Love for a music man
John Prine tribute album celebrates one of folk's finest songwriters
John Prine is a songwriter’s songwriter. In recent years, disparate talents like Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan and Roger Waters have sung his praises, three guys who saw the mainstream success that never quite found its way to Prine. The new tribute album Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine proves that his influence has trickled down to some of the new generation’s leading lights.
These younger artists pay their respect by taking the utmost care on these recordings, not one of which sounds like it was tossed off as a contractual obligation. They also dig deeper into the Prine catalog than you might expect, further proving that these artists are truly invested in the man’s work. Only Angel From Montgomery, famous thanks to Bonnie Raitt’s stellar cover version and here essayed nicely by Old Crow Medicine Show, might stick out to the casual fan.
This makes the album worthwhile right off the bat as an introduction to the wonders of Prine’s songwriting, the way the lyrics seem to fall together effortlessly and yet reveal deeper truths that almost sneak up on the listener. His nimble wordplay fits in perfectly with the back-porch melodies, and the songs segue from ribald humor to lovely woe without the songwriting voice ever receding.
The relative unfamiliarity of the material also allows for some of the artists to get away with a more straightforward approach to their covers. Josh Ritter’s hushed reading of Mexican Home sounds almost like a Prine imitation. Similarly, Justin Townes Earle lets the beautiful heartbreak of Far From Me unfold without any histrionics, and it’s absolutely the right play as a relationship deteriorates before our ears in three seemingly unassuming verses.
It’s also a good thing that Prine’s mischievous tendencies get their showcase among all the more sober material. Maybe the elbow-to-the-ribs punning of "Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian", here played in deadpan style by Those Darlins, skirts close to novelty territory, but it’s still a cleverly constructed romp. Meanwhile, the winning one-liners sprinkled throughout "Wedding Day in Funeralville" allows Conor Oberst to slip back into his Bright Eyes alter-ego and have some reckless fun for a change.
Drive-By Truckers’ honky-tonk blitz on "Daddy’s Little Pumpkin" is a bit out of place, and The Avett Brothers' take on "Spanish Pipedream" is too studied in its downhome approach, but even these slight missteps are leavened by the quality of the songs themselves. Meanwhile, Sara Watkins ("The Late John Garfield Blues") and Liz Isenberg (joining Deer Tick on "Unwed Fathers") prove that a female voice can go a long way in exposing the empathy at the heart of so much of Prine’s work.
The blue ribbons for this project go to a pair of interpretations that take a few liberties while still nailing the essence of the songs. "Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow)" is a stunning song in its simplest form, but Justin Vernon, of Bon Iver, coats it in his trademark hollowed-out production and overlaid falsetto vocals and takes it into another realm.
When he sings “My hearts in the icehouse” to open the song, and the album, the chills are already forming. Speaking of chills, the alt-country collective known as Lambchop take "Six O’Clock News", Prine’s time-spanning tale of a local boy’s demise, and amp up the mystery with an insinuatingly slinky bassline and frontman Kurt Wagner’s fathoms-deep vocal. It’s a risky gambit that works brilliantly.
We already knew, through Prine’s own simple recordings, that these songs are wondrous in their purest form. What this magical compilation proves is that the songs can withstand even radical reinvention, often coming out the other side even better for it. Just remember that "Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows" should be used as just an introduction.
If this is your first exposure to the work of John Prine, then you’re cheating yourself if you don’t follow up and seek out the rest.
SAMPLE BROKEN HEARTS & DIRTY WINDOWS
Far From Me by Justin Townes Earle
Adobe Flash Required for flash player.
Six O'Clock News by Lambchop
Adobe Flash Required for flash player.
Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow) by Justin Vernon
Adobe Flash Required for flash player.
