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John Prine


AnneS

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So curious. About a half an hour ago, amid these trying times, including losing to COVID-19 yesterday an otherwise healthy 35 year old friend, I turned to some of the deepest, most meaningful art I've ever encountered: John Prine's first album. A few minutes later, I learn this. What a time.

My friend was--"was," what a horrifying word--well, was a neighbor and member of my monthly book club, which most often met in my home. She was a vivacious, intellectually curious, voracious reader, and otherwise healthy young woman.

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John has added greatly to the American song palette.  Many people sing his songs to each other -- so many that when strangers meet musically, they generally have some of his songs in common.  His loss would be very great -- let's hope he makes it.  We all would love to have more songs I think.

-Tom

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11 minutes ago, jt said:

So curious. About a half an hour ago, amid these trying times, including losing to COVID-19 yesterday an otherwise healthy 35 year old friend, I turned to some of the deepest, most meaningful art I've ever encountered: John Prine's first album. A few minutes later, I learn this. What a time.

My friend was--"was," what a horrifying word--well, was a neighbor and member of my monthly book club, which most often met in my home. She was a vivacious, intellectually curious, voracious reader, and otherwise healthy young woman.

Sorry to hear about the young friend of  yours - way too young. And then , your namesake.Yes John-what a time!

Take care of yourself.

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10 hours ago, olie said:

Sorry to hear about the young friend of  yours - way too young. And then , your namesake.Yes John-what a time!

Take care of yourself.

Thank you.

Challenging times.

Take care, be well, and rave on.

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So right Woof.

I was never into performing or playing well rehearsed songs.  I was (and am) only into playing songs with others -- jamming.  To make that work you have to know songs that lots of people know, and the songs need to have simple structures to allow for improvisation on the fly.  They also need to be great songs -- great stories that attract a lot of people.  Most of the songs that fit this mold are old -- things that people know because they have been around forever.  John Prine songs fit this mold perfectly -- simple structure, great melody, and really great lyrics. Wonderful stories from his -- and our -- lives.

Here is an example from a show we did ten years ago in Shelburne NS, Canada.  Like all our music, this show was a jam -- the "band" had known each other for only about 24 hours, and the show just had a set list of titles and keys.  In this video, my daughter sings "Grandpa Was a Carpenter."  The musicians -- Maritime Traditional, Mountain Folk, and Bluegrass -- all knew the song.  No rehearsal necessary.  So did the audience -- note that the song got applause when the title was announced.

 

Edited by tpbiii
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1 hour ago, AnneS said:

I heard on the radio just now that Fiona Prine tweeted today that John’s condition has been upgraded to ‘fair.’ That’s third-hand info for now, but let’s hope it’s so.

Fair is better than critical by any measure. Let's hope it's true

National treasures are in short supply these days.

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I have been deeply upset and worried by this all day. I've loved John's music for so many years and I perhaps didn't realise how important to me he was as a human being until now, as odd as that sounds.

It struck me as a bitter and particularly cruel twist of fate that after battling cancer and beating it, that this horrendous virus would be the thing that really had his life hanging in the balance. My fiancée read the news before me and told me about it this morning, and I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two. I am not one to cry about anything generally (I'd rather trap those feelings in a song where they can't escape), so it took me by surprise to be so affected. 

I was relieved to read Fiona's update earlier. Fair and stable is an upgrade from critical...hell, the only downgrade is dead and gone, so he's heading in the right direction all being well. Not out of the woods yet but I'll keep everything crossed.

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Jinder, I’ll apologize in advance to yourself and the others for the lengthiness this response is sure to reach, but you’ve struck a chord inside of me and I’m going to take this opportunity to “spell some things out” as much for my own benefit as anything else.

Much like yourself, I often tend to process such emotions in a very inward way, although much more privately and far less productively in my case.

I can say for a fact that when I was younger I never once took Stevie Ray Vaughan himself, his abilities or his music for granted. I say this despite the fact that I was able to watch him play many times in a venue smaller than the unassuming house that I now call home for only a few dollars each time. I still count being able to talk with him for a minute, shake his hand and thank him for sharing his music with myself and others to be a fairly significant moment in my life.

(Later on, watching him overcome the demons that he happened to be battling back when I met him was something that I felt was every bit as worthy of celebration as his music itself was.)

Another significant moment in my life would come on morning of August 28, 1990. When I arrived at work very early that day, the security guard at my workplace who shared a mutual love of blues music, asked me if I had heard the news. I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he handed me a copy of that day’s Dallas Morning News that he had obtained for me. Plastered on the cover was the news of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s death — a victim of a helicopter crash the night before.

