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John Prine Takes the Stage With New Music at Radio City Music Hall

Prine Radio City On a Friday the 13th, one of the greatest songwriters of all time, John Prine, took the stage at Radio City Music Hall to launch his first album of new material in thirteen years. With some help of a great band, opener Sturgill Simpson, and special guest Brandi Carlile, the 71-year-old showed that he remains a great entertainer too.

The April 13, 2018 show began with Sturgill Simpson opening for Prine, taking the stage alone with a guitar for about an hour. Few performers can command such a large audience alone, but Simpson is one of them, even as he admitted being nervous before coming out.

Simpson’s set included many of his best songs, with a highlight being his performance of “Turtles All the Way Down” back-to-back with “Just Let Go.” Both of those songs appeared on Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014). Other songs included a moving rendition of “Oh Sara.” And he played the opening song from A Sailor’s Guide to Earth (2016), “Welcome to Earth (Pollywog).”

Simpson also played some traditional songs and covers, including When in Rome’s “The Promise,” which he had included in Metamodern Sounds, and the Bee Gees’ “Come on Over.” And he began “Long White Line” with a riff that took a detour into Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.”

One has to admire Simpson, who could fill the seats just on his own, having the respect for Prine to be his opener. Simpson is one of the best music artists today, in or outside the country genre, so it was great to see him in this context.

Simpson also announced that while he will be playing a number of festivals until September, after those shows he plans to take a year off from touring. His wife is having another son and he wishes to spend time watching his children grow.

John Prine Takes the Stage

John Prine took the Radio City Music Hall stage for the first time in his career with a sharp band, including new members Ken Blevins on drums and and Fats Kaplan playing fiddle, mandolin, and lap steel guitar. At one point Prine explained how much it meant to be on this stage when he recounted seeing Bette Midler at the venue performing his song “Hello in There.” At the time, he dreamed of one day playing here.

Because the show was the album-release show for The Tree of Forgiveness (2018), many of those new songs made it into the set. But there was plenty of room for old gems.

Prine Radio City

Early on, Prine played a wonderful rendition of his classic “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow).” And there was a fun performance of “Grandpa Was a Carpenter.” But the audience was just as welcoming of the new songs from The Tree of Forgiveness, sometimes helped by a humorous introduction, as in the case of “Egg & Daughter Nite, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967 (Crazy Bone).” Everyone in the audience will be receiving the new CD in the mail after buying a ticket for this show, but they had not received the album yet.

While there was not much politics in the show, there was a nod to the political climate with “Caravan of Fools.” And Prine introduced his old gem “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” by saying that he normally dusts off the song only for election years. But he said that after the last election, he is keeping it in his set.

While some may have wondered how Prine’s voice would hold up at his age and after two bouts of cancer, he eliminated any doubts by generally being in great shape. His voice got a little hoarser as the show went on and he missed a few of the high notes on “Hello in There.” Yet, any voice cracks gave more emotion to the song, and guest and backup singers helped out in the last part of the show. And with all that, Prine was still going strong at the end.

In the middle of Prine’s show, all of the band members left to take a break. And the 71-year-old entertained us with just his voice and guitar for several songs, including the best version of “Sam Stone” I have ever heard.

Special guest Brandi Carlile helped out with Prine’s new song “Summer’s End,” which she also sings with him on the new album. She also did a great job trading verses with Prine on what may be his most recognized song, “Angel From Montgomery.”

And one of the highlights of the entire show was when Prine and Carlile came to the front of the stage for “In Spite of Ourselves,” a song from Prine’s 1999 duets album of the same name that had featured Iris Dement on the tune. Prine introduced the song by saying that his wife said he could do another song with Carlile if he did not talk too much during the show.

Sturgill Simpson returned to join Prine too. The two men sang “Please Don’t Bury Me” and a touching “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness.” With the band, the whole group gave a rousing performance of “Pretty Good.”

The latter song transcends well in a live setting with multiple electric guitars and the power of Simpson’s voice, while “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” was a quieter moment befitting the lyrics.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye. Prine closed with with his wonderful epic “Lake Marie,” backed up by the band along with a few guests that included Carlile, Prine’s son, and Prine’s wife Fiona. Then, they finished with another song of spoken words and choruses with “When I Get to Heaven” from Tree of Forgiveness. The final song, referencing lost loved ones and looking with joy toward death, was a touching and humorous finale.

It was my first time seeing Prine perform live, and as in the case anytime I have seen a long-term favorite artist perform, I could count a number of songs I wish he would have played. But with such an amazing catalog, there is no way he can play even a significant portion of his great songs. Yet, during the show, I never spent any time wishing for anything else besides what was going on at the stage. It was a fantastic celebration by one of America’s gems.

Photos by Chimesfreedom. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Writing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”

In this segment from The Ronnie Wood Show, songwriter Steve Cropper discusses co-writing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of the Bay” with Otis Redding. Cropper tells how Redding approached him with the opening, and then Cropper added information from Redding’s own life (“I left my home in Georgia. . .”).

Redding died in an airplane crash on December 10, 1967 before he could see the song become a hit. Cropper also explains how Redding never got to hear the electric guitar part in the song too. Check it out.

Surprisingly, some were concerned that “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was too different from Redding’s catalog to be successful. But Redding was happy with the somewhat different sound.

