Did You Know...

Like the aforementioned Mellencamp and Hiatt, John Prine is a product of the Midwest, though his hometown of Maywood, Illinois is more suburban than Mellencamp's birthplace in Indiana. He is just one generation removed from rural Kentucky, though, which accounts for some of his homespun attitude toward music.

Prine learned to play the guitar as a teen, then did a hitch in the Army during the Vietnam years. When he got out of the Army, he started playing Chicago clubs, where he met an eventual folk icon, Steve Goodman. About the time Kris Kristofferson was making a name for himself, he heard Prine and Goodman and worked to get them recording contracts. 1971, then, saw the arrival of Prine's self-titled first album. It met with critical success, but often that does not sell albums. Tickets did sell, however, as Prine started to develop a fan base outside of Chicago.

A pair of equally unsuccessful albums followed, Diamonds in the Rough and Sweet Revenge, and were it not for the recognition he got when major artists started covering his songs, Prine might have been left in obscurity. His wit and incisive commentary, however, kept the attention of the singers who were looking for good material.