Whenever I’m at Tunes in Hoboken, getting my fingers all dirty on the vinyl LPs, I stop and stare at this one album, John Prine’s Sweet Revenge, and I wonder what it’s all about. Prine looks pretty bad-ass there in his convertible, decked out in so much blue denim, dark aviators over his eyes, a cigarette at his lips, the wind in his hair, legs crossed and flung out over the passenger side window like he’s seriously satisfied, like he really doesn’t care.
Don’t ask me why, but, despite all of that, my interest is never so high that I take the chance and spend the five dollars. As I write this, though, I’m listening to Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, featuring Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, My Morning Jacket, Josh Ritter, Lambchop, and Deer Tick, among others, offering their interpretations of some Prine classics. And I’m thinking I should’ve bought that album, Sweet Revenge, a long time ago, thinking that I’ll do just that next time I’m in Tunes, that, although I’ve told myself I shouldn’t buy any more records until I’ve paid off this sudden disturbing debt, music like this is an investment that’ll last longer than me or my evil credit cards, thinking that, furthermore, the girl behind the counter at Tunes is really hot, and I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing her again, her dark, curly hair, her impossible curves. I might even tell her about Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows, and how it brought me back for Sweet Revenge.
2. Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band: “Wedding Day In Funeralville”
3. My Morning Jacket: “All The Best”
4. Josh Ritter: “Mexican Home”
5. Lambchop: “Six O’Clock News”
6. Justin Townes Earle: “Far From Me”
7. The Avett Brothers: “Spanish Pipedream”
8. Old Crow Medicine Show: “Angel From Montgomery”
9. Sara Watkins: “The Late John Garfield Blues”
10. Drive-By Truckers: “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin”
11. Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg: “Unwed Fathers”
12. Those Darlins: “Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian” All on it's own, Lambchop's sassy, laidback call to love, "Six O'Clock News," just about makes the album a must-buy. "Unwed Fathers" by Deer Tick, with Liz Isenberg, is another moving, lovely surprise.
