John Prine is pretty much my musical idol. I mean, Paul McCartney was my first musical love and he's still amazing. And The Avett Brothers (the actual brothers) are working their way up the idol chain. And, of course, my guitar teacher, Matt Lyons, drives me and inspires me week after week - - and his lead guitar work makes each and every one of my songs much, much better. But, when all is said and done, John Prine is the man. His beautifully written (mostly) three chord songs are poignant, often funny, and simply the best. And John's understated, modest personality makes him, I think, among the very most beloved singer-songwriters ever.
So it's no surprise that I recorded a John Prine song on my latest EP. It's the first time (since my really bad iPhone recording era) that I recorded a cover song. I recorded two covers for Ask No Questions, Hear No Lies: Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes and John Prine's How Lucky.
How Lucky is, so I think, one of John Prine's best and most underrated songs. I know of only one other recorded cover of the song, and, in the dozens of times that I've seen John Prine in concert, I've never heard him sing How Lucky. It's a simple song. Three chords. Four verses. No chorus - - unless you count the last couple of lines of each of the verses as the chorus. Beautiful melody. And sweet lyrics.
So, to celebrate the 50th song on One Song at a Time, let's feature a bunch of versions of How Lucky:
First, here's John Prine doing "How Lucky" back in 1980.
Then here's John Prine doing the song just a few years ago on the Colbert Report.
Here's Matt Lyons and me doing our version of "How Lucky" at the Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts this past June.
And here's my studio version of "How Lucky" - - with the amazing support of the Parameters (Matt Lyons, Brian Kelly and Kevin Haindl).