Musical prequels rarely work.
Older material – released after an artist has become a big name –almost always disappoints. After all, there’s usually a reason why the hits came later.
Some albums – like the Beatles’ Hamburg tapes and Decca Sessions – have historical value. Most just stink.
That’s why John Prine’s The Singing Mailman Delivers is such a pleasant surprise. The tapes, rescued from his garage, document the birth of his extraordinary career. The audio is a ittle thin, but acceptable, and the contents are impressive.
These are recordings from 1970, one a live studio set without an audience at WFMT radio, and the other a club show at the Fifth Peg
in Chicago.
The studio recordings, made to secure copyright protection,
are essentially the roots of his first two albums. They show Prine working through his now-classic songs, including “Great Society Veteran’s Blues,” later re-titled “Sam Stone.”
The revelatory material is on the performance disc. Although
Prine has only the sparest of stage patter, he already knew how to establish rapport with the audience, joking that future listeners to the recording will talk about how much time this young man spent tuning. They would also marvel at how good he was right from the beginning.
If you see Prine in concert today, you’re likely to hear “Paradise,”
“Angel From Montgomery,” “Sam Stone” and “Illegal Smile.” They’re all here, already set highlights 41 years ago. There’s also the compassionate “Hello In There,” which Prine decribes as being written about people older than 80. That should come as a relief to Prine fans who have been listening to that song for four decades and figured they might be becoming the subject matter.
Although playing to an audience that shouldn’t be encouraged to clap or sing along, Prine is clearly having a good time at the Fifth Peg.
He jokes about a co-write with Francis Scott Key (“The Great Compromise”) and “an old spiritual” (“Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore”), and even offers up a ragged Hank Williams medley.
The Singing Mailman Delivers is taken from a headline on a Roger Ebert column about Prine, just as he was making the transition from the U.S. Postal Service to a career in music. Neither profession looks very secure these days, but Prine clearly made the right choice. Singing Mailman is a must for any true Prine fan.