Customer Reviews

Great Days: The John Prine Anthology

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wasn't introduced to the music of John Prine until 1978, but I became an instant fan upon hearing his self-titled debut. I can't think of another more fully developed debut and at six tracks it is (of the 14 albums on this anthology) the one most represented. [Too bad they didn't also include "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," the funniest song about patriotism you'll ever hear.]

But don't mistake Prine's humor as an attempt to merely go for a laugh; it usually is there to help mask pain or anger or to make his message more palatable. Mark Twain made this observation in "The Mysterious Stranger": "For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

Prine uses this weapon effectively. Whether he's urging us to blow up our TVs in "Spanish Pipedream" or looking at the lighter side of death in "Please Don't Bury Me," his songs are full of charm and wit. And then there's the serious side of Prine's songwriting like the pathos of "Hello In There" and its look at aging, or the plight of the Viet Nam war vet in "Sam Stone."

Many of these songs, like "Paradise" and "Angel From Montgomery," have become standards. Quite simply, Prine is one of the best songwriters of the past thirty years (he wrote or co-wrote all but one of these songs) and for longtime fans even this generous 41-track collection will be incomplete. It's a great introduction, but I'll bet you'll want to buy the individual albums after giving this a few listens. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I love John Prine. I love nearly every song on this compilation. But I would NOT recommend that anyone buy this. Why? Because while this album selects out many of the wonderful songs on John Prine's first 10 studio albums, it leaves out almost as many great songs from those same albums, including "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven", "Diamond in the Rough", "Mexican Home", "Often Is A Word I Seldom Use", "Accident (Things Could Have Been Worse)", "Way Down", "Hobo Song", "Chinatown", "Ubangi Stomp", "Bottomless Lake", "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian", and "Jesus the Missing Years". An album with just those songs might be my favorite John Prine album. My point: buy the original studio albums--they're so strong throughout that it's pointless to try and pick the best songs. Any attempt to do so is highly subjective. If you like John Prine you'll see that virtually every one of his songs has something to recommend it.

....One for each track. For thirty years, Prine has shown the uncanny ability to serve up equal doses of wit, wisdom, pain and pathos in his singing and writing. Heavy representation here from his incredible self - titled debut album prove that, even at age 24, he wrote (as Kris Kristofferson said in the liner notes) as if he were in actuality, 220 years old. In the three decades since that auspicious start, this genius has done nothing but prove that it was no fluke.

Immensely respected by the greatest artists of our time (Who HASN'T covered at least one John Prine song?) - the guy with the twangy voice and the wonderfully simple, sometimes twisted, often times downright crazy view of life - has gotten even better with age. According to Kristofferson, I guess he would be pushing 250 about now. "Great Days" is a wonderful chronology of Prine's continued brilliance, with ALL the songs on this anthology proving that point.

Sure, there are some songs that are conspicuous by their absence, such as "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," as mentioned by previous reviewers. So, big deal - buy the first album also. Then go buy the rest of the Prine catalog - you'll find, unless you already know, that there's a tremendous wealth of great music to be heard. Amazingly enough, even this two disc set with 41 tracks, only scratches the surface.

I can't pick a favorite from this recording. Everything is good. Great Days, indeed. The only mystery is this - Why hasn't John Prine sold about 100 million records?

This set would be a steal at twice the price. Buy it.

John Prine's songs first got my attention way back in 1971 when I first heard "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" on KSAN-FM radio in San Francisco. I had to buy the record. Since then, John has written and performed many clever, humorous, insightful, and heart-wrenching songs that are every bit as good as "Your Flag Decal ..." This anthology displays most of the best of these songs. As most John Prine devotees will understand, it is frustrating that more people haven't seen in Prine's music the special talent that we have seen. Oh well, sometimes it takes special people to recognize unique talent.

This anthology is getting dated now that John has released "The Missing Years," "Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings," and "In Spite of Ourselves." Still, a must buy for Prine fans, especially if you prefer his early stuff.

A splendid album that fills in the gaps nicely - but buy it after you've bought his most unique works, which (in my humble opinion) are John Prine, Sweet Revenge, Bruised Orange, The Missing Years, Souvenirs, German Afternoons and Aimless Love. Prine is not only one of the very finest American songwriters, but his best albums create seamless worlds all their own - they are best heard as a whole for their unique sense of tone and ambiance. A true American master and original, and regretfully underappreciated.

I can honestly say that I have had more pleasure through this album than any other I have ever owned.Any comparison between Prine and Dylan has to be taken with a grain of salt,and seems a little convenient. My children aged 12 and 8 seem to appreciate much of his dry humour. I have gradually bought many of his other albums scared to miss any gems not included in Great Days,and have not been disapointed yet.

If you are like me you have JP's albums on vinyl and really didn't want to re-buy them all just so I could have Johnny in the car so this looked like a "great compromise." Like a lot of reviewers have complained they left some fine tunes off but that's just a sad byproduct of compilations, ain't it? Get over it and move on. When all is said and done this is suitable for the fan such as myself who needs a little "Paradise" and "Sabu" on his daily commute. The accompanying booklet has a lot of info from Prine about each song that makes for fine reading, too.

OK, it is true--as many reviewers have stated--that a major problem with this collection is that it is only 41 songs from Mr. Prine's first ten albums, and once you fall in love with this batch, you will undoubtedly have to go out and buy all of those albums anyway. Nevertheless, Prine is marvelous, and Great Days is a wonderful (though by no means exhaustive or complete) introductory collection of (some of) his better songs.

JP is a truly wonderful singer/songwriter, funny, warm, clever, lovely, meaningful, and smart. He's got a voice that is slightly Dylan-nasalish, slightly country, slightly folky, and very charismatic. His songs range from sad, forlorn, lonely, and make-you-wanna-cry kinda stuff like "Angel From Montgomery," "Sam Stone," "Hello in There," (which if it doesn't make you tear up then you are lacking either humanity or tear ducts), to comic songs like "Fish and Whistle," ("Father forgive us for what we must do/you forgive us/we'll forgive you/we'll forgive each other till me both turn blue/then we'll whistle and go fishing in heaven") and "It's A Big Ol' Goofy World" which is undoubtedly the simile-est song ever written ("someday you'll own a home that's as big as a house...).

If you don't know John Prine, buy this album! If you know him and only have a couple of his albums, buy this album. The ONLY reason not to buy this reason is if you already own most of his other albums.

A truly enjoyable listening experience. John Prine has been derisively called the poor man's Bob Dylan, and that's a shame. He has a style all his own; wry observations on every-day life.

Hello in There is a definite highlight. Very touching ode to America's elderly.

One of the best compilations discs around.

Rhino Records certainly hit one out of the park with this compilation of singer-songwriter extrodinaire John Prine. GREAT DAYS does an amazing job of hitting the highlights of Prine's career. While there are omissions (there could have been a third disk!) such as YOUR FLAG DECAL.. and GRANDPA WAS A CARPENTER that are missed, Rhino has assembled 41 reasons why John Prine is considered a great songwriter. While some have mentioned that the quality drops off on disk two, I feel that side two contains the same high quality of disk one. This is a great introduction to anyone wishing to explore John Prine and great way to plug the gaps if you're already a fan.