Haven't seen it addressed in the comments, so I'll do it... yes, the air CAN smell like snakes. This western Kentucky boy can attest to that. Copperhead snakes smell like rotten cucumbers. I've smelled it many, many times, and for me it's a signal to move along. John Prine was brilliant. I've teared up several times the past few days as he was one of my heroes. Rest in peace great one, you'll never be forgotten.
Country and folk have a thin blurry line between them. Like rap and hip hop. Old time country is inherently a kind of folk music. John Prine, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, etc. - there is a through line. "Country music" now is nothing like it was. It's pop music with some twang. It's marketing. But stuff like this is a history lesson. It has depth and meaning and the styles come from many places. Real folk music. Like hymns and handed down songs. Traditional "Americana".
I will miss JP tremendously. His 'Sam Stone' is a powerful statement on the plight of Viet Nam veterans. (There's a whole in daddy's arm where all the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose)
I actually live right down the road from where paradise used to be. Legend has it Peabody did move the town paradise away on a train. They cleared it away for coil then Tennessee Valley Authority came in and built a plant that no longer burns coal.
Wow... wasn't expecting this. I hope this opens the door for more good country, especially Townes Van Zandt, who I consider maybe the greatest American lyricist. And Prine was up there too. I've always admired him and his music more than I've actually liked it, which isn't to say that I dislike his music. I quite like it. I just think John Prine as a figure was bigger and more important than how good his music was to me. Muhlenberg County is basically on the opposite end of the state from me but this song and this subject really hits home for me. I'm surrounded by it. And I scroll through my facebook this evening after my sister told my family John Prine died, and because of who my friends are and the people I know, it was full of people mourning his passing. People I wouldn't have imagined knew who he was. It was powerful and surprising. Just like his music. I'll add that Kentucky and especially Appalachia gets in your bones. That's a big part of what country music is about. Places that haunt you. Never leave you no matter how far you get from them. As far as what the genre is, it's the folk music of the people that settled a lot of this country, especially from England and Scotland and Ireland after America changed it and melded it with the wider American experience. There's a fair amount of blues that gets thrown in. Sometimes even some jazz. There were men (especially Alan Lomax) that would record people playing the music in areas like my part of Kentucky and Tennessee and the Carolinas, etc. Country for the longest time was just part of the folk music that our country had to offer. It grew out of that. Usually pretty simple songs musically so just about anyone could play them, but deep and often dark lyrics (the amount of murder ballads is jarring). It was a very singer-songwriter oriented genre for a very long time. Prominent early country musicians would be people like The Carter Family. Johnny Cash would eventually marry into that line. You also have people like Jimmie Rodgers among the earliest. There was also what was known as country blues which was only a step or two further in the blues direction. It became a bit more polished over time and developed sub-genres like honkey tonk. The country of the 50's was intertwined with early rock and those acts would often tour together. More toward the 60's you saw both genres diverging more and more (rock and country, I mean). The best development of the genre, in my opinion, was with outlaw country in artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt (my favorite), Guy Clarke, etc. John Prine didn't really fit directly into Outlaw country but he was maybe adjacent to it. He did cover Blaze Foley, whom I consider to be outlaw country. I'd be remiss not to mention Merle Travis, a fellow Kentuckian who wrote one of the saddest and most beautiful songs about coal mining ever, in Dark as a Dungeon.
Then country slowly devolved into the pop country trash (no offense to people that might like it) we have today that sounds nothing like the Carter Family or Townes.
@@carlrosenzweig1867 I know of him. He's pretty good. I prefer my Kentucky boys Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson. But he's not bad.
@@sethhale235 I love Chris Stapleton (and his wife). I enjoy Tyler Childers. I know everyone really likes Sturgill Simpson, but every time I try to listen to him, there's something about his voice that just puts me off. I love Jason Isbell's writing, and while it's different, you can definitely hear the Prine influence. No one can replace Mr. Prine, and his passing has hit me like he was a member of my own family. But there are plenty of great musicians out there, even if they don't get all the attention. Cheers.
