Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Keeper For Sure!, November 20, 1999
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.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dazed and Amazed!, March 10, 2000
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?....
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpectedly Charming, September 27, 2000
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.
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