After Redding’s death in December 1967, the song was released on January 8, 1968. It became a number one song in the U.S. and the U.K. And it was the first posthumous single to chart that high in the U.S.

The song’s universal appeal is one of Redding’s final gifts to us. One can understand how an organization like Playing for Change, dedicated to inspiring and connecting the world through music, would make the following video.

The Playing for Change version features people singing the timeless song all over the world. Otis touched a lot of us.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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100 Years At the Movies

Movie History Montage

Occasionally, while watching a film on Turner Classic Movies, during the break between movies I’ve caught a wonderful montage of movies throughout history. I am always mesmerized by it. During the video, I cannot change the channel or turn off the TV. The short montage, called 100 Years At the Movies, takes the viewer through the history of movies up to 1994.

The segment begins with a movie shown in a former shoe store on April 14, 1894. Viewers watched the moving pictures through a slot, making it the first commercial movie in history. With that humble beginning, the motion picture industry has captivated viewers, making us laugh, cry, think, feel, and watch in awe.

The short film 100 Years At the Movies, takes us through that history. It features short clips from some of the greatest movies during the century. It will remind you of the joy you have received from watching movies. At the same time it will test your memory to try to name as many as you can as they quickly flash by.

Chuck Workman created 100 Years At the Movies for TCM. Check it out.

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Emmylou Harris: “If I Needed You”

If I Needed You

Emmylou Harris was born on April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama. Later, she graduated from high school as class valedictorian and earned a drama scholarship, but fortunately for us she has devoted her career to music.

Below, Harris sings Towne Van Zandt’s beautiful song, “If I Needed You” in 1982. Barry Tashian provides the backing vocals. Check it out.

What is your favorite Emmylou Harris recording? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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“Shannon”: Henry Gross, Sha Na Na, and a Beach Boys Dog

Shannon Dog

Henry Gross, who was born in Brooklyn on April 1 in 1951, was the youngest person to perform on the main stage at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in 1969. At the time, he was eighteen years old, performing as one of the founding members of Sha Na Na. But Gross is best known for his song about a dog.

The members of Sha Na Na formed out of a Columbia University a cappella group that started performing under the Sha Na Na name in 1969. The group, with Gross, eventually performed prior to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.

Some credit Sha Na Na’s short appearance in the Woodstock film with contributing to the nostalgia for the 1950s in subsequent years. That nostalgia led to the film American Graffiti (1973) and the TV show Happy Days.

In 1970, though, Gross left Sha Na Na to pursue a career as a solo singer-songwriter. He initially found little success. But he played guitar as a session musician on one of the classic albums of the early 1970s, Jim Croce’s I Got a Name (1973).

Following some modest success with his own recordings, Gross wrote a song about the death of an Irish Setter owned by Beach Boys member Carl Wilson. The song, “Shannon,” became an international hit.

Shannon, is gone I heard,
She’s drifting out to sea;
She always loved to swim away;
Maybe she’ll find an island with a shaded tree,
Just like the one in our backyard.

The Story Behind “Shannon”

There is something gut-wrenching about the beautiful song. So much of it seems real that one may wonder how could this be a song about somebody else’s dog? Well, it really is only partly about Wilson’s dog. Gross also had a dog named Shannon.

In 1972, when Gross was twenty-one, he became involved with a woman named Kathy Reinmann, first as a friend then as a girlfriend. She had a two-year old Irish Setter named Shannon. As Gross described the dog later, “She was an uncannily human dog whose ability to manipulate her human counterparts cannot be understated.”

Around this time, Gross was touring with the Beach Boys and struck up a friendship with Carl Wilson. While visiting Wilson at his home in Los Angeles, Wilson told Gross that he had previously had an Irish Setter too. Wilson explained that he lost his dog when it was hit by a car. His Irish Setter, coincidentally, had the same name as Gross’s dog, Shannon.

Soon after the trip, Gross sat in his apartment trying to write a song. But a neighbor was playing loud music that interfered with his creative process. So, Gross put on an environments record called The Ultimate Seashore. While listening to the sounds of the ocean on the record, he thought of the Beach Boys, Carl Wilson, and Wilson’s dog Shannon.

Gross looked at his dog Shannon, and he thought of “the indescribable sadness that losing such a beloved partner in life must be.” He later recalled, “The song seemed to write itself taking no more than ten minutes and with almost no cross outs on the paper.”

Inspired by the sounds of the ocean on the record, Gross sang about Shannon “drifting off to sea.” The setting also sounded more romantic than getting hit by a car. The lyrics were ambiguous enough that listeners would not know it was about a dog and could imagine their own story.

Gross initially sent the song to Wilson, hoping he would provide background vocals. But the timing never worked out. So Gross recorded his version, which appeared on his album Release, and “Shannon” was released in 1976.

Gross’s song blanketed the nation that year. A country weary from Watergate and the Vietnam war was looking for something new in its bicentennial year. The release of “Shannon” and Gross’s high aching voice captured some of the sadness of the times.

Gross eventually took Shannon’s owner Kathy Reinmann as his wife, although the two would later divorce. They remained friends for decades until she died of lung cancer.

Gross continues to make music since “Shannon,” as you can hear on his website, some with degrees of success. For example, he co-wrote the top 40 country song “Big Guitar” for Blackhawk.

But he never had a hit quite like his song about a dog. Below, Gross performed “Shannon” in 2014, showing he still can hit the high notes. And yes, he still has dogs (and cats).