Disco de John Prine: “Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings”

Indeed, when the critics brand an up-and-coming songwriter "the new Bob Dylan", it gives the artist a complex he may never live down, and a career that's anything but distinguished. However, John Prine is one of those unlucky "neo-Dylans" that not only took that label in stride, but slowly trampled over it. Like most songwriters, Prine's songs have been famous thanks to other artists, while he himself has been restricted to cult status. The title of LOST DOGS & MIXED BLESSINGS is an appropriate summing up of Prine's career, which has seen its fair share of hills and valleys, but resulted in him still alive & kicking. With his most recent recordings, Prine has adopted a more traditional country sound that has turned out to be a great background for his offbeat lyrics and even more sardonic delivery. Songs like the acronym-heavy "We Are The Lonely", the smartly-written "Leave The Lights On", and the easy-to-sing-along "Big Fat Love" are both catchy and original enough to have won some airplay on country radio stations not just by Prine himself, but maybe by Dwight Yoakam or George Strait.. The same goes for well-sung favorites like the infectious opener "New Train", the bluesy "Ain't Hurtin' Nobody" and the sarcastic "Same Thing Happened To Me". Like Dylan, Prine's music has its share of idiosyncrasies, with even the most heartfelt statements being delivered with a slight tongue-in-cheek. BLESSINGS contains "Humidity Built The Snowman", "Lake Marie", "Quit Hollerin' At Me" and "He Forgot That It Was Sunday", which all sound like ordinary ballads, but still contain the heavily-veiled wordplay of his uptempo songs. Then again, there are beautiful love songs that are more straightforward like "This Love Is Real" (featuring a guest appearance by Marianne Faithfull), "All The Way With You", "Day Is Done", and the closing "I Love You So Much It Hurts". I'll bet John Prine still has quite a few great songs up his sleeve, but at this point in his career, he can stand to take some years off before coming up with something new. After this, Prine returned with the mostly-covers album IN SPITE OF OURSELVES. So until another original album comes along, LOST DOGS & MIXED BLESSINGS will be ample proof that John Prine had loads of potential at the beginning of his career, and three decades later, he's still got a lot to accomplish.

Ok, so I stole the title from one of his albums. Sorry, John. Another long-time Prine fan here (have been hooked ever since "The Accident" back in 1976). Not surprisingly, this one became another of my favorite albums. I don't know how he does it, but the sentiments he expresses in his music seem to follow my life. Maybe that's because his music isn't cookie-cutter, "perfectly crafted popular hit songs" and is open to so much varying interpretation, there's always something there that I relate to at any particular time. And it always makes me think. Sometimes his meaning (or my best guess at his meaning) doesn't become clear for years. "Lake Marie" is one of my favorites on this one. First heard it during my divorce, when John sings about being up in Canada, "trying to save our marriage, or catch a few fish, whatever comes first." He has lifted my spirits and brought so many smiles to my face over so many years and through so much turmoil. I'll always be so grateful that he didn't make a lifelong career out of delivering "more junk mail than the junkyard could hold." If you're a Prine fan you will probably love this one. If you're not a Prine fan, or you're not sure, it's anyone's guess. John Prine isn't for everyone - if he was, I'd probably hate him.

Having been a fan and a follwer of JP since the 70's(a stark contrast to my love for Jethro Tull and the Who), this recording by Prine is the best I've heard this decade. There are no new artists that can combine both lyrics and music the way that Prine can, although I doubt that today's teens and twenty-somethings look at disc sleeves for lyrics. The album is mostly rockers and is well produced with a driving beat and great guitar leads. Like all Prine records, after the second listening you'll be singing along and nodding your head everytime he hits you with his simple worldly truisms. Bravo Prine!

I remember my dad got this when I was about six (and it first came out) and played it a lot, since then I've always liked it, and would say this is a great album with some unforgettable lyrics.

A real winner of a CD. One of my favorites. Lake Marie is a superbly written song. The rest of the cuts are very good also, there is honestly not a bad cut on the CD or one that have to hit the Next Song button on. Others have given descriptions that I don't need to repeat. Get this and enjoy it!