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From Atlantic Recording Corporation c:1970's

John Prine

There is this tight-knit, ever-expanding circle of John Prine followers. To them his music fills a special void that remains untouched by the likes of Dylan, Kristofferson, Newman, Wainwright - all contemporaries of Prine, songwriters to whom he is inevitably compared, even through more accurate reference points would included the likes of Steinbeck, Dos Passos, Studs Terkel, and Ring Lardner - to all of whom Prine has also been compared.

Yet John Prine is his own man. A folksinger for the 1970's, he prefers to let a bumbling bureaucracy smother itself by itself - Prine's concern is the individual: frustrated, confused, in love, in hate, carrying a torch or carrying a grudge, searching for escape, deliverance, or fantasy. Prine, and his characters, always take the "System" for granted as a necessary, Pathetic evil. The conflict lies with the individual, who transcends being victimized, mainly through the medium of imagination.

Aside from the concerns of his songwriting, John Prine has steadily developed the presentation of his music both onstage and on his three previous Atlantic albums - JOHN PRINE (SD 8396, released November, 1971), DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH (SD 7240, released in September, 1972), and SWEET REVENGE (SD 7274, released October, 1973). From the sparse, folky rhythm of the first two records, Prine and producer Arif Mardin settled into a much fuller sound on SWEET REVENGE, recorded in Nashville. That album introduced a generous use of horns and backup vocals, adding interpretive new dimensions to Prine's already freewheelin' poetics.

Now John Prine has returned to Memphis, site of his first album's recording, ad with Steve Cropper producing a loose, funky, country-meets-rock new sound - Prine's followers may discover an approach as startling - and as invitin - as Dylan's moves were on Bringing It All Back Home. 

COMMON SENSE - "It don't make much sense that common sense don't make no sense no more" - not only represents Prine's Bi-Centennial Son bid, but also features one of a pair of novel string arrangements (the other is on "Way Down") that punches in the most unexpected way. The song also carries backup vocals from Asylum artists J.D. Souther, Jackson Browne, and Glenn Frey, and the lead acoustic guitar work of another Asylum artist, Prine's compatriot Steve Goodman, who appears on half a dozen album tracks. (Also noted is the return of a Prine discovery, steel guitarist Leo LeBlanc who had recorded on the first Memphis album.)

Although the newest john Prine converts will inevitably get caught up in all the studio trappings - e.g.. the Memphis Horns on "Middle Man," "Forbidden Jimmy," and "Saddle In The Rain"; or Bonnie Raitt's simpatico vocal harmony on "Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" - inevitable Prine's lyrical weaves dominate every song. His coarse, understated sensed of humor works its way into "Wedding Day in Funeralville" and "Barbara Lewis"; his affection for working-class, country-western stoicism is apparent in " He Was In Heaven Before He Died"; and those scrambled glimpses into the corners of Prine's busy libido should send all his closest scrutinizers scurrying for the nearest encyclopedia.

The album closes with a borrowed tune, as per the last two albums: This time a raucous version of the classic Chuck Berry rocker, a bit of existential philosophy occasionally echoed by Prine himself - "C'est la vie, say the old folks, which goes to show you never can tell." John Prine may not be offering any pat, messianic solutions for the ills of the universe but he goes a long way toward clearing up the questions, That's always a good start.