Review: Prine/DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves

Subject: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite of
From: olddude
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 08:54 AM

Priceless
and I think John lost nothing even with the cancer surgery

just priceless I think

In spite of Ourselves live from sessions

Subject: RE: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite of
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 09:18 AM

I loved that program when it aired and I play that one on YouTube every couple of weeks. Great story of course as he ALWAYS has a pretty good one about his stuff. Two different voices that make a great sound together.....Love 'em both!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite of
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 09:30 AM

BTW.............Not to hijack your thread but Iris DeMent has a sound that I am always surprised when it blends nicely in a duet and the same is true of Prine (just an opinion of course). So I should not have been surprised when she sounded so good with with one of the finest harmony singers ever..........or any other kind of singer for that matter.

Iris with the great Emmylou


Spaw

Subject: RE: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite of
From: CupOfTea
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 09:38 AM

I've not seen the uTube thigie on my ancient dialup soundless computer, but I've heard the duo on the radio and it always astonishs me. I adore John Prine, I love this song, but Iris DeMent's voice by itself is second cousin to nails on a blackboard for me - I can't turn the station fast enough!

It reminds me of an art school exercise we were given, where we had to take a color we loathed and design something with it, finding colors that gave it style and setting. I can understand how that can be with voices that grate as well - put them in the right setting and they shine.

Subject: RE: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 09:57 AM

To each his own, I guess. Iris DeMent is my favorite singer. Or maybe tied with Kate Rusby (who does Iris' song "Our Town").

Emmylou sang with Iris from the beginning. On Iris' first album, "Infamous Angel," Emmylou does the harmony vocal on "Mama's Opry." And they both did harmony vocal on "Are You Tired of Me My Darling," on Nanci Griffith's album "Other Voices Other Rooms," released the same year. John Prine also sang on that album.

Iris did some beautiful singing on Tom Russell's "The Man From God Knows Where," and she sang in the movie "Songcatcher" and on the album of music from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

The live sessions on the YouTube link in the first post are available on DVD as well as CD.

Subject: RE: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite of
From: olddude
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 10:56 AM

Guest,
I can't disagree at all with you. She is certainly great

Spaw
I can't believe it took me this long to find that video
it is wonderful for sure. Iris and Emmylou is amazing. My buddie from HS and I use to play music a lot. He took off for Austin TX after college and hooked up with Emmylou ... I think he is still doing studio work for her

Wow good stuff

Subject: RE: Review: John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite
From: NormanD
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 01:46 PM

Has anyone seen the movie that features "In Spite Of Ourselves"? As far as I know it never received a UK release, and may not be available on dvd. I hunted through imdb to find the details - a movie called "Daddy and Them", featuring JP in an acting part.

He has referred to this movie when performing the song - his usual amusing and laconic self. I take it that the movie died a box office death.

Subject: RE: Review: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: topical tom
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 06:01 PM

IMO, Iris is one superb singer with a unique voice that is oh so enchanting. As for John Prine, simply one of the best.

Subject: RE: Review: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: Don Firth
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 06:09 PM

Yeah, I discovered that video some time back.

Hearing those lyrics coming out of that sweet little be-dimpled face is a real riot! Love it!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 10:08 PM

Norman, I haven't seen the movie, but here's a trailer that makes it look pretty funny.

It's available on DVD in US format.

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 05 Jan 09 - 10:28 PM

Gosh, I've had the CD for maybe three years. Prine duets the honkytonk boy-girl songs with the likes of Connie Smith and DeMent. There's not a clinker in the bunch. Prine subsequently, dueted a CD with bluegrass legend Mac Wiseman. Not as good as In Spite of Ourselves, IMO, but enjoyable.

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 02:52 PM

I bought a copy of that movie, "Daddy and Them," and thought it was hilarious. The plot is very similar to the story of "In Spite of Ourselves," which John and Iris sing during the final credits. Prine does a great job as a quiet, bookish, slightly nutty character. I'm surprised he wasn't in more movies after that. And I don't understand why the movie wasn't more popular, especially with the all-star cast. The only problem I could see with it was there were too many long, slow-moving scenes involving just the two main characters. But with a DVD you can fast-forward through those. Or women might like them.

Thornton and Laura Dern play an insanely jealous couple in a small town in Arkansas, with Diane Ladd as her mother and Kelly Preston as her older sister who's also his ex-girlfriend, and with Andy Griffith and Sandra Seacat as his senile parents, Prine and Jeff Bailey as his eccentric brothers, and Jim Varney as his Uncle Hazel who's wrongly accused of attempted murder by a suicidal man he tried to help at the suggestion of his wife, an English psychologist played by Brenda Blethyn. Hazel is supposed to be defended by a mom and pop law firm played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Ben Affleck, but they get into an argument and break up their marriage and law firm.

It was written by Thornton, but the dialogue sounds like something from Roy Blount or Eudora Welty:

"Dewey, I have to feed a woman that acts like they ain't gonna be no more food, and skinny as a rail, I don't get it. She ordered a goddam C.O.D. elephant. A ceramic elephant, C.O.D. Her signator was right on it. You don't know what it's like, man."
"Now Duane, you hadn't oughta take the Lord's name in vain when you're talkin' to a deacon of the church."

"How come she's gotta come down here at all? It ain't her kinfolk that's locked up in jail."
"Honey, the whole family's gonna be there. Now your daddy and them is my family, and vice-a-versa; other words, Mama and Rose is your family. Now my family should be involved in any big-time situations, other words a crisis situation."
"But how come we hafta wait for her to come all the way from Nashville just to ride 81 miles? Why don't she just go to Little Rock? We'll done be there and meet her."
"Honey, it's what she wants. She ain't gettin' any younger."
"You know all she'll talk about is your ex-boyfriends. Who wants to listen to that shit in their right mind?"
"Honey, she's got somethin' she wants to talk to us about. She's gonna get a taxicab at the airport in Little Rock to bring her out here; then she's gonna ride up to Little Rock with us so she can talk to us. See? Want some candy corn?"

"Well, tell him to come back and fix it. Oh, yeah? Well how'd he like to get his ass whooped? Tell him that. It wouldn't be nothin' for me to whoop a plumber's ass."

"Aw, Ruby, can't I even have a head-on collision in peace?"

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 08:14 PM

I think I need to go find a copy. On a side note............I miss Jim Varney. Watched him and laughed from his earliest commercials even before he did Ernest.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jan 20 - 06:08 PM

For years, I've wanted to find a partner to sing this song with, but I was too embarrassed to ask. It was my turn to sing at a John Prine workshop at camp this week, and I decided to try singing "In Spite of Ourselves" by myself. My friend Barbara came up behind and sang it with me, and the audience went wild! And I found a partner for this song.

The link in the top post has expired. Here's a new one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8tTwXv4glY

But I'm still a little embarrassed....

Happy New Year!

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jan 20 - 11:46 PM

I've always liked this song. It is just the funniest, but I can see how it would take a lot of nerve to get up and perform. Good job, Joe!

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jan 20 - 12:49 PM

Here is a great BBC radio show where Iris was interviewed by Tom Paxton

They did a wonderful version of Along the Verdigris together.

Subject: RE: Prine/ DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 07:15 PM

Here's a performance of "Sam Stone," but it starts out with a cute story about how John Prine recruited Iris Dement to sing "In Spite of Ourselves" with him. He says he wrote the song with her in mind, and she replied, "Yeah, you couldn't get anybody else."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtrALjg0-xQ