Great pursuit! Here are a couple off the top of my head.Thanks for the suggestions. I left out Angel From Montgomery covers because the post was getting too long. I know the consensus is that Raitt's version is the definitive cover, but TBH I like the Tedeschi version better(sacrilege I know). At the risk of beating a dead horse, here are a few other covers that I found interesting:
Great post! (Kurt Vile is a perfect fit with Prine.)
Not sure if there's a reason you left this one out, but when it comes to John Prine covers, I always thought Bonnie Raitt did a fine job with an iconic Prine song. Some of the lines of this tune have stuck with me for seemingly my entire life.
Studio version: Angel from Montgomery (2008 Remaster)
Live duet with JP himself: Angel from Montgomery (Edit) (Live at the Arie Crown Theater, Chicago, January, 1985)
Also a very nice rendition sung by Susan Tedeschi (who can channel Bonnie Raitt at times): Susan Tedeschi - Angel From Montgomery (Just Won’t Burn 25th Anniversary Sessions) <-- (lyrics provided in the video credit section)
Tedeschi's 1998 studio cover is also quite good: Susan Tedeschi - Angel From Montgomery (Visualizer)
EDIT TO ADD:
These came up in this thread when John Prine passed away, two versions of "Hello In There." I really like Brandi Carlile's the best.
I took the liberty of cuing this up to the start of the music, but the 2-1/2 minutes of talking are also worth a listen: Brandi Carlile Pays Tribute To John Prine: "Hello In There"
Hello In There · Gillian Welch · David Rawlings
"Souvenirs" by soul singer Bettye Lavette. This is an interesting genre cross over(although it does have a dobro solo):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EwlwToYK2w
Nathaniel Ratlife again with a version of "Pretty Good". What I find fascinating is how the song is like a Dylan tune in structure and phrasing, plus the song itself is pretty witty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WCDjymqcWo
"Hello In There" has a lot of cover versions and I like the Carlile version too. I am on the fence on Natalie Merchant's version. It gets the 10,000 Maniac treatment and and the tempo seems upbeat for such a somber topic(on the other hand it is different):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syIJGymqLbU
Jason Isbell does a fine cover of Souvenirs.
Johnny Cash did a wonderful Sam Stone.
Tyler Childers does a great Yes I Guess They Oughta Name a Drink After You.
The Nanci Griffith cover of The Speed of The Sound of Loneliness that you mentioned is one of my favorite covers of any song.
Not technically a cover I don't think since he co-wrote it with Prine is Steve Goodman's You Never Even Called Me By My Name. Prine refused to be credited as a co-writer because he thought it would hurt his career at the time. Of course David Allan Coe's cover is a country classic.
DW and I went to the annual All the Best music festival that Prine put on in Punta Cana in November 2019. I'm glad we got to see him one last time as he was one of the early casualties of COVID only a few months later. What an awesome talent. The stories that many of the performers there told about how Prine had helped them in their careers were surprising (to me) and quite heartwarming as they revealed just how much respect they had for him as a songwriter but more as a person.
Statistics: Posted by Doom&Gloom — Fri Dec 06, 2024 10:02 am — Replies 7565 — Views 844100