When he recorded this song back in the '70's the coal company died him. He was a humble and gentle man. Two of his songs can bring me to tears: Sam Stone about a drug addicted Vietnam vet, of which he was one; and Hello In There, about senior citizens that he wrote when he was in his 20's. After getting out of the air force he was a mailman in Chicago. He was loved and admired by many singers, among them Bonnie Raitt who performed his song Angel from Montgomery. I have been in a funk since his death. Peace and be well
John Prine was an American treasure, I don't remember who but someone said talking to him was the closest to Mark Twain you could get.You should listen to Sam Stone.
I live an hour from Mullenburg county in Southern Indiana. I had never heard of the Prine until I saw he was hospitalized. I started looking up songs and really enjoyed them. I like folk storytelling songs. Also, I was fortunate enough in my youth to go boating on the Ohio River and we would enter the Green River and go all the way up to the first dam.
Hi, I'm over 60 and I first heard John Prine when I was 17 I don't care for county music that much except for Johnny Cash but from the first John Prine song 'Sam Stone' to the last 'Summer Ends' & everything in-between he's been amazing & huge part of my life. Dylan, Prine, Tom Waits, then Zeppelin Stones, Beatles, Counting Crows, CCR just all rock music but those guys are tops. Thank you✌️
Green-Lyon True. I’m not into country music to much, grew up with country, country & western, & gospel in the house & I would prefer to not hear to much of it anymore (except myJohnny Cash) but yet I didn’t know John Prine’s music until I was an adult. Introduced to his music by people younger than myself. My mom never missed Hee Haw (I’m old) & if you were not a reoccurring guest on that show you didn’t hear it in the House. We had one radio & it was moms. God bless the music maker’s they make the best therapist. ❤️
@@PeeGee063 You are SO right. Music is a medicine without all those negative side effects :) P.S. I am also old enough to remember remember He Haw, lol :D
Blue Umbrella, Souvenirs, In Spite of Ourselves, Sam Stone (tissue needed for Sori), Far from Me, Lake Marie....too many to list but John Prine is a favorite of mine and I'm glad he left us with such an extensive catalogue of songs that'll make you laugh and cry. Thanks Vin for this one. RIP John Prine Marc Maron asked JP what he considers his music, folk, country? John replied " I call it pretty good"
That's such a great breadth to country music. I prefer the bluegrass style as opposed to much of the contemporary country music style. None better than this song though. It's got the acoustic guitar and fiddle, the lyrics of nostalgia and connection to the land, and the earthy singer. Thanks for listening and reacting to it! RIP John Prine.
Country music is a fairly varied genre, but the core of if revolves around songs about a longing for some element or abstraction of the idea of home. A desire for things to be like they used to be. American Country music is the most popular genre of music in the world, connecting with what I think is an innate understanding of this feeling that can be felt in the music even if you don’t understand the words. The sound of the pedal steel guitar featured prominently in country is even said to resemble the sound of a baby crying, and to this day (albeit faintly these days) the music is built around the same basic structures and chord progressions much like how reggae and today’s trap beats recycle the same ideas. This type of genre allows for the singer’s personality to kind of stand out as single defining characteristic of each song, it’s all about how they use it. John Prine has so many greats that I think are even better than this, “Sam Stone” is one of the best songs of the whole genre.
His request in this song was honored and half of his ashes was spread in Kentucky's Green River. The other half was buried next to his parents in Chicago.
Damn i think i asked you over a year ago to do some Prine. Sucks it took him dying to finally get you all to react to him but at least you're doing it. He was the greatest songwriter the world has ever known
The song is about the death of love and magic. The boy's parent's were born there he wasn't, he only visited. In the verse about shooting pistols at the abandoned prison he shows how much he loved the place, and how magical it was. He could sense that his parents had a deep emotional connection to it. It smelled (like snakes) of a magical paradise. And where is it now? Gone, eaten by industry, by the modern. It's about industry eating the magic, but also about how the modern and our present lives overwrite the magic of the past, which happens even without coal cars, it happens to all of us. We all had a glimpse into the magical world our parents loved as children, and it recedes into the past forever.
Sorry, me again. Just listening to your commentary and u mentioning when he dies and the Green River. His wife Fiona did say some of his ashes will be spread in the Green River.
