r
Thursday, October 4. 1979
Weekender
Page 5
Prine drives an adequate
LP
By GRANT DUERS
John Prine
Pink Cadillac
John Prine's latest, Pink Cadillac, is the
product of two and a half months of f ive-nights-a-week
jamming at a recording
studio in Memphis, Tenn. The 10 cuts on
Pink Cadillac are the remains of 500 hours
of tape. It sounds like it.
Prine and his band have produced a
blend of rock n' roll, country and blues
played to musical perfection. There isn't a
stray guitar pick or erroneous drum beat
on the album. The amount of time spent
putting this one together shows.
Side one of Pink Cadillac displays Prine
at his best. It opens with two Prine-written
numbers, "Chinatown' a pulsating tune,
and "Automobile," a reaffirmation of
Prine's love for cars.
Says Prine: "I wanna . drive my
automobile all around the world." And in
"Automobile" he does. In fact, his route
passes right through a hospital zone with a
musical accompaniment that makes you
feel like you are actually driving through a
hospital zone.
Next comes a Roley Smalley ballad,
sung to perfection by Prine "Killing the
Blues," in which he bemoans the fact that
there's nothing sadder than losing
yourself in love. -
Performed on Pink Cadillac as a vocal
duet between Prine and guest Billy Lee
Riley, "No Name Girl" is a 1950s R & B
throwback with lyrics like:
She's 6 feet tall, got long blond hair,
Goes around in a sack, but I don't
care.
She's got great big feet,
Wear's size number 10.
She never knows where she's going,
But knows where she's been.
Elvis Presley would be envious of this one.
Records
Side one closes out with a song written
by Prine and his guitarist, John Burns.
"Saigon" is a pure rock 'n' roll cut about
the conditions in Saigon. This is an
interesting tune for those who followed
Prine, the war protester, through the 60s.
Side two of Pink Cadillac offers a
somewhat diluted Prine. Prine's musical
style is a lot like Bob Dylan's. His scratchy
voice fits perfectly into the lyrics he
writes, and his music offers a perfect
complement. This is not always the case
when Prine is doing other people's songs.
While he manages to get away with it
rather nicely a couple of times on side
one, things get a little thin on side two.
The opening cut, "Cold War," is Prine's
one pure country offering. Written by
Floyd Tillman, "Cold War" is definitely
out of place on Pink Cadillac. It's a slow,
dull song that just doesn't pack the punch
of a good country song.
Fortunately, things take a turn for the
better in "Baby, Let's Play House," which
contains the album's title:
You may go to college,
You may go to school.
You might drive a pink Cadillac,
Don't you be nobody's fool.
The next two cuts are vintage Prine
again. "Down by the Side of the Road" is
Prine at his harmonizing best and is every
bit as good as the cuts from his masterful
Bruised Orange LP.
"How Lucky" is another good Prine
number, a bit country, but nothing like
"Cold War." "How Lucky" also features
some excellent harmonica playing by
band member Howard Levy.
The album closes with heavy steel and
drums. "Ubanga Stomp" is just what the
title implies.
Prine is the kind of artist that requires
'Cadillac blends rock, country
some time to appreciate. His raucous
voice is a little hard to take at first, but if
you are patient, you may find yourself
coming back to your Prine records long
after you have tired of the latest Dire
Straits or Talking Heads offering.
Pink Cadillac is good, solid Prine, well
worth purchasing. While it may not be as
good as his Bruised Orange album, it is a
high-quality, impeccably produced
record. What's more, you get the
impression that everyone involved had
fun putting Cadillac together. There
aren't many studio recorded albums you
can say that about.
Prine will be playing at the Raleigh
Memorial Auditorium October 7.
Grant Duers is business manager for
The Daily Tar Heel.
i op i n
urns
Led Zeppelin, In Through The Out Door (Swan Song).
The Knack, Get The Knack (Capitol).
Bob Dylan, Slow Train Coming (Columbia).
Commodores, Midnight Magic (Motown). .
Michael Jackson, Off The Wall (Epic):
Supertramp, Breakfast In America (A&M).
Chic, Risque (Atlantic).
Foreigner, Head Games (Atlantic).
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise).
Little River Band, First Under The Wire (Capitol).
'Joelxeato
is the feature magazine published
each Thursday by The Daily Tar
Heel.
Dinita James
Editor
Laura Alexander, Assistant Editor
Elliott Warnock, Columnist
laUij ular Heel
David Stacks, Editor
John Hoke, Managing Editor
Michele Mecke, Features Editor
Ann Smallwood, Arts Editor
Reid Tuvim, Sports Editor
Andy James, Photography Editor
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