What's instantly noticeable and commendable about this tribute to the songwriting of
John Prine is that none of the artists chosen to do the honors are contemporaries of the author.
Prine, in his early sixties at the time of the album's release, had been a fixture on the singer/songwriter scene since the early '70s, long before most (any?) of the participants were even born. That's a smart move by the compilers: by removing the context in which these songs were first written and recorded, the younger artists were free to reinterpret them on their own merits. Issued simultaneously with
Prine's own
In Person & on Stage live album,
Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows completes a retrospective picture of
Prine's accomplishments to the date of this release. Some of the performers choose from among
Prine's better-known material, while others dig deeper into the catalog.
Old Crow Medicine Show's take on
"Angel from Montgomery" is reminiscent of the early music of
the Band, old-timey yet contemporary too. The album opens with
Justin Vernon of
Bon Iver, who brings a faraway gospel feel to
"Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)," the title track of a 1978
Prine album, and it closes with
Those Darlins' surfy take on one of
Prine's more humorous efforts,
"Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian." Some of the most impressive interpretations veer from
Prine's arrangements:
Conor Oberst and
the Mystic Valley Band turn up the indie rock volume on
"Wedding Day in Funeralville" and
Drive-By Truckers give a bar band rawness to
"Daddy's Little Pumpkin." Justin Townes Earle's
"Far from Me" is low-key and imbued with an easygoing rural quality,
My Morning Jacket turn
"All the Best" into an alt-country singalong, and
Deer Tick (featuring
Liz Isenberg) are reminiscent of
Gram Parsons and
Emmylou Harris' duets with their front-porch
"Unwed Fathers." ~ Jeff Tamarkin
![Hello Starling [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0804879184225_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Hello Starling [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]")