RIP John Prine. You should listen to the modern-day John Prine, Jason Isbell. Also, stay away from modern mainstream "country" radio. It's all pop crap and tractor rap with no substance. If you're going to go down this rabbit hole, here are some modern artists to check out: Cody Jinks, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Whitey Morgan and the 78's, Ward Davis, Tennessee Jet, Jason Isbell, Jade Jackson, Gabe Lee and Jamey Johnson. For a little more alt-country flavor, try Drive-By Truckers, Lucero, Whiskey Myers and the Steel Woods. There are many more, but this will give you a great start.
Singer/songwriter is more of a description of him. Way too many songs of his to name. Known for his sense of humor, irony, deep messages. I miss John Prine already.
That's great that you did this song! This song is from his debut album (1971) and the album is an undisputed classic. Many say that, to this day, it's his greatest album. Enjoy: ua-cam.com/play/PLcX8U1aufGEPfr-Cex3zfe50_Ms0h6g0c.html
Do you even understand that the song was first published in 1971. You act like this is a new issue that you need to address to your daughter. It is so sad that it has taken you fifty years to get close to this. You haven't gotten that close because this is not country music. It is John Prine and John Prine is an icon that had passed such almost racial distentions. His soul was a huge thing.
Copperheads give off pheromones or whatever you call it that have a very distinct smell of cucumber, that’s how you know to immediately get out of there
Could you react to joy division- atmosphere or transmission. A little about jd they only made two albums in two years before Ian Curtis the lead singer killed himself. Also there remaining members of the band would form new order. I would recommend control it's a movie about Ian Curtis.
John Prine was not country, imo. Songs like Sam Stone or Illegal Smile would not fit in to the country formula. Nor did his later stuff. I miss him already. He was supposed to be here in Atlanta in the next month or so. I was going. Damn
John Prine was not only a great songwriter, he was also a great storyteller, a true American legend; RIP Mr. Prine
Haven't seen it addressed in the comments, so I'll do it... yes, the air CAN smell like snakes. This western Kentucky boy can attest to that. Copperhead snakes smell like rotten cucumbers. I've smelled it many, many times, and for me it's a signal to move along.
John Prine was brilliant. I've teared up several times the past few days as he was one of my heroes. Rest in peace great one, you'll never be forgotten.
When Sori feels better please listen to Sam Stone and then you will want to listen to everything the man wrote...Love John. RIP brother.
It's still hard for me to listen to John without getting choked up. He was easily the best songwriter I've ever heard.
Country and folk have a thin blurry line between them. Like rap and hip hop. Old time country is inherently a kind of folk music. John Prine, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, etc. - there is a through line. "Country music" now is nothing like it was. It's pop music with some twang. It's marketing. But stuff like this is a history lesson. It has depth and meaning and the styles come from many places. Real folk music. Like hymns and handed down songs. Traditional "Americana".
Purple Mountains "maybe I'm the only one for me" 2019 country masterpiece on par with any of the classics.
I will miss JP tremendously. His 'Sam Stone' is a powerful statement on the plight of Viet Nam veterans. (There's a whole in daddy's arm where all the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose)
I actually live right down the road from where paradise used to be. Legend has it Peabody did move the town paradise away on a train. They cleared it away for coil then Tennessee Valley Authority came in and built a plant that no longer burns coal.
Wow... wasn't expecting this. I hope this opens the door for more good country, especially Townes Van Zandt, who I consider maybe the greatest American lyricist. And Prine was up there too. I've always admired him and his music more than I've actually liked it, which isn't to say that I dislike his music. I quite like it. I just think John Prine as a figure was bigger and more important than how good his music was to me. Muhlenberg County is basically on the opposite end of the state from me but this song and this subject really hits home for me. I'm surrounded by it. And I scroll through my facebook this evening after my sister told my family John Prine died, and because of who my friends are and the people I know, it was full of people mourning his passing. People I wouldn't have imagined knew who he was. It was powerful and surprising. Just like his music.
