OHR Presents: A Tribute to John Prine

Ozark Highlands Radio

This week, a tribute to legendary singer-songwriter John Prine by his son Tommy Prine & longtime friend and co-writer Keith Sykes recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. John Prine was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, often with elements of social commentary and satire, as well as sweet songs and melancholy ballads. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death in 2020. John was connected to Mountain View, Arkansas through his love of fishing and Jack’s Resort on the beautiful White River. John visited Mountain View regularly since his childhood and made many friends in the area. In fact, according to John, his first public performance as a teenager was for fellow patrons at Jack’s White River Resort. https://www.johnprine.com/about Tommy Prine is an American singer-songwriter and is the youngest son of John Prine. After his father's death in 2020, Tommy decided to pursue a musical career. At the age of 10, Tommy learned how to fingerpick from his father. As a teenager, Prine traveled with his father's tour primarily to assist with merchandise, then occasionally joining him on stage for the encore. While Prine endeavored to create distinct and independent music from his father, his influence is remembered by everything from covering John Prine songs to writing songs about his father. While Tommy is often compared to John, he developed his own path while acknowledging the legacy of his award-winning father. https://www.tommyprine.com/ Once upon a time in the summer of 1967, Keith Sykes hitchhiked to the Newport Folk Festival and saw Arlo Guthrie perform “Alice’s Restaurant.” In the fall of that year he got a copy of the album, learned the whole song and sang it at a Holiday Inn in Charleston, South Carolina. They hired him on the spot for a regular gig playing music in the hotel. In the more than 40 years that followed, he would become a troubadour and storyteller, a massively successful songwriter with more than 100 songs recorded by artists as diverse as Rosanne Cash and George Thorogood. He would tour every corner of America and play in just about every conceivable kind of venue, appear on Saturday Night Live and Austin City Limits, and host songwriter nights on Memphis’ legendary Beale Street with many of music’s most talented songwriters. He would join Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, tour the country and record the Volcano album – the title track for which he co-wrote with Jimmy. - http://www.keithsykes.com/ In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1976 archival recording of John Prine himself performing his famous song “Paradise,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins discusses the Ozarks’ influence at the “Festival of Festivals,” the first National Folk Festival held in St. Louis, Missouri in 1934. (Part 3)