BOOK: ‘John Prine: In Spite of Himself’ by Eddie Huffman
In the introduction to John Prine: In Spite of Himself, Eddie Huffman explains his affinity for the Maywood, Illinois, mailman turned Nashville troubadour: “Prine immediately felt like a kindred spirit,” Huffman writes, citing Prine’s ability to balance humor and serious emotion in his music. He goes on to list some of their personal similarities, like their shared blue-collar backgrounds and Huck Finn-style childhood summers, to their struggles with divorce and illness.
But In Spite of Himself isn’t really about John Prine’s personal life. It’s a close look at his discography, from his earliest recordings at the WFMT radio studio in Chicago to 2007’s Standard Songs for Average People, sprinkled with quotes from reviews and interviews. It’s slightly impersonal by necessity (Prine’s manager declined to “cooperate” with Huffman, seeing the book as possible competition for an in-progress official documentary and songbook), but Huffman uses the anecdotes and autobiographical information available to him to flesh out a portrait of a singer-songwriter whose songs often revealed quite a bit about human nature, but little about himself.
Depending on who you ask, John Prine is best known for humorous songs like “Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian” and “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” poignant character studies like “Sam Stone” and “Hello In There,” classic folk and country songs like “Paradise” and “Angel From Montgomery,” or live show favorites like the stoner anthem “Illegal Smile” and the epic ballad “Lake Marie.” While usually classified as a folk or Americana artist, Prine has hopped a few genres over the course of his career, and has worked with country, bluegrass, rock, and soul musicians and producers. No matter the tone or the style, though, John Prine’s songs tend to have several things in common: deceptively simple chord structure, plain-spoken vocal delivery, and a sharp eye for detail and understanding of human nature.
Huffman traces Prine’s musical beginnings as a preteen learning guitar chords from his older brother on through the group guitar classes he took at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, and his subsequent discovery of — and immersion in — the thriving folk music scene of 1970s Chicago. Chicago luminaries like Steve Goodman, Roger Ebert, and Studs Terkel were all early supporters of Prine’s work; Goodman was responsible for Prine’s first big break (introducing him to Paul Anka and Kris Kristofferson) and remained an important figure in Prine’s life as a co-writer, producer, and friend. The book follows Prine from album to album, record label to record label, Chicago to Nashville, tracing Prine’s treatment of topics like aging, anti-war sentiment, loneliness, and the movies.
Along the way, Huffman reveals the origins of all of Prine’s classic songs and the songwriting inspiration Prine found in his everyday life. “Hello In There” developed from Prine’s close relationships with his grandparents, “Sam Stone” grew out of the image of a broken radio in the post office where he worked, and “Flag Decal”‘s inspiration really was a free flag decal in the back of an issue of Readers Digest. The song “Paradise” receives particular attention, as it describes the demise of Paradise, Kentucky, a mining town in Muhlenberg County where the Prine family spent their summer vacations. Prine wrote the song specifically for his father, but the theme of paradise lost is familiar even to those who didn’t grow up in Paradise, as evidenced by the many people who have covered the song over the years.
John Prine: In Spite of Himself is filled with the same kinds of details that make songs like “Paradise” both personal and universal: Prine’s love of fried chicken and orange soda, his stint as a high school gymnast, his rueful statement that if people sing “Hello In There” to him in his old age, he’ll “probably throw rocks at ’em.” The book touches briefly on the darker parts of Prine’s personal life (failed marriages, cancer, and alcoholism) but only as they affected his songwriting output and the content of his songs. Huffman doesn’t mince words about Prine’s more unfortunate lyrical, production, or even fashion choices, but his admiration and affection for the songwriter shine through on every page. Overall, it’s an entertaining and worthwhile read for anyone looking for an introduction to the music of the singing postman.
Get your copy of John Prine: In Spite of Himself via the University of Texas Press online shop!
