John Prine as a young man and a recent photo of him.
-by Bill Dunphy
There’s no question there are John Prine fans across Inverness County, but if a poll was taken, the village of Inverness would win the title of Number One Fan.
Prine died on Tuesday of last week after being hospitalized in Nashville on March 26th for COVID-19 symptoms. He was 73.
Born in Chicago, Prine worked as a mail carrier for five years and would say later that some of his best-known early songs were written while he walked the streets of Chicago delivering the mail.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966 and returned home after the Vietnam War to dedicate himself to music. In 1971 he released his first, self-titled, album that included Angel from Montgomery, Paradise, and Sam Stone.
The rest, as they say, is history.
As his popularity grew, his songs became staples at kitchen parties and beach bonfires. His last concert this way was in the fall of 2003 in Sydney. In Inverness, it was a case of the last person leaving, turn out the lights.
We asked a few Inverness musicians about the influence John Prine had on their music and songwriting, and why they thought his appeal was to so many Invernessers.
Steve Basker has been a part of the Inverness music scene for about as long as Prine, playing bass in bands such as Greyloch and the High and Dry Band. He has also held a John Prine Night at the Coal Miners Restaurant for the last 10 years, raising money for the Inverness Food Bank.
“In a sense, John Prine was a simple player and his vocals weren’t hard to emulate. You didn’t have to hit the high registers,” he said. “Songwriting was his strongest point; the public, in general, loved him for his lyrics. At a gig or a party, he was easy to sing along with.”
Basker related a story not uncommon to a Prine concert.
“One of the first shows he did this way was in Truro, not really knowing anything about Nova Scotia. He came out, sat down, started playing, and everyone started singing along with him. After playing a few songs, he said to the audience, ‘I have 5,000 people singing along with every song – I’m totally blown away!’”
His appeal to fans in this area was not surprising to Basker.
“He comes from an area not unlike our area, coal mining and blue collar. We share a lot of the same sense of humour and same stories.”
Basker couldn’t pick a favourite Prine song, indicating he has at least 10 faves. But during his time with High and Dry Band in the 1980s, up-tempo songs like Common Sense and Pots and Spoons were regulars on their set list.
Mike Ryan, frontman for The Town Heroes, had a COVID-19 scare himself last month after returning home to Halifax from Los Angeles. Sixteen days after self-isolating, he developed a dry cough accompanied by fever and sweats.
“I never got tested for it and I’m healthy now,” he said, having had to self-isolate for another 14 days.
Ryan said he didn’t have a real appreciation for Prine until he started writing music himself.
“The songs I know of his are pretty darn clever and he was a whiz at putting a story together. As a songwriter, the greats created a template you work from, and Prine was Songwriting 101,” he said.
Ryan said his appeal in Inverness was made stronger by Prine’s blue-collar background.
“We’re all pretty similar. We’ve all been hurt, we’ve all been lonely. He’s the perfect writer for the average person. In Inverness our coal-mining background helps us relate to that. The remnants of coal still run thick in our blood.”
And apparently so does our willingness to help each other. Ryan spoke to The Oran on Sunday, a day after another round of Isolation Bingo that The Town Heroes have going on their Facebook page. The band raised approximately $600 for Feed Nova Scotia.
Jason MacIsaac is a guitarist with The Stanfields.
“I was a bit of a late bloomer to John Prine. Meeting the rest of the guys from The Stanfields is what opened my mind up to the genius of Prine really. The boys would play a few of his tunes and I really liked them so I started digging in and listening to more and more and realized I’ve been missing out on some amazing music and stories,” he said.
“He’s been a big influence on each member of The Stanfields for sure, but for myself, he’s changed the way I look at a song and try to write. I love a good story and try to build this into any writing I do based around his influence on me.”
MacIsaac said it’s easy to pinpoint his appeal to Inverness.
“The story telling. We come from a long line of great story tellers around Inverness, and Cape Breton in general really. I think most of us have grown up with this in us, our great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, all have great stories that have been passed on through the generations and I feel like this really hits home with us,” MacIsaac said. “John Prine does an amazing job of telling a story, but also has the ability to put it to song. And a great song! He’ll live on forever because of this.”
He also agreed that picking a favourite song is impossible.
“Maybe a top 10 list would be a little easier. There’s certain ones that are faves and mean a lot to me like Fish And Whistle and Grandpa Was A Carpenter. Great songs, but also ones we played live in the Stans for years. I’m a moody guy, so I find my taste will change each day, or even a few times within a day, with what I want to listen to or what hits me at that time.
MacIsaac added, “I think if I really had to pick a favourite, it may be Bruised Orange. This song always stuck out to me, it’s a great and tragic story about an altar boy getting hit by a train early one morning while walking down the tracks. JP was an altar boy in his youth and would go in early to clear the snow off the stairs of the church ‘so they wouldn't get sued’ in his own words.
“I learned that he used the money he made from being an altar boy to buy his first guitar as well, which made me appreciate the song even more. I used to get $5 and a box of chocolates at the end of each year when I was an altar boy...that would have taken a long time to save up for my first one!”
