JOHN PRINE : IN PERSON & ON STAGE

JOHN PRINE : IN PERSON & ON STAGE

Spanish Pipedream
She Is My Everything
In Spite Of Ourselves (with Iris DeMent)
Long Monday
The Late John Garfield Blues (with Sara Watkins)
The Bottomless Lake
Bear Creek Blues
Saddle In The Rain
Angel From Montgomery (with Emmylou Harris)
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
Mexican Home (with Josh Ritter)
Unwed Fathers (with Iris DeMent)
Glory Of True Love
Paradise

Label : Oh Boy Records

Venue : various

Recording Date : unknown

Release Date : May 25, 2010

Length : 72:05

Review (AllMusic) : A die-hard fan could, by now, accuse John Prine of coasting and have a good argument. Of the few albums he's released since the turn of the century, only one, 2005's Fair & Square, contained new material, and that one came only after a songwriting hiatus of about a decade. Why Prine has virtually given up on producing new material is known, one would assume, only to him, and that's a shame, because in Prine's prime, the '70s and '80s, he was not just prolific but consistently brilliant. In Person & On Stage, it should come as no surprise given the title, that this is yet another rehash, Prine's third official live album, with nary a new tune aboard. Cut at different shows with guitarist/mandolinist Jason Wilber and bassist Dave Jacques, both of whom also provide background vocals, the collection also features a number of guest artists, among them Iris DeMent, Josh Ritter, and Emmylou Harris, who is her usual arresting self on "Angel from Montgomery," a track from Prine's 1971 debut that has since become quite possibly his most covered composition. Prine also draws from that debut with updated renditions of "Spanish Pipedream" (which opens the album), "Paradise" (which closes it), and "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore," but he doesn't restrict himself to older material, offering four songs from the above-mentioned Fair & Square, as well. Prine's performance is solid -- his voice has gotten grainier over the years, but his delivery is no less impassioned. Now if only he would get back to writing.

Review (Amazon) : John Prine "In Person & On Stage" is a collection of 14 songs that Prine's fan base would select themselves if they could have a collective voice. Featuring special collaborations with Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter, Sara Watkins, Iris Dement and Kane Welch Kaplin, it's a snapshot of the best moments from Prine's recent tours. Clocking in at just over 72 minutes and featuring songs that span his career from his eponymous debut album to his 2005 Grammy Award winning "Fair and Square," this album captures the essence of what Prine fans crave from a live performance.

Review (MusicBoxOnline) : Issued by Atlantic Records in 1971, John Prine's self-titled debut largely went unnoticed. In the intervening years, he has added a steady stream of consistently strong material to his repertoire, but only occasionally have his songs succeeded in bubbling to the surface. David Allen Coe, for example, turned You Never Even Called Me by My Name into a hit single, while Bonnie Raitt, John Denver, and Tanya Tucker are among the many artists who have offered their interpretations of Angel from Montgomery. More recently, Prine has accumulated an abundance of accolades from all sorts of industry institutions, including his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 as well as several Grammy Award nominations and victories. Surprisingly, though, Prine remains a performer who is better known to musicians than to the record-buying public. It might seem odd, then, that with the release of his latest set In Person & On Stage, Prine now has three concert recordings in his catalogue. Stranger still, in the past 15 years, Prine has issued only one album of all-new material (Fair & Square). Although he famously battled throat cancer a decade ago, he long has returned to performing and recording. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Prine no longer is as driven to compose songs as he was in his youth. Even so, it would be a mistake to view In Person & On Stage as inessential filler that was designed to buy yet another slice of time until Prine's Muse returns. Instead, the outing, like its predecessors Live on Tour and Live, provides context and meaning to Prine's observant compositions about life, love, and community. Although there is some overlap among the collections, there aren't so many reiterations that one could call for the complete dismissal of the set. Culled from a sequence of shows during which Prine not only was backed by bass player Dave Jacques and multi-instrumentalist Jason Wilber, but also was joined by a series of special guests - Emmylou Harris, Iris DeMent, and Kevin Welch maintain his country roots, while Josh Ritter and Sara Watkins bolster his indie credibility - In Person & On Stage pieces together selections from the full-range of Prine's career in order to provide a pseudo-concert experience. With this in mind, there naturally are a few ringers tucked into his set list, most notably Angel from Montgomery and Paradise. Although the former track, which is sung as a duet with Harris, never escapes the shadow of its past, the latter tune is given plenty of room to breathe amidst the gentle intoxication of its bluegrass-tinted arrangement. Not surprisingly, however, the highlights of In Person & On Stage emerge from within its delightful blend of newer cuts and more obscure nuggets. During In Spite of Ourselves, Prine and DeMent revel in a comical tale of love, and coming in the wake of She Is My Everything, it further elaborates upon the relationship Prine has with his wife. Elsewhere, he explains his impetus for penning Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore, a song that hasn't lost any of its luster, humor, or relevance despite the passage of nearly 40 years, and entertainingly details the truths that lie behind The Bottomless Lake. It isn't often that a singer/songwriter can translate his captivating presence in concert into a home environment, but with In Person & On Stage, Prine maintains his track record of sculpting live recordings that are every bit as good as his studio endeavors.

