(Screenshot from Picture Show)
This one’s for my friend Bob McLaughlin, a guy without a drop of fear in his blood.
When John Prine bought the farm back in April (his words, not mine), I was pretty angry.
I knew that John had fought through a lot – two bouts with cancer, before Covid-19 finally felled him.
But I was furious that the coronavirus was allowed to take him, and furious at our country’s ridiculous response to the disease.
I wrote in my first article on this site, we should have been be getting together, by all rights, to celebrate him. Maybe at the Ryman Auditorium, in his adopted home of Nashville.
But that wasn’t gonna happen.
And I was heartbroken.
A few weeks later, a good friend told me, “They’re having a John Prine concert on June 11.”
I snarkily replied, “Oh yeah? They gonna bring him back to life?”
Yeah – it’s a wonder I’ve got any friends left at all.
Frankly, I wasn’t in the mood for bad connections, awkward living room setups, and overly dramatic tributes.
Boy, was I wrong.
Turns out, it may have been the best thing to come out of this whole damn pandemic.
And the best news of all? They’re showing it again, October 10 (Prine’s birthday).
After an initial short run in July, it’s back on John Prine’s YouTube channel, starting at 7pm Central Time.
(And it’s got some additional material from the first broadcast.)
But be warned: It’s only up for a short while. After midnight October 11, it’s gone again.
Do yourself a favor. Catch it.
* * *
They called it Picture Show, after Prine’s song about James Dean going to Hollywood. It’s the one with Tom Petty on backing harmonies, on Prine’s The Missing Years album (1991).
The tribute concert ended up being more of a documentary than a livestream.
It’s so well directed, so well put-together, it may just be my favorite of all music documentaries.
It’s right up there with History of the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt’s The Sound of My Voice.
It is a collection of (mostly) John’s songs, performed lovingly by friends who were near and dear to John’s heart, hand-picked by John’s family.
And every one of them is great.
But what gives it life are messages from his wife, Fiona, and the casual interviews of John, sitting in his favorite restaurant (Arnold’s Country Kitchen), or driving through his beloved Ireland.
By the end of Picture Show, you have a pretty good idea why John Prine was so well-loved. He was the real deal, as genuine as a human being ever was – and the cool alt-country and folks kids adopted him as their own.
* * *
Appropriately, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires kick things off, from an empty Ryman, with “Hello in There” and “Clocks and Spoons.”
You can’t help thinking of the story Jason told about their toddler daughter, Mercy, running around the house singing “Clocks and Spoons,” and her look of shock when Prine joined in. (John was a constant presence in the Isbell-Shires household.)
As Jason recalled in his heartwrenching memorial of Prine in the New York Times, “When I was a baby, my 17-year-old mother would lay me on a quilt on the floor of our trailer in Alabama and play John Prine albums on the stereo. Forty years later, my daughter would call him Uncle John as he bounced her on his knee.”
Life is a pretty amazing place sometimes.
Jason and Amanda are followed by a Who’s Who of the Americana and country world.
There’s Kacey Musgraves, following up John’s “Spanish Pipedream” with her own cheeky little ode to him, “Burn One Down With John Prine.”
(Fiona admits in her introduction of her, “Truthfully, I think John was a little in love with Kacey…. But that’s ok. We were all in love with Kacey.”)
There’s Sturgill Simpson, putting his muscle into “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”.
There’s Brandi Carlile, ripping up “Flag Decal,” with a deliciously wicked gleam in her eye, alongside her partners in crime, the Henseroth Twins, Phil and Tim.
There’s Todd Snider, of course. Because somebody had to do “Illegal Smile.”
Prine rescued Snider’s career, after Todd had self-destructed several times.
In his memoir, Todd credits John with teaching him how to work hard at songwriting, and showing him that Todd was too good to accept “just good enough” in his songs.
There’s Vince Gill – always a welcome guest, even if he doesn’t do a Prine song.
He pulls out his own chestnut, “Some Things Never Grow Old,” with its grinning reference to “picking on the back porch with brother John Prine.”
There’s Rita Wilson, recently recovered from Covid-19 herself, doing a beautifully poignant version of “Summer’s End.”
Then, at the end, there’s old friend Bonnie Raitt.
Because somebody had to do “Angel From Montgomery”.
It’s an incredible performance. She tries to keep it together, but she’s pretty much in tears by the end of it.
So are we.
Hollywood makes an appearance here and there, too. But again, it’s all personal connections to John.
Billy Bob Thornton tells how Prine wrote “In Spite of Ourselves” for his 2001 movie, “Daddy and Them.” Then Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick perform the song.
It tickles me to death, that with all of Prine’s incredible story songs, that R-rated ode to faithful companionship has become maybe his most loved. I’m sure it tickled him, too.
Bill Murray was another close friend, and he tells about how John invited him to see the Steeldrivers at the Opry.
As they were backstage, John got up to sing “Paradise” with them – and informed Murray, “Come on. You’re singing, too.”
It’s shocking to see Bill Murray so somber as he holds up a picture of the sacred event.
“It was one of the greatest nights of my life.”
* * *
But more than anything, Picture Show is about family.
As Fiona says, “I think many of you know, family was very important to John. It is to me.”
John and Fiona’s sons Jack and Tommy sing “Paradise,” something that always made their Dad smile.
Son Jody Whelan asks people to contribute to organizations that John and the family believed in: National Alliance on Mental Illness, Make the Road New York (social justice for immigrant and working class communities), and Alive Hospice.
Almost every performer says thanks to “Fiona and the boys.”
Family is the common thread, whether it’s The Secret Sisters singing “Souvenirs”, with their father, Margo Price singing with her husband Jeremey Ivey, or John singing “Grandpa Was a Carpenter” with his brothers in front of their old family church.
But out of all the performances, Kurt Vile’s may be my favorite.
Heck, he may be my favorite person in the world after this goofy, laconic, stoner version of “Crazy As a Loon” with Courtney Marie Andrews, John Paul White, and Jim James.
Later on, producer Dave Cobb tells a story.
He was talking with John, telling him, “I love fishing, but I just don’t like getting up that early.”
Prine looked at him and asked, “You think the fish wear a watch?”
Cobb adds, “I’ve never seen anybody so happy, my whole life. I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who brings that much joy to that many people.”
You don’t have to be a fan of John Prine to enjoy Picture Show, or even a fan of music.
You just have to be a fan of humanity.
The day after Picture Show was broadcast, the family released the last song Prine recorded, “I Remember Everything.”
It’s just him, sitting in his living room, a simple video recorded by Dave Cobb.
Well, you know what?
Turns out, they did bring him back to life.
Daddy Gibs 