2026 Charity Shop Purchases #10 - John Prine - Live
He's back. Apologies for my absence.The main reason was that the internet router needed replaced. Plus an upgraded Tivo box led to much navigation on the Smart TV. Oh and the washing machine was not rinsing. Fortunately with the help of You Tube I was able to fix it saving a £95 call out charge.
Back to the music. The most outstanding Charity Shop purchase yet to feature is John Prine Live a concert recorded live in The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano and released on his Oh Boy Label in 1988. I picked it up in the Oxfam shop in Troon.
Now I like live music as much as the next person and don't mind a bit of chat from the artist(s) and I can even endure a small degree of audience participation . But when it is on an album and is subject to repetition well that's a different matter. I'm happy to hear the tales once but that's it. Sadly this album is guilty of that.
That's not to say that there aren't some great songs on the album. John is joined by Bonnie Raitt on Angel From Montgomery and does a great version of Speed to the Sound of Loneliness.
Sam Stone would have featured were it not for the preamble of John talking about a visit to the war memorial in Washington. It's interesting but not something I want to hear every time I hear the song.
However my major gripe is the lyrics on the last line of the chorus of The Accident (Things Could Be Worse) here . I've not printed it lest I receive another warning flag
From 1988 but straight out of the MAGA songbook. It has pretty much ruined the album for me .
It has had me reflecting on my admiration for Mr Prine Some say it is satire and highlights suburban types who are scared of minorities (eg GB News listeners) I certainly hope so.
Thank goodness. As you said the Saturday before last that "If we survive the Armageddon we will brush off our boots and reassemble here next Saturday for SS134" I was worried you hadn't survived Armageddon.
ReplyDeleteIt felt like Armageddon at times!
DeleteThat last track could be a candidate for the Cancel Culture Club series
ReplyDeleteGlad the technical issues have been resolved. And it seems you are a washing machine repair man now as well as a philatelist. Are there no end to your talents.
ReplyDeleteClicked to look at those lyrics - whoa, not good at all. He needed a word to rhyme with tree but a much better choice should have been made for that line.
Sorry to hear you'e had a frustrating time technologically. Well done on the washing machine! I was reading an article in the Guardian only yesterday where Adrian Chiles was recounting the difficulties trying to work his new "smart" oven and all its headache-inducing variables, when all he wanted was one with a simple knob! I fear one day we'll have no choice and washing machines, like everything else, will have to be connected to our phones even to turn them on. God help us!
ReplyDeleteLooked at those lyrics too and have to hope it was ironic as you say. Unfortunately irony no longer travels well in a world where such sentiments are being openly expressed without it.
Hmmmm. Ask the black Trump supporters who the racists REALLY are! I agree with you about the last line in the chorus but.....reading the words IS NOT the same as hearing them. His tone, his phrasing says the opposite of the words
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure JP was satirising with that line and I think he's said as much somewhere. His songwriting was often in that vein, painting a scene with words, reporting/quoting other people's viewpoints that don't necessarily or automatically coincide with his own.
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