The Tree of Forgiveness
Encouraged by family and friends, John Prine is back on tour, has a new CD out called The Tree of Forgiveness, and has a book out called John Prine Beyond Words. His website and online store are full of resources for fans and enthusiasts of his music. Below are some videos of music and related interviews about John and his music. Prine’s work extends many decades and in that time he’s won multiple Grammy Awards and other awards. You can hear some tracks from Tree of Forgiveness on our John Prine YouTube playlist.
NPR Interview
Below is an interview with John Prine from 13 April 2018 on NPR Morning Edition.
Quotes About John Prine
Here are some quotes and comments about John Prine.
“If God’s got a favorite songwriter, I think it’s John Prine.” ~ Kris Kristofferson
“The Mark Twain of American Songwriting.” ~ Rolling Stone
“He did a better job of holding up the mirror of art to the ’60s and ’70s than any of our official literary poets.” ~ Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate
“He just has a unique ability to haiku it – it’s deceptively insightful. It’s at once playing on words and imagery, but expressing something deeper in such a succinct way, in such an exceptional way.” ~ Bonnie Raitt
Rare Video of John Prine Singing “Paradise”
“Paradise” is one of the three songs John Prine first performed on stage- the others being “Sam Stone” and “Hello In There.” He still plays all of these songs in his concerts today, almost forty years later. Muhlenburg County, in western Kentucky, was once one of North America’s largest coal-producing regions. The Peabody Coal Company, now called Peabody Energy, is to this day one of the world’s largest coal companies. The town of Paradise; in Muhlenburg County, was flooded by the waters of the Green River in 1969 when a dam was erected, in order to facilitate barge traffic to and from the Peabody coal fields. This clip is from the outstanding “JOHN PRINE LIVE ON SOUNDSTAGE 1980” DVD, released in March, 2007.
A Message from Bill Murray
In this video clip Bill Murray is talking with John Prine about how the song Linda Goes to Mars impacted his life. Published to YouTube on 6 Dec 2017.
John Prine: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
In this 15 minute video, John Prine is joined by Jason Wilber, David Jacques, Kenneth Blevins, playing some new and old songs. Performed on 12 Mar 2018. Published to YouTube on 19 Mar 2018.
John Prine & Sturgill Simpson Live at GRAMMY Pro
After a very intimate Up Close & Personal conversation, two-time GRAMMY winner John Prine and GRAMMY nominee Sturgill Simpson came together for a very special performance at the GRAMMY Museum, exclusively for GRAMMY Pro Songwriter Week. This 21 minute video contains several songs. Published to YouTube on 1 Aug 2016.
“The Other Side of Town”
This is a live performance of “The Other Side of Town” from 2005.
“Summer’s End”
John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, and Brandi Carlile perform on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Published to YouTube on 13 Apr 2018.
“Paradise”
Here is the original studio recording of “Paradise” by John Prine.