Review (John Prine Shrine) : This live album is a culmination of John Prine's last few years touring and contains 14 songs, perfectly balanced between classic hits and new treasures from the Grammy Award-winning "Fair & Square" CD. Some four decades since his remarkable debut, John Prine has stayed at the top of his game, both as a performer and songwriter. Recently honored at the Library of Congress by US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, he's been elevated from the annals of songwriters into the realm of bonafide American treasures. Long considered a "songwriter's songwriter," John Prine is a rare talent who writes the songs other songwriters would sell their souls for. Evidence of this is the long list of songwriters who have recorded gems from his extensive catalog, including Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, the Everly Brothers, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Carly Simon, Ben Harper, Joan Baez, and many others. "He's so good, we're gonna have to break his fingers," Kris Kristofferson once said after being justifiably stunned by a Prine performance. Bob Dylan remarked, "Beautiful songs. Nobody but Prine could write like that." And now he's back with a brand new live album, In Person & On Stage, which is perfectly balanced between classic hits and new treasures from his Grammy Award-winning Fair & Square. It's a culmination of his last few years touring and features duet renditions of some of early songs such as "Angel From Montgomery" (here in a breathtaking duet with Emmylou Harris) as well as later ones like "Unwed Fathers" (with Iris DeMent) and one of the most poignant songs ever from a husband to a wife, "She Is My Everything." The album hits stores on May 25 on Oh Boy Records, Prine's own independent label which he started with long-time manager Al Bunetta, and whose initial release was in 1981. Hand-picked from hundreds of recent concerts, these recordings represent Prine's most memorable live album to date. If his biggest fans had a collective voice, it's no doubt these would be the recordings they chose. From "Long Monday" to "Saddle In The Rain" and "The Late John Garfield Blues (with Sara Watkins)," Prine's songs are so hauntingly evocative of the laughter and tears inherent in the human condition, so purely precise and finely etched, that lines from them linger in our hearts and minds like dreams, separate from the songs. Always seeking to strike a balance in his work, Prine said he wrote funny songs so as to get back to the tragic ones. The fan-favorite and whimsical "In Spite Of Ourselves" is a highlight on the record, thanks to the juxtaposition of Prine's vocals with those of his longtime-collaborator Iris DeMent. Then on the deeply touching "Mexican Home," Prine shares the microphone with the immensely-talented Josh Ritter, who often shows flashes of Prine brilliance in his own writing. And the track is rounded off with great electric guitar and bass work from longtime Prine bandmates Jason Wilber and Dave Jacques. With his moving performances on In Person & On Stage , John Prine has melded his staggering penchant for detail, his proclivity to be both hilarious and deeply serious (and often in the same song), with a visceral embrace of roots music. This new album is further evidence that the passion and poignancy instilled in his songs is unmatched.