He writes the songs that others make hits

By Mark Harden  
Denver Post Popular Music Writer 

Oct. 24 - John Prine has never been what you'd call a superstar. But plenty of superstars think the world of this purveyor of quirky, stinging folk-country-rock tunes. 

 If you've ever been to a Bonnie Raitt concert, you've heard her sing Prine's bittersweet "Angel From Montgomery.'' Joan Baez and Bette Midler have covered his "Hello in There.'' Kris Kristofferson helped him get a record contract. 

 Sam Phillips, who first recorded Elvis Presley, produced some of his songs. John Mellencamp cast him in his movie &suot;Falling From Grace.'' And Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty lent their talents to his landmark 1991 album "The Missing Years.'' 

 But for Prine, who plays the Paramount tonight, one bit of recognition by a musical star has gained poignancy the last couple of weeks. 

 Early in his solo career, John Denver heard a copy of Prine's self-titled 1971 debut album and recorded three of his songs: "Blow Up Your TV,'' "Paradise'' and "Angel From Montgomery.'' The exposure gave Prine an important career boost. 

 "He'd gotten an early copy of my first album and called me and told me how much he liked the songs,'' Prine recalled last week in a telephone interview from Nashville. "He put them on three of his biggest-selling (albums) just after he hit. The songs kind of rode along with his fame. 

 "It was a big help, especially since I got a nice-sized royalty check from it.'' 

 Prine says he once visited a pub in Ireland owned by his friend Matt Molloy of the traditional-Irish group the Chieftains. Molloy was out of town, but "I got to talking with the bartender. I had my guitar with me, so he coaxed me into singing a couple of songs. He had no idea who I was. 

 "I sang "Paradise' and "Blow Up Your TV' and "Angel,' and he's saying to the other bartender, "Hell, this guy sings John Denver songs!' '' 

 That's the way it's always been for Prine, who for 26 years has been recording wry observations of American life that other singers make famous. 

 Nothing to fret over 

 Prine, a refreshingly modest man in a profession of big egos, insists he isn't troubled by any of the many reinterpretations of his songs - even a yet-to-beissued techno-rave version of one tune. In fact, he says, "Usually when somebody has bent it around some, I kind of prefer it. . . . As long as the idea of the song comes across, it doesn't matter whatever else they do to it.'' 

 But he kiddingly says he worries when he hears one of his tunes in a different language: "You wonder if they're actually singing what you wrote.'' 

 The 51-year-old Illinois native was a Chicago-area mailman for several years in the '60s, with time out for a stint in the Army. A good 90 percent of his load was junk mail that didn't take long to sort and deliver, he says, so he had lots of time to write songs on his rounds. 

 After standing up at an openmike night in 1970, Prine started working small Chicago clubs on the side. Songwriter Steve Goodman ( "City of New Orleans'') heard him and recommended him to Kristofferson, who helped Prine land a contract with Atlantic Records and a trip to Memphis to record his debut LP. 

 "John Prine'' was one of the best albums of the 1970s. It established him as a critical success, if not exactly a record-store magnet. 

 Originally pegged a folkie, Prine has proved difficult to pin down. On one album you'll hear him switch on the amps and rock out, but on the next he might turn country or rockabilly, and on the next get back to unplugged folk. 

 One reason for the shifting styles is that Prine has worked with several different producers over the years, most of them performers themselves and each with a unique musical approach. They've included Goodman; Sam Phillips, who practically invented rockabilly; Steve Cropper, the Stax house guitarist who played on Sam and Dave's "Soul Man'' and dozens of other R&B hits; and Howie Epstein of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. 

 Through it all, Prine has brought caustic wit and wicked humor to many of his songs. He's the kind of guy who would put a song called "Christmas in Prison'' on a holiday album. But he also has a tender, sweet side. 

 While recording for the big labels Atlantic and Asylum through the '70s, Prine felt constant pressure for big sales. So in the early '80s he moved to his own indie label, Nashville-based Oh Boy Records. That freedom paid off in 1991 with "The Missing Years,'' his best album since his debut. With all-star backup help and with dynamite tunes like "It's a Big Old Goofy World,'' "Years'' won the 1991 Grammy for best contemporary folk album. 

 Prine's latest LP is "Live on Tour,'' a concert album that focuses on his more recent material, including "The Missing Years.'' It's a companion to 1988's "John Prine Live,'' which concentrates on his '70s and early '80s songs. 

 Next up for Prine is a duet album - "all boy-girl songs, mostly old country classics, but I'm not sticking to just that.'' Among his singing partners are Iris Dement (who opens for Prine tonight at the Paramount), Lucinda Williams, Melba Montgomery and Connie Smith. He expects it out in mid-1998. 

 And there may be some more acting in Prine's future in the wake of his small part in 1992's "Falling From Grace.'' Billy Bob Thornton, the Oscar-winning writer/director/star of "Sling Blade,'' has his eye on Prine for a role his next movie. 

 "I think I could put myself in his hands and come out not making too many mistakes,'' says the ever-modest Prine.