 Cult folk singer John Prine was born in Maywood, Ill. on October 10, 1946 to a family who were of Appalachian heritage. With encouragement from his older brother, Prine began playing guitar at age 14. After working as a postman and serving a term in the U.S. Army in West Germany, Prine joined the Chicago folk scene of the late 1960s.Country legend Kris Kristofferson assisted Prine in landing a record contract, signing him to Atlantic in 1971. Relocating to Nashville, Prine released his self-titled debut album later that same year; though welcomed by critics, the record did not sell many copies nationally. It was the same story with his next few albums - despite being publicly praised by other performers and folk critics, none of Prine's releases was commercially successful. 1975's Common Sense, with its untraditional production values, did eke in to the Top 100, but that didn't prevent Atlantic from dropping him. Prine switched to Asylum Records for his 1978 follow-up, Bruised Orange, which marked a return to more usual folk territory, but once again it failed to sell well. Fans received a surprise with 1979's Pink Cadillac, a rockabilly-influenced release partly produced by Sam Phillips of Sun Studios -- an aggressive move for Prine --but once again sales were minimal. After 1980's Storm Windows, Asylum parted ways with Prine, prompting the artist to form his own label, Oh Boy. By 1986 Prine scored a Grammy nomination for his album German Afternoons, later winning a Grammy for 1991's The Missing Years, which featured guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and consequently became his best selling album to date. John Prine's most recent studio album, Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings, was released in 1995. He released a live album, Live on Tour, in April 1997.
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