Song of the Day: John Prine's 'Angel'
John Prine in his prime, plus some fine covers. Pretty good, not bad, we can't complain.
The passing of John Prine at least brought renewed attention to his five decades of remarkable songs. There have been numerous re-issues and tributes (on record, on film and live). One early song, always a highlight, is “Angel from Montgomery.” It was not the most played number on his debut album, but grew to American Songbook status after several famous cover versions. So here is John’s original and then the early cover by Bonnie Raitt that really sanctified it; plus Susan Tedeschi, a Brandi Carlile duet with John, and then, surprise, a swell version by one of our favorite actresses, Jessie Buckley (who can forget her role as a country singer in Wild Rose?). Finally, a Bonnie duet with Jackson Browne. Side note: Just coincidence that Hank Williams hailed from, and is now buried in, Montgomery?
Enjoy, then comment, share or subscribe. Without that, not much reason to go on here in 2023….
Young Bonnie Raitt
Susan Tedeschi recorded a sterling version when she was a solo act, but here is recent live version with her now long-running band.
Brandi and John
Jessie
Bonnie and Jackson
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Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), the current The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s atomic bomb movie twisted by the White House and Pentagon), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. His 2021 film, Atomic Cover-up, drew extraordinary acclaim, and his current one, The First Attack Ads, aired over hundreds of PBS stations this past fall. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.