“Souvenirs” by John Prine

"Souvenirs" comes from Diamonds in the Rough, John Prine's second album, released in 1972 and recorded at Atlantic's studios in New York with Arif Mardin producing and Gene Paul handling the recording. Prine wrote it by himself, and the credits list two acoustic guitars, his and Steve Goodman's, with Goodman singing backup behind Prine's lead.

That plain, front-porch setup was the point. The album was cut in three days for $7,200, beer included, as Prine told it, because he wanted it to feel like the music he made at home with Goodman and his brother Dave. It digs into the Appalachian high lonesome sound and the old American folk and country Prine was hooked on, and he later said he'd come back to that homespun approach every other record or so, after a full-blown studio or rock outing.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.