John Prine: Prime Prine - The Best Of John Prine (Rhino Reserve series, 180g) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

A Rhino Reserve pressing on 180g vinyl, with lacquers cut from the original analog masters by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. Twelve songs from Prine's four Atlantic albums, four of them from his 1971 debut.

This edition

• Rhino Reserve series
• 180g vinyl
• Lacquers cut from the original analog masters by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab

About the album

Prine was delivering mail in Chicago and singing at the Fifth Peg on the side when Roger Ebert wrote him up and Kris Kristofferson invited him on tour. Atlantic signed him, and four albums followed: the 1971 debut, Diamonds in the Rough, Sweet Revenge and 1975's Common Sense, his first to crack the Billboard top 100. In 1976, as his time with the label came to an end, Atlantic gathered the highlights into Prime Prine.

It's a sensible place to start, because it puts the heartbreak of 'Sam Stone' and 'Hello in There' right next to the wisecracks of 'Illegal Smile' and 'Dear Abby,' which is the whole Prine trick in a dozen songs. Prine later said nobody in his camp had anything to do with it, and a friend in the art department had to sneak them in just to see the cover. For a record made without him, it makes a remarkably good case for the man.

Tracklist

Listen

Out July 31, 2026 on Rhino (cat# RES118202), a reissue of the 1976 compilation.