In Spite Of Ourselves - John Prine
Liner Notes
It was the summer of '52 in Green Harbor, Massachusetts. Every Saturday night I'd be glued to the radio listening to "Saturday Night Country Style!" from the "WWVA Jamboree" in Wheeling, West Virginia, the "Louisiana Hayride" in Shreveport, Louisiana, from country shows all over the South. I was strumming along on an old tennis racquet. My Uncle Jim decided to help me out and gave me a ukulele and a chord book. I started subscribing to "Country Song Roundup" and soon I was singing along with Webb Pierce on "Back Street Affair". I didn't know anything about back streets or affairs; I just liked the way it sounded. My folks and my cousins thought it was funny and cute. Just a passing phase.
My brother John gave me an album of Hank William's '78's "Moanin' The Blues." Hank became my idol. I wanted to be Hank. A friend sold me a plywood guitar for $12. The very first day I picked "Darlin' Let's Turn Back The Years" out of my Hank Williams songbook. It only had two chords, so I could handle it. After a few months I went on the bus and the trolley in to the WCOP "Hayloft Jamboree"in downtown Boston to audition. I was 6 feet tall and weighed about 120 - a real stick. I played my little guitar upside down and backwards. After hearing me sing
"I really like duets. There's something about two people singing to each other and finally with each other that sounds really good to me. The songs here represent a small portion of my favorite country songs. Some were duets to begin with and some Rooney and I rearranged to become duets.
I made a list of my favorite girl singers and the first nine I called said "yes".
I nearly fell over. At times when first listened to this record it sounded to me like I was singing along with my favorite singers. I wrote "In Spite Of Ourselves" for a film. It also seemed like an apt title for this collection of cheatin', & retreatin' songs. Thanks to all my duet partners and to all the songwriters."
~John Prine
"Honky Tonk Blues" and "Music Makin' Mama From Memphis" the manager Aubrey Mayhew said, "Do you want to be on the radio, kid?" I called up my folks and my friends and told them to tune in. Pretty soon my friends were calling me "Tex". The phase wasn't passing.
Here I am nearly 50 years later helping John Prine record some of my favorite country songs with some of my favorite women singers. What is it about this music? Why can't I get it out of my system? I can't explain it except to say that the country music I love speaks to me about real people living real lives. It speaks with a simple sympathy and understanding, often with a bit of humor. This is where John Prine comes from. It is the source of his strength as a writer and a performer.
Making this album was a great excuse for John and myself to immerse ourselves in this music that means so much to us. We spent time with Melba and George, Tammy and George, Porter and Dolly, Ernest and Loretta, Conway and Loretta, Phil and Don, Kitty and Red, Wilma Lee and Stoney, with Webb, Faron, Waylon, Willie, Roger, and Cowboy. We discovered that we loved it more than ever, that it is part of us and that we have become a part of it. It doesn't look like this phase is ever gonna pass. So we'll just pass it on to you.
~Jim Rooney, Nashville, June 1999
Produced by Jim Rooney & John Prine
Executive Producers: John Prine, Al Bunetta, and Dan Einstein
Recorded and mixed by Mark Miller, Jack's Track, Nashville, TN
Assisted by Duke Duczer
Additional recording at: The Cowboy Arts Hotel & Recording Spa, Nashville, TN
Engineered by David Ferguson Temptation Recording Studio, Galway, Ireland
Engineered by Pat Neary
"In Spite Of Ourselves" Produced by Marty Stuart
Engineered by King Williams, MCA Publishing Studio, Nashville, IN
Assisted by Chuck Linder
Mastered by Denny Purcell, Georgetown Masters, Nashville, TN
Assisted by Jonathan Russell
Digitally Edited by Eric Conn
Photographs courtesy of Elliot Erwitt/ Magnum Photos
Design and Art Direction by Dana Arnett & Jason Eplawy of VSA Partners, Inc.
Special Thanks to:
Elliot Erwitt
Martina Whelan
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop
Iris DeMent appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Connie Smith appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Lucinda Wlliams appears courtesy of Mercury Records
Trisha Yearwood appears courtesy of MCA Records Nashville
Patty Loveless appears courtesy of Epic records
Delores Keane appears courtesy of Dara Records
Kieran Kane appears courtesy of Dead Reckoning Records
Marty Stuart appears courtesy of MCA Records Nashville
Oh Boy Records, 1999 |