Here on this John Prine Hello In There page you'll find a collection of John Prine covers as I play them on the acoustic as well as full lesson tutorials available for purchase if required. The demos and chord sheets are free and in downloadable .pdf format. Help yourself to any useful resources on this page.
You'll notice I'm using John Prine album covers as images to indicate which album the song can be found.
Jump links to quickly access sections
Crazy As A Loon was co-written by Prine and his guitar player Pay McLaughlin. The song can be found on his 2005 "Fair & Square" album.
At the 48th Annual Grammy Awards this album won a Grammy for the Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Fish & Whistle is about a tragic event that happened when John was an alter boy and one morning on the way to church, discovered that a local boy got hit from behind by a train while walking on the train tracks.
This song hails from the album Bruised Orange from 1978.
Glory Of True Love John co-wrote with Roger Cook and it is from his Fair And Square album from 2005.
To my knowledge this song was never released as a single. Actually, John Prine only ever released around 6 single throughout his entire musical career.
Hello In There is a track from John's 1971 debut album entitled John Prine.
The song was never released as a single but is a well known tune from the John Prine collection of great story type songs.
I Remember Everything was one of John Prine's final recordings before his passing. "I Remember Everything" was released on June 12, 2020, just a few months after his death.
The song serves as a poignant reflection on life and memories, showcasing John Prine's introspective songwriting style. It received critical acclaim and resonated deeply with his fans, serving as a bittersweet farewell from the legendary singer-songwriter.
Illegal Smile hails from John Prine's debut album "John Prine" from 1971. This song isn't about smoking dope. John said he wrote the song about himself smiling at things that many people never smiled at while he was growing up.
But it happened to fit well with the hippie movement who sort of adopted the song and John never bothered to explain the true source of the song. Download the free John Prine Illegal Smile lyrics below.
Iron Ore Betty is a song about a female construction worker who just happened to spend about 90 minutes with someone John Prine knew in the music biz as they stood in a hotel parking lot having a conversation.
I guess she recognized John's friend and needed a work break in a trailer nearby.
It's A Big Old Goofy World was written because John's mother Verna liked to play crossword puzzles and that was his inspiration for this song from his 1991 album "Missing Years".
The song was never released as a single to my knowledge.
Killing The Blues was written by Roly Salley who happens to be the bass player for Chris Isaak. Several artists have recorded this song including Shooter Jennings, Robert Plant, Billy Ray Cyrus and others.
The song can be found on the 1979 album "Pink Cadillac".
Knocking On Your Screen Door is a track from John's last album that came out in 2018 called "The Tree Of Forgiveness".
This song was never a single release but there was a music video created by David McClister.
John Prine Songbook (with tabs)
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Lonesome Friends Of Science appears on John Prine's 2018 album "The Tree Of Forgiveness".
The Lonesome Friends Of Science chords and lyrics are below.
Magnolia Wind was written by Shawn Camp and Guy Clark. In 2011, a tribute album was put together for Guy Clark and John Prine and Emmylou Harris recorded this song as part of that tribute album.
Guy Clarks version of this song can be found in his album of 2002 called "The Dark".
My Darling Hometown hails form John Prine's 2008 album "Fair & Square" and was written by John Prine and Roger Cook.
The song was never released as a single.
My Old Man was written by fellow guitar player and good friend Steve Goodman, who wrote this song approx 6 months after his father Bud Goodman passed away. He called John Prine from a payphone and played it for him.
In 1986 a tribute album to Steve Goodman was put together by various artists and John Prine contributed his talent to this album with this song.
Paradise appears on his debut album from 1971. In the song John makes reference that he wants his ashes spread in the Green River in Kentucky where the town of Paradise Ky is located.
When John passed in 2020, half of his ashes were released in the river and the other half buried next to his parents.
John wrote the song for his father and put it on his debut album. Download the Paradise John Prine chords and lyrics sheet below.
Sam Stone appeared on the 1971 debut album by John Prine and addresses the addiction issue that seems to consume many war veterans after returning from a war environment.
This song is mainly addressing heroin addiction. Download the free Sam Stone John Prine lyrics below.
Souvenirs appears on the John Prine album from 2000 of the same name. Apparently the album was originally intended for release to German audiences only.
Download the John Prine Souvenirs chords and lyrics sheet below.
Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness hails from Joh Prine's album German Afternoons from 1986.
He recorded the song as a duet with Nanci Griffith in 1993 and she released it as a single.
The Oldest Baby In The World can be found on the John Prine live album from 1988 which was taped over a 3 day period the The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, California.
John co-wrote this song with Donnie Fritts, who played keyboard for Kris Kristofferson for more than 40 years.
Unwed Fathers was co-written by John Prine and Bobby Bradcock in 1984, the day after the Superbowl. John said he had 15 titles written down and read them off. As soon as Bradcock heard the title, lights went off and they got to work.
This song appears on the 1984 album "Aimless Love".
On this John Prine Hello In There songs page I've covered over a dozen songs as they relate to strumming patterns and tunings. You have access to my free demos and downloadable pdf chords and lyrics sheets and a purchase link if you need more instruction.
I hope you found some helpful information here and if you choose to share this page with the social media icons that would be much appreciated. Thank you.