I was almost speechless, having a very hard time putting my thoughts together in a way that made any kind of sense. Later I was sent home early, still with the newspaper in my hand . I would need the remainder of the day to begin to recover from the impact this news had on me. I still have that very newspaper to this day, packed away with other items that serve as reminders of what my life has been.

In many ways I took SRV’s death harder than that of my own father which also occurred around that time of my then relatively young life.

That is in no way to say that my father was any less significant to me, as few things could be further from the truth. I have thought about this very topic previously. Other than the fact that I was truly in a deep state of shock when my father died, this is what I’ve come up with.,.

No one has meant more to me in my life than my father, even though our time with each other was cut far too short. With that said I would point out that for many of us on this forum there likely exist few if any triggers that impact our memories more than music. In turn, the people who are responsible for creating the  music that we each connect with have the potential to dig deeper into our souls by way of our attachment to not only the music they create but also to them as individuals as part of the process.

So in my case when someone like Stevie Ray Vaughan passed away that left  a  really deep, complex hole inside of my psyche — the path of which was determined by a couple of things. The first was by the many different ways his music connected with me over the course of a few years.  The other was the the intensity of that impact itself at various  points in time.

Such holes can not truly be examined until we are fully aware of their existence.  In my case, when it came to facing the loss of Stevie Ray Vaughan, exploring such emptiness was both immediate and concrete. I felt that I had no choice but to face such things head on even though I had little clue as to how to proceed.

In the case of the news regarding John Prine, the impacts that it might be having on yourself and others becomes a bit more complex. I feel this way because those connections that I’ve just mentioned are still being created, continuing to grow. Yet you find yourself peering into that potential void without any solid understanding of just how complex or just how deep that void might really be.

In my case, I was dealing with events that were in the past, reaching up to and including the death of SRV. That was incredibly depressing in nature. In the case of trying to come to grips with John Prine’s situation, things are still developing, continuing to move forward (fortunately with some good news apparently now mixed in). The difference here is that your concerns regarding JP’s health involve looking forward in time and that generates anxiety. That anxiety might very well exist (and likely does) right on top of any depression you might be feeling as well. That is a lot to contend with.

Add to this the mix of everything else going on in the world today (including that which impacted JP himself) and you have the perfect storm for a very emotional roller-coaster. The likes of which few of us have the necessary mental capacity to deal with head-on at this point in time.

I find this to be one of life’s great ironies. To me this is what is meant by taking the bad with the good. Just as music has the capacity to take us to heights seemingly unimaginable, so it goes that the absence of such music (or those responsible for creating the music to begin with) similarly has the capacity to sink us to unimaginable depths. 

In my case, I found that listening to the  very music that impacted me to begin with was the best way forward. Not so much for the relief it brought (it really didn’t at first), but more as a way of honoring the musical legacy that was left behind. One that I knew I would be able to tap into in more of a uplifting manner at some point in my future.

I can’t imagine a better time to honor John Prine than right now while he is amongst us. I know that I’ll be spinning some of his music again this evening. I like to think that the act of doing so fills the world with a bit more positive energy, no matter how immeasurable it might be. So many of the truly best things in life are beyond measurement, it should not surprise me that this would be any different.

Thanks all for letting me spill my emotions out all over the floor.

Take care and be well.

 

 

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Guth, I am right there with you, thinking also of the mystical connections we have with our music and ones that bring it to us.

It’s worth the pondering, for sure. Thanks for sharing yours.

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I've seen posts in a couple forums saying he's "fair"...can someone post a link? 'cause the last I saw Fiona post he's stable (thankfully) but no mention of an upgrade..."Stable" means they've "leveled off"...far as I can tell he's still critical, still intubated (a new term to me), and holding steady...

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Fiona Whelan PrineFollow

This is John’s 8th day in ICU . He is receiving excellent medical care and being treated with kindness and compassion by the entire team looking after him day and night.
I cannot be with him which makes this nightmare all the more distressing for me.
As you know, John was put on a ventilator last Saturday. He still needs quite a bit of help with his breathing. Like many patients currently in ICU beds all around the world, John has pneumonia in both lungs. He has also developed some peripheral issues that are being treated with meds, including antibiotics.
He is very ill and yet I remain hopeful that he can continue to fight this devastating virus and come home where we can care for him.
I don’t have the words to adequately Thank You all for the outpouring of love and prayers that John and our family has received this last week. It means the world to us to have your love and support at this difficult time.
On behalf of me and our boys- Jody Jack and Tommy - please know that we are keeping you all in our hearts with a prayer that you stay safe and healthy. Please continue to send Love, Prayers and Positive Energy to John. He needs us now more than ever.
John loves you and I love you too.🙏🏼❤️💚

 
 

The latest from John's wife...
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