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John Prine Was Taken From Us Five Years Ago Today [1]
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Date: 2025-04-07
Today, April 7th, marks five years since COVID took singer/songwriter John Prine. I try not to think of those days, when the nation was shut down, we were living in fear, scrubbing our hands until they were raw, and listening to the news of the increasing death toll. Hoping that we and our loved ones wouldn’t be joining that list.
Prine was one of the first well known public figures to succumb, and I know many in the Daily Kos community listened for updates and hoped, and perhaps prayed, that this extraordinary artist would pull through.
As I’m a lifelong resident of the Chicago area, Prine holds a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to WFMT’s Midnight Special on Saturdays, hearing the music of John Prine, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc, and others in Chicago’s remarkable folk scene.
To my great regret I only saw him in person twice, the second time being an unexpected bonus when I went to see a show by Steve Goodman (who would be taken by leukemia only a few years later,) and he said that a friend of his had used his station wagon to help him and his band bring their gear to the suburban college where they were performing. That friend turned out to be Prine, who delighted the crowd with a number of songs.
The story of Prine’s rise is the stuff of legends. A suburban mailman, he had a gig playing a few nights a week at a bar on Armitage Avenue. One night another man who would become a Chicago legend…..Roger Ebert…..was so displeased with the movie he was watching that he walked out and went for a drink in the bar where Goodman was performing. Instead of the movie review his editors were expecting, Ebert wrote a glowing piece about Prine and his songs. The next day the line to get into the bar stretched down the block.
Some time later Steve Goodman insisted to Kris Kristofferson, who had just finished a show at The Quiet Knight, that he had to come see a friend of his.
They piled into a car and got to the Earl of Old Town a bit after closing. The chairs had been put up on the tables. They took some down and Kristofferson asked for a beer. He told Prine that he had until his beer was finished to perform for him. Kristofferson would later say that it took only one line to know they were witnessing something special. “It must have been like stumbling onto Dylan,” he said.
It’s astounding to see the songs that were included on Prine’s eponymous debut album. Spanish Pipedream, Sam Stone, Hello In There, Illegal Smile, Paradise, Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore, and yes, Angel From Montgomery among them. All would be a part of Prine’s performances for the rest of his life.
I’m only going to post two of his songs here. It is my hope that those of you in the DK community who love him like I do, and who mourned his loss with me, will post your favorite songs and stories.
I don’t believe there’s been another song that portrays in such a devastating fashion the toll exacted upon young men sent to war, as Sam Stone.
x YouTube Video
Souvenirs.
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