Track Listing

1. Picture Show
2. All the Best
3. Sins of Memphisto
4. Everybody Wants to Feel Like You
5. It's a Big Old Goofy World
6. I Want to Be With You Always
7. Daddy's Little Pumpkin
8. Take a Look at My Heart
9. Great Rain
10. Way Back Then
11. Unlonely
12. You Got Gold
13. Everything Is Cool
14. Jesus the Missing Years

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9895 in Music
• Released on: 1991-09-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
John Prine was a battle-scarred veteran of the '70s "new Dylan" club and a superb craftsman whose modest commercial success found him without a major label deal in the '80s. Prine's solution was to move to Nashville and roll his own, setting up the tiny Oh Boy imprint and making records he wanted to hear, a survival game that paid off handsomely with this 1991 set, produced by Heartbreaker bassist Howie Epstein and boasting cameos from Phil Everly, Divinyls' Christina Amphlett, Tom Petty, old pal Bonnie Raitt, and another "new Dylan" alum, Bruce Springsteen. But it's Prine himself who holds your attention here, with his reliably fine songs mixing droll, dead-on narratives of recognizable Everymen, sweetly goofy parables, and unvarnished love songs that his craggy drawl inhabits with touching authority. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Perfectly Prine!
If CDs had grooves I'd have worn this one out 20 times. John is the writer, or co-writer, on 13 of the 14 songs here, and his writing has never been more poignant, subtle, or reflective. A fine blend of bluesy folk-rock, mildly sad and nostalgic, yet there's an undercurrent of joy & humor, suggesting the confidence of a survivor who thoroughly enjoys life. This record sounds like a long lost friend who's come back to share his stories--and, with the likes of David Lindley, Albert Lee, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Tom Petty, Phil Everly, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen paying their respects--the music transcends Prine's previous records. A warm, family-reunion like aura permeates the sound, and it's hard for me to imagine a better John Prine album, enjoyable over and over again, one of my must-have CDs.

Another great album from a premier singer-songwriter
John Prine is one of those rare singer/songwriters whose literate work is more popular with fellow artists than with the listening public (Phil Everly, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen show up to do background vocals on this album). Prine's work started with acoustic folk and then headed off in the direction of country, but the common denominator remains his quotable lyrics (e.g., "Unlonely") and his wry comic take on the world in which we live (e.g., "Daddy's Little Pumpkin"). Even when Prince gets a bit caustic, as with "All the Best," it is still a treat, but "It's a Big Old Goofy World" with all its clichés is more to my liking. Other songs, such as "Way Back Then" and "Everything is Cool", provide the emotional revelation that is Prine's true hallmark. "The Missing Years" is one of Prine's best albums (1991 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album), a shade short of his first self-title work but as good as "Sweet Revenge," "Bruised Orange," and the more recent "In Spite of Ourselves." Of course, Prine had a built in advantage with "The Missing Years" because it had been about five years since his previous album and the result was, as you would suspect, a stronger body of work.

The best John Prine album
John Prine hit his creative peak with "The Missing Years." There are so many fine songs, it is hard to choose a favorite. Prine has never been in better voice and his normally creative folk songwriting is particularly witty here. The verbal workout "The Sins of Memphisto," the playful "Daddy's Little Pumpkin," and the rockin' "Take a Look at My Heart" are among the best tracks. This is simply one of the best examples of folk rock available.