April 5, 2021

Last year at this time, the world was going crazy with the COVID-19 virus. The first loss of someone I met a couple of times and hardly knew, but loved, happened on April 7, 2020. John Prine was now gone.

I hate this virus a lot as we all do. I have now lost 18 friends mostly from the racing and music industry. But this also includes a couple of high school friends too.

Hopefully, we are on the other side of it now.  However, it doesn't bring back John Prine or any of the others.

The first time I met and photographed John Prine was in 1972. After the show I met him backstage and we laughed a bit as we drank our Pabst!  I was almost 18 so what the heck, why not? He was so nice to me.  I was just a young kid photographer doing a few photos and a little story for the Bugle American newspaper.

The next and last time I met with him was in 1974 at the Schlitz Country Stage at Summerfest.  I gave him a photo of himself playing on stage with a can of Pabst on the stool next to him. That picture was taken in 1972.  Should have gotten one of my photos signed but I never did. I just enjoyed sharing my work with him and comparing Pabst and Schlitz back then.

We even made an executive from Schlitz laugh a bit as he looked at the photo and said, "no Pabst around here young man"! So we enjoyed a Schlitz and laughed and John went out to play and I went out to photograph him.

I believe I saw him 4 or 5 more times through the years but never did photograph him again.

John was such a great songwriter and musician.

Miss you John Prine...

Thanks for the fun times.

Rich Zimmermann

April 20, 2020

In the past I have written blogs about John Prine who is in my opinion is the best songwriter and storyteller in the world. Steve Goodman was a good musician and friend of John's who would have to be the second best. John Prine lyrics are just amazing and to think he wrote some of his early material during his six years as a mailman in Maywood, Illinois!

John passed away on April 7, 2020 at 74 years old. It put tears in my eyes and I'm sure a lot of other people felt the same way.  COVID-19 was stronger than John and took him to heaven. He is now with his buddy Steve Goodman who passed in 1984. When they did a show together it was really a fun time with many great songs and stories.

I had the pleasure of photographing John twice, in 1972 and then again in 1974 when I worked for the Bugle American newspaper. I have seen him probably six or seven times and every performance was just great.

My photographs of John are some of my favorite images. In 1974 when he played at Milwaukee's Summerfest Schlitz Country stage, I gave him a photo from the Milwaukee PAC 1972 show and had a few Schlitz beers with him backstage. It was called the Schlitz Country Stage after all so we had to have some Schlitz beer and it was flowing pretty good and I was only 19! John loved the photo and we joked about the 1972 photos where he had Pabst beer on his stool and now it was Schlitz! I always wanted to get a photo autographed by him and never did after all these years...

The 1974 photographs are fun to look at because it was about 100F and the Summerfest Skyglider ran almost right above the stage. John was talking to the people up there and they were talking to him which made for some interesting banter.  It also made for some great photographs of him looking up at them talking and playing around.

John had some health issues and could not smoke anymore and he LOVED to smoke cigarettes! He often said that when someone would lite up a cigarette he'd rush over to get a whiff of that first puff! He even wrote a song about going to heaven and smoking a nine mile long cigarette.

My heart goes out to his family and to our Milwaukee promoter, Peter Jest and his wife Karen who became very good friends of John.

We lost a good one on April 7th.  He will be sadly missed.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

November 3, 2014

John Prine played in Milwaukee the other night and I wish I had been there to see the show. He is a brilliant storyteller, songwriter and musician.

It's funny he came to town on a week that I was scanning some old film of his performance here in Milwaukee on December 1, 1972!

We can thank Kris Kristofferson for discovering the mailman from Maywood, Illinois on an open mic night in Chicago many years ago.

John's voice has changed a bit after a battle with throat cancer in the late 90's but he is the same old John Prine.

If you get the chance, go see him play because you won't be disappointed.

Have a great week.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

John Prine at Milwaukee's Performing Arts Center 12-1-72.

John Prine at Summerfest June 20, 1974.