I'll add that Kentucky and especially Appalachia gets in your bones. That's a big part of what country music is about. Places that haunt you. Never leave you no matter how far you get from them. As far as what the genre is, it's the folk music of the people that settled a lot of this country, especially from England and Scotland and Ireland after America changed it and melded it with the wider American experience. There's a fair amount of blues that gets thrown in. Sometimes even some jazz. There were men (especially Alan Lomax) that would record people playing the music in areas like my part of Kentucky and Tennessee and the Carolinas, etc. Country for the longest time was just part of the folk music that our country had to offer. It grew out of that. Usually pretty simple songs musically so just about anyone could play them, but deep and often dark lyrics (the amount of murder ballads is jarring). It was a very singer-songwriter oriented genre for a very long time. Prominent early country musicians would be people like The Carter Family. Johnny Cash would eventually marry into that line. You also have people like Jimmie Rodgers among the earliest. There was also what was known as country blues which was only a step or two further in the blues direction.
It became a bit more polished over time and developed sub-genres like honkey tonk. The country of the 50's was intertwined with early rock and those acts would often tour together. More toward the 60's you saw both genres diverging more and more (rock and country, I mean). The best development of the genre, in my opinion, was with outlaw country in artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt (my favorite), Guy Clarke, etc. John Prine didn't really fit directly into Outlaw country but he was maybe adjacent to it. He did cover Blaze Foley, whom I consider to be outlaw country.
I'd be remiss not to mention Merle Travis, a fellow Kentuckian who wrote one of the saddest and most beautiful songs about coal mining ever, in Dark as a Dungeon.
Then country slowly devolved into the pop country trash (no offense to people that might like it) we have today that sounds nothing like the Carter Family or Townes.
@@sethhale235 Try Jason Isbell.
@@carlrosenzweig1867 I know of him. He's pretty good. I prefer my Kentucky boys Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson. But he's not bad.
I probably should've mentioned Hank Williams and Patsy Cline at some point. But yeah... they exist and they're great.
@@sethhale235 I love Chris Stapleton (and his wife). I enjoy Tyler Childers. I know everyone really likes Sturgill Simpson, but every time I try to listen to him, there's something about his voice that just puts me off. I love Jason Isbell's writing, and while it's different, you can definitely hear the Prine influence. No one can replace Mr. Prine, and his passing has hit me like he was a member of my own family. But there are plenty of great musicians out there, even if they don't get all the attention. Cheers.
I’m mostly a metal/ punk fan. But, I love John Prine!. Thanks for doing this, today!!
I listen to all music but I'm mainly a metalhead myself. But my top 3 songwriters in order are John Prine, Maynard James Keenan, and Paul Simon
When he recorded this song back in the '70's the coal company died him. He was a humble and gentle man. Two of his songs can bring me to tears: Sam Stone about a drug addicted Vietnam vet, of which he was one; and Hello In There, about senior citizens that he wrote when he was in his 20's. After getting out of the air force he was a mailman in Chicago. He was loved and admired by many singers, among them Bonnie Raitt who performed his song Angel from Montgomery. I have been in a funk since his death.
Peace and be well
He was a national treasure. RIP sir.
My first time hearing this dude too. Chill song and it was pro-environment so it gets a thumbs up from me. RIP to the 'big homie'.
I've seen him 6 times.
Amazing lyricist and picker.
Sincerely,
A Devoted Punk Fan
Check out Spanish Pipedream.
😊✌
John Prine was an American treasure, I don't remember who but someone said talking to him was the closest to Mark Twain you could get.You should listen to Sam Stone.
Sam stone is one of the greatest country/folk songs ever, regarding the Vietnam veterans returning and still suffering
If your gonna review country music, at least you picked a real artist. Sort of like the grapes of wrath.
I live an hour from Mullenburg county in Southern Indiana. I had never heard of the Prine until I saw he was hospitalized. I started looking up songs and really enjoyed them. I like folk storytelling songs. Also, I was fortunate enough in my youth to go boating on the Ohio River and we would enter the Green River and go all the way up to the first dam.
his family did let part of his ashes float down the Green River,RIP John Prine,thanks for the songs
Hi, I'm over 60 and I first heard John Prine when I was 17 I don't care for county music that much except for Johnny Cash but from the first John Prine song 'Sam Stone' to the last 'Summer Ends' & everything in-between he's been amazing & huge part of my life. Dylan, Prine, Tom Waits, then Zeppelin Stones, Beatles, Counting Crows, CCR just all rock music but those guys are tops. Thank you✌️
I love this song! I've been listening to John Prine sonce the day I was born! 😊❤
I consider him more of a folk singer but that’s just an opinion.
