s original handwritten lyrics, giving some insight into how the mind of a great writer works. “Dear Abby,” “Paradise,” “Fish And Whistle,” “In Spite Of Ourselves,” and dozens of other Prine originals are in the book, as well as the lyrics and changes to co-writes with some big-name Nashville writers like Roger Cook and Bobby Braddock.
The book also contains various newspaper clippings, including an early review by one critic who called Prine’s melodies “so similar they can barely be told apart,” and called his songs “downers” and him “entertaining as a dog bite.” And there are lots of photos of the artist and his family, friends, band members, and peers like Bonnie Raitt and Tom Waits.
Prine told American Songwriter that it was simply the time for this book, but that publishing a run-of-the-mill songbook wasn’t what he wanted to do. “I realized that there really is no John Prine songbook except for one that I believe Warner Brothers had something to do with [John Prine, published by Alfred Publishing],” he said. “They put one out years ago that was mainly from the first two records, and that’s about the only thing that exists. Now that we have everything under one roof at Oh Boy, we all figured it was time for a songbook, but we wanted it to be something more than just a songbook. We had all these great archival pictures and I had stories about some of the songs, and we had the original transcripts on a lot of songs so people can see how much stuff I leave out. I edit as I go along, that’s just the way I do it.”
Since Beyond Words only contains 65 songs, there are obviously dozens that aren’t included. Prine said that choosing the songs wasn’t really all that difficult. “I looked at my basic set list over the years, and figured there must be a reason I sing those songs every night,” he said. “So I included those, I included some personal favorites … I included a group of songs that during a set I can change from night to night. I didn’t particularly try to exclude anything really … I didn’t want to include every song I ever wrote. I pretty much know what people want.”
The list of singer-songwriters who have been influenced by Prine, or at least have been inspired by him, is endless, with a group of admirers that includes Kacey Musgraves, Cory Branan (elsewhere in this issue) and Holly Williams. Williams, who duetted with Prine on his 2016 album For Better, Or Worse, was effusive via e-mail in her praise of the artist.
“He has such a talent with words,” she said. “He uses the most basic English in such unique ways to cut right at your heart and shake you up! He asked me to do some shows with him a few years ago and has been so supportive ever since! He is just truly a genius and I am so honored to know him.”
The word “genius” also comes up in the notes of Prine’s new book, when he writes, “The hardest thing was to accept the compliments – to go from nothing to ‘You’re a genius.’” When asked about what the word really means to him, Prine doesn’t have to think about an answer.
“I was a mailman, and I went from that overnight to people coming up to me in clubs saying I was a genius,” he said with a laugh. “To me, ‘genius’ is more reserved for people in the scientific field, or doctors because they save someone’s life. I think it’s enough of a reward for an artist to be called an artist, to be in the arts and change people’s lives that way.”