I was going to place this in the other thread on "John Prine on PBS" but thought it may be fun under a seperate topic.
In 1971 my brother was on leave from Pettawa training camp in Ontario and came home with this vinal and said "Have you heard of this Guy"? I haven't stopped listening since. I have just about all of his releases but I have yet to see him in concert. I went on the "John Prine Shrine" site this evening and noticed that there has been recent changes. If you haven't been before, do your self a favor and check it out.
While their, I decided to check out the liner notes on his first A/P. I had recalled that Kris Kristofferson had written something. Here it is.

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LINER NOTES
   John Prine caught us by surprise in the late-night morning let-down after our last show in Chicago. Steve Goodman (who'd shared the bill with us that week) asked us to go to Old Town to listen to a friend he said we had to hear, and since Steve had knocked us out all week with his own songs, we obliged.
   It was too damned late, and we had an early wake-up ahead of us, and by the time we got there Old town was nothing but empty streets and dark windows. And the club was closing. But the owner let us come in, pulled some chairs off a couple of tables, and John unpacked his guitar and got back up to sing.
   There are few things as depressing to look at as a bunch of chairs upside down on the table of an empty old tavern, and there was that awkward moment, us sitting there like, "Okay, kid, show us what you got," and him standing up there alone, looking down at his guitar like, "What the hell are we doing here, buddy?" Then he started singing, and by the end of the first line we knew we were hearing something else. It must've been like stumbling onto Dylan when he first busted onto the Village scene (in fact Al Aronowitz said the same thing a few weeks later after hearing John do a guest set at the Bitter End). One of those rare, great times when it all seems worth it,, like when the Vision would rise upon Blake's "weary eyes, Even in this Dungeon, & this Iron Mill."
   He sang about a dozen songs, and had to do a dozen more before it was over. Unlike anything I'd heard before.
   Sam Stone, Donald & Lydia. The one about the Old Folks. Twenty-four years old and writes like he's about two-hundred and twenty. I don't know where he comes from, but I've got a good idea where he's going. We went away believers, reminded how goddamned good it feels to be turned on by a real Creative Imagination.

       ~Kris Kristofferson

P.S. Thanks to the people at Atlantic for making good things happen fast to someone who deserves it.

Special thanks to Kris Kristofferson & Paul Anka.

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In reading the above I can't help thinking how simular both Kris and John are in expressing themselves. Both great writers.

Last, Kris refers to being in this club with someone, and brought their by Steve Goodman. Was that other person Paul Anka? Paul is a great writer and singer as well, but I always found this to be a curious combination if it is so.
Sorry bout the spelling but thats the way she goes...........
Beer