I'd agree, but I guess Folk is an outgrowth of country anyway.
I would say Americana is the true roots/folk genre of our time, Country today was pop a few years ago.
Green-Lyon True. I’m not into country music to much, grew up with country, country & western, & gospel in the house & I would prefer to not hear to much of it anymore (except myJohnny Cash) but yet I didn’t know John Prine’s music until I was an adult. Introduced to his music by people younger than myself. My mom never missed Hee Haw (I’m old) & if you were not a reoccurring guest on that show you didn’t hear it in the House. We had one radio & it was moms. God bless the music maker’s they make the best therapist. ❤️
@@PeeGee063 You are SO right. Music is a medicine without all those negative side effects :) P.S. I am also old enough to remember remember He Haw, lol :D
Blue Umbrella, Souvenirs, In Spite of Ourselves, Sam Stone (tissue needed for Sori), Far from Me, Lake Marie....too many to list but John Prine is a favorite of mine and I'm glad he left us with such an extensive catalogue of songs that'll make you laugh and cry. Thanks Vin for this one. RIP John Prine
Marc Maron asked JP what he considers his music, folk, country?
John replied " I call it pretty good"
You should really check Out "Sam Stone" by John also "Hello In There" also "Your Flag Decal Wont Get You to Heaven"
That's such a great breadth to country music. I prefer the bluegrass style as opposed to much of the contemporary country music style. None better than this song though. It's got the acoustic guitar and fiddle, the lyrics of nostalgia and connection to the land, and the earthy singer. Thanks for listening and reacting to it! RIP John Prine.
Illegal Smile is another must listen
Country music is a fairly varied genre, but the core of if revolves around songs about a longing for some element or abstraction of the idea of home. A desire for things to be like they used to be. American Country music is the most popular genre of music in the world, connecting with what I think is an innate understanding of this feeling that can be felt in the music even if you don’t understand the words. The sound of the pedal steel guitar featured prominently in country is even said to resemble the sound of a baby crying, and to this day (albeit faintly these days) the music is built around the same basic structures and chord progressions much like how reggae and today’s trap beats recycle the same ideas. This type of genre allows for the singer’s personality to kind of stand out as single defining characteristic of each song, it’s all about how they use it. John Prine has so many greats that I think are even better than this, “Sam Stone” is one of the best songs of the whole genre.
His request in this song was honored and half of his ashes was spread in Kentucky's Green River. The other half was buried next to his parents in Chicago.
This is moreso folk than country. It's all Americana though.
nope, he's as country as it gets. why don't you think it's country?
Damn i think i asked you over a year ago to do some Prine. Sucks it took him dying to finally get you all to react to him but at least you're doing it. He was the greatest songwriter the world has ever known
The song is about the death of love and magic. The boy's parent's were born there he wasn't, he only visited. In the verse about shooting pistols at the abandoned prison he shows how much he loved the place, and how magical it was. He could sense that his parents had a deep emotional connection to it. It smelled (like snakes) of a magical paradise. And where is it now? Gone, eaten by industry, by the modern. It's about industry eating the magic, but also about how the modern and our present lives overwrite the magic of the past, which happens even without coal cars, it happens to all of us. We all had a glimpse into the magical world our parents loved as children, and it recedes into the past forever.
Sorry, me again. Just listening to your commentary and u mentioning when he dies and the Green River. His wife Fiona did say some of his ashes will be spread in the Green River.
thius cuts deep feels, but then again I am from western kentucky.
RIP John Prine. You should listen to the modern-day John Prine, Jason Isbell. Also, stay away from modern mainstream "country" radio. It's all pop crap and tractor rap with no substance. If you're going to go down this rabbit hole, here are some modern artists to check out: Cody Jinks, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Whitey Morgan and the 78's, Ward Davis, Tennessee Jet, Jason Isbell, Jade Jackson, Gabe Lee and Jamey Johnson. For a little more alt-country flavor, try Drive-By Truckers, Lucero, Whiskey Myers and the Steel Woods. There are many more, but this will give you a great start.
