John Prine - Live from Sessions at West 54th

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DVD Reviews of John Prine - Live from Sessions at West 54th

DVD Review: Solid show by a great artist
Summary: 4 Stars

The highlights however are his two newer songs, In Spite Of Ourselves and Lake Marie. The first is a side-splitting duet with the terrific Iris DeMent which packs an unexpected emotional wallop due to the absolute conviction in which this profanely funny look at dysfunctional love is given in the performance here. Lake Marie is probably the best thing Prine will ever write, which means it stands tall over 99% of everything else. A story-song that never lapses into the hokey novelty of that genre, it uses the story of how Lake Marie got its name as well as a vivid description of a grisly murder scene being watched on TV as a backdrop for another of Prine's fabulous "Love Gone Wrong" songs. Somehow, what should be a disjointed mess ends up as a staggeringly engrossing narrative and his performance here, while acoustic, rocks.

My only quibble is that this should have been treated as a more definitive release with all the bells and whistles that Prine's first DVD deserves. The interview with John Hiatt, while a great treat to actually watch two masters talking, is rendered a bit redundant when Prine "Double dips" and uses many of the anecdotes from the interview in the Sessions performance. But these are minor faults and hopefully the good people at Oh Boy! will put out another Prine DVD before too long. Especially in times as troubled as these....his music is a comforting and knowing light.

-Zayne Reeves

Description of John Prine - Live from Sessions at West 54th

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