lystn

For the 50th anniversary of John Prine’s debut album, we take a detailed look at the extraordinary circumstances of how this record came to be. In this episode, John’s older brother, Dave Prine, describes the shocking moment when he realized his brother’s staggering talent. Erin Osmon, author of the forthcoming 33 1/3 book about this album, takes us through John’s discovery story and how he first made an impact at folk clubs in Chicago before being discovered by Kris Kristofferson and Jerry Wexler. We’ll hear about the unlikely pairing of Prine with legendary Atlantic producer, Arif Mardin, and session players, the Memphis Boys, who had never made a folk record before. Keyboardist, Bobby Wood, and drummer, Gene Chrisman, of the Memphis Boys, discuss what it was like to record these songs at American Sound Studio with a very nervous and inexperienced young performer. Additionally, we’ll hear from another generation of Nashville songwriters and Prine collaborators, Margo Price and Amanda Shires, who describe why many of the songs from this record have become standards. From Prine’s wry sense of humor to his ability to write characters to covertly writing about controversial subjects to his deep empathy, we’ll hear the stories around how this record came together and why it ended up becoming one of Prine’s most enduring works.