Don't forget James McMurtry, I think Sori would get a kick out of 'Choctaw Bingo'
John was the realist cat ever. This is a true story.
Billy the Bum, Take the star out of the window, Souvenirs are some other John Prine suggestions
Hope you both stay safe and healthy
Just realized I know this one. A lot of the singer/songwriters from Texas gives him lots of credit.
His last album is from 2018 it is called The Tree of Forgivness. Check out the songs summer's end & when I get to heaven 👌
Hope Sori is well, man. Sorry to hear about John Prine, i read about him.
Country is good, man. Oldschool country, that is, not pop country of today
A true legend of music. Highly regarded by his fellow musicians. You should listen to the song Sam Stone.
Sori is sick?! It better not be COVID! I hope that she is feeling better soon!
Singer/songwriter is more of a description of him. Way too many songs of his to name. Known for his sense of humor, irony, deep messages. I miss John Prine already.
Could this be something interesting I've never heard... hmm
Moonspell - Full Moon Madness
Moonspell - Night Eternal
Amon Amarth - Into the Dark
When I heard he died I assumed his cancer had returned. Damn.... R.I.P.
Passed from the Corona unfortunately
@@brandonchristensen7419 So freakin' sad. Just imagine all the songs left unwritten. Classics we'll never get to hear. :'(
@@Green-Lyon Absolutely, couldn't agree more
That's great that you did this song! This song is from his debut album (1971) and the album is an undisputed classic. Many say that, to this day, it's his greatest album. Enjoy: ua-cam.com/play/PLcX8U1aufGEPfr-Cex3zfe50_Ms0h6g0c.html
At 5:00 he smiled about that lyric about Heaven. I thought that was pretty cool.
Listen to the last song of his last record! When I Get To Heaven! Amazing!
Sam Stone will break your heart. Dear Abby. Illegal Smile.
Environmental song.
Well spoken
I live there!
This was always written as a coal company strip-mining protest song, than a actual country song.
Do you even understand that the song was first published in 1971. You act like this is a new issue that you need to address to your daughter. It is so sad that it has taken you fifty years to get close to this. You haven't gotten that close because this is not country music. It is John Prine and John Prine is an icon that had passed such almost racial distentions. His soul was a huge thing.
Hello in there
that was nice
Alone again- gilbert o'sullivan
Just joined patreon today
Whoa! Thank you!!
@@VinAndSori been meaning to for sometime I finally had the chance 20$ tier wish it could be more
You could review John Prine for a year and probably still not be done.
Sad :( I knew who John Prine was but never really listened to him.
I still say Vin & Sori would like Jason Isbell, if they want to do some 'country'.
Copperheads give off pheromones or whatever you call it that have a very distinct smell of cucumber, that’s how you know to immediately get out of there
Heaven is Empty by Aldous Harding!
I hope they sent his ashes down the green river
Could you react to joy division- atmosphere or transmission. A little about jd they only made two albums in two years before Ian Curtis the lead singer killed himself. Also there remaining members of the band would form new order. I would recommend control it's a movie about Ian Curtis.
“Love Will Tear Us Apart” won one of the alliance polls recently, so that reaction is forthcoming.
@@armandomilicevic2312 oh I see
Copperhead snakes smell kinda like cucumbers. And that is what he means.
Listen to Hank Williams - The little paperboy, think you like it.
Do Alice in chains stone reaction
Speaking of malls made on land react to the George Carlin bit about fat people which he talks about that subject
Please ELUVEITIE - Omnos
You want a country song that’s more metal than country listen to junkyard by the zac brown band
All the best country comes from Kentucky John prine, sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers
And if you ever caught snakes you'd know how they stink
John Prine was not country, imo. Songs like Sam Stone or Illegal Smile would not fit in to the country formula. Nor did his later stuff. I miss him already. He was supposed to be here in Atlanta in the next month or so. I was going. Damn
Start with some Woody Guthrie and work your way to John Prine. Folk singers get it right.
react to angra - carolina iv
Lets talk dirty in Hawaiian.
Not really country. More Americana than anything.