In Spite of Ourselves

John Prine

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 14, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Oh Boy
• ASIN: B00000K3LI
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,023 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
You've got to hand it to John Prine. On the first song on this collection of duets, he plunges valiantly into "(We're Not) The Jet Set," singing the part made famous by George Jones, the Caruso of country music. And Prine, never blessed with the most pliant pipes, promptly pancakes a note flatter than Kansas. Aw, heck! The songwriter's songwriter takes a curious turn with his first studio album since 1995's Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings. Here he's penned only the hysterically coarse title track, opting instead to coo a slew of classic lovin'-and-losin' country tunes with Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Trisha Yearwood, Melba Montgomery, Patty Loveless, Fiona Prine, and Dolores Keane. Given Prine's ragged-but-right voice, the effect is something akin to casting a grizzled character actor opposite Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story. And you know what? It'd probably still be a charming (albeit very different) movie, because romantic comedies, like country duets, are all about chemistry, which is something In Spite of Ourselves has in excess. --Steven Stolder

Rolling Stone
"The theme linking these honky-tonk standards and obscurities is fidelity, or the lack thereof, served up with a double shot of wry."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Keeper For Sure!, November 20, 1999

By	Vincent E. Vizachero (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been a John Prine fan for years, and never considered not buying this CD.

After my first couple play-throughs, I still wasn't sure what to think: this wasn't exactly the John Prine I'd been listening to for years. His voice is certainly a little rough around the edges. And this IS a cover album (but is worth the price for the title track alone), which isn't the normal John Prine speed.

Then I realized that I never really like Prine for his voice, rather for his heart and his wit. And both are here in spades on this album. This is a GREAT collection of songs, sung by a fabulous man and some truly awesome women. There is more quality lurking in this album than many other artists can muster in a lifetime. I can't think of another performer with the real American soul of John Prine, and here he shows us a side of it that many have never seen before. It is a revelation and a blessing.

Buy this CD. After hearing it, you'll never regret it.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dazed and Amazed!, March 10, 2000

By	"kasper3" (Herndon, Va USA) - See all my reviews

Listening to Dolores Keane, the great voice of Ireland, doing her solos and harmonies on "Its A Cheatin' Situation" and "In A Town This Size" is like discovering that there is finally someone who can sing in the slow-motion haunting style that once was soley the property of Pasty Cline. Then along comes Iris Dement's toe-to-toe duets with John, culminating in "In Spite Of Ourselves", in which she does the impossible - she steals the show! Fiona Prine's solo in "Till a Tear Becomes A Rose" makes me daydream of having a woman sing in such a way to me. You can tell she is singing to her husband!...And then there's Lucinda Williams' solo on "Lets Turn Back The Years"! She is worth the price of admission alone! Add to this the solos and harmonies of Trisha Yearwood, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Connie Smith and Melba Montongomery and you find yourself dazed and amazed at John Prine. This CD fits like a glove and each duet, so sublte and simple, is a homage to the lonliness we have all known, the love we have all longed for, the grand "honky-tonk days" when a few chords and a couple of great voices and uncomplicated lyrics accompanied a cold beer and a few tears. Then, just when we forget its our John Prine that is taking us on this journey, "In Spite Of Ourselves" comes along....and we realize the John we thought we knew is still amongst us!...Touche, ol' buddy....thanks for opening my ears to Iris Dement, Lucinda Williams, Dolores Keane and Fiona Price. Prine singing "country" with "country's best" and an Irish lady reminiscent of Patsy Cline - I'm gonna buy another copy of this CD in case anything happens to the one I have now!...5 stars?...No, how about 9 stars and and five ! for John Prine?....

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unexpectedly Charming, September 27, 2000

By	Don Thomason (Dunbar, KY United States) - See all my reviews

I was all set to not like this record -- John Prine is hardly the type of singer you'd think anyone could harmonize with (much less for an album of duets), and when I heard "Til A Tear Becomes A Rose" (with wife Fiona Prine) on local public radio, I first thought "clunker." Surprise -- this collection of country standards about relationships is a charmer, and most of Prine's partners -- including Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Melba Montgomery, and Lucinda Williams -- find ways to fit their voices with Prine's. Some liasons don't work, most notably with Irish singer Dolores Keane who phrases too straight to fit. Far and away, the best performances are with Iris DeMent; they click on George Jones & Melba Montgomery's "Let's Invite Them Over," the George & Tammy classic "(We're Not) The Jet Set," and the offhandly bawdy title track (the only Prine original). The recording and arrangements are stripped down to show the core of these country gems, and the results are as magnetic as a couple in love that's been together 20 years or more.