Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1971


Angel from Montgomery

Buy Angel from Montgomery now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




"'Angel from Montgomery'" is a song written by John Prine, originally appearing on his self-titled 1971 album 'John Prine'. The song has been covered extensively by various artists.

Background



John Prine wrote "Angel from Montgomery" after a friend suggested writing "another song about old people," referring to Prine's song "Hello in There." Although Prine had "said everything I wanted to [about seniors] in 'Hello in There'" he was intrigued by the idea of "a song about a middle-aged woman who feels older than she is...[Eventually] I had this really vivid picture of this woman standing over the dishwater with soap in her hands...She wanted to get out of her house and her marriage and everything. She just wanted an angel to come to take her away from all this." Prine believes he likely was drawn to Montgomery as the song's setting by virtue of being a fan of Hank Williams, who had ties to that city. "Angel from Montgomery" is a concert staple of Hank Williams' granddaughter Holly Williams.

'Angel from Montgomery' was the original title of the Cherie Bennett/Jeff Gottesfeld screenplay that became the 2006 movie 'Broken Bridges'. The screenplay's setting of Montgomery was changed to the fictitious Armour Springs in the movie.

The song is used in the film 'Who Bombed Judi Bari?'. It is also sung by Marc Menchaca, in the last episode of the series Ozark (TV series). In 2021, it was ranked at No. 350 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Other versions



John Prine introduced "Angel from Montgomery" on his self-titled debut album in 1971. Carly Simon recorded it, but did not release it, in 1972 in her first session for 'No Secrets', produced by Paul Buckmaster and featuring James Taylor's vocals and Danny Kortchmar on guitar. Simon recalls: "Elektra rejected [the tracks from that session] and...asked me to work with Richard Perry. [Elektra] didn't think Buckmaster would produce a hit record for me." Simon's version did not surface until she released her 1995 box set, 'Clouds in My Coffee,' for which the track was finally mixed and mastered.http://www.carlysimon.com/askcarly/archives/archive-062002.htm Carly Simon Official Website - Ask Carly]

While Bonnie Koloc recorded "Angel from Montgomery" in 1972 on her album 'Hold on to Me,' the song achieved its first high-profile artist cover in 1973 when John Denver included itas "Angels from Montgomery"on his 'Farewell Andromeda.' But it was Bonnie Raitt's version, on her 1974 album 'Streetlights,' that first attained wide recognition for the song. In a 2000 interview, Raitt stated: "I think 'Angel from Montgomery' probably has meant more to my fans and my body of work than any other song, and it will historically be considered one of the most important ones I've ever recorded. It's just such a tender way of expressing that sentiment of longing - like 'Hello in There' - without being maudlin or obvious. It has all the different shadings of love and regret and longing. It's a perfect expression from [a] wonderful genius."

Raitt has covered the song several times. She sang it in duet with John Prine in 1985 at a concert in tribute to Steve Goodman. (Prine, Goodman, and Bonnie Koloc were then considered the "trinity of the Chicago folk scene.") She performed the song with Rickie Lee Jones at the original Farm Aid benefit concert held 22 September 1985 in Champaign, Illinois; and with Tracy Chapman at the We the Planet Festival on 20 April 2003 in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. On her 1995 live disc 'Road Tested,' on which "Angel from Montgomery" serves as the concert finale, Raitt is joined on the song by Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby and Kim Wilson.

Keller Williams performed the song at one of his early recorded shows at Fin's in Virginia Beach on Oct. 4, 1994.

"Angel from Montgomery" is performed in the film 'Into the Wild' by the characters Tracy Tatro (Kristen Stewart) and Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch). It does not appear on the soundtrack album. The chorus is sung briefly in the film 'Courage Under Fire' by the character Captain Karen Emma Walden (portrayed by Meg Ryan) during one of the flashback sequences.

The song was heard on the live television benefit broadcast on CMT May 12, 2011, performed by Gretchen Wilson. The Music Builds concert and fundraiser was to benefit the American Red Cross in the wakes of the floods and tornadoes throughout the Southeastern United States in April and May 2011.

Ruth Langmore imagines her late father, uncle and cousin performing the song in a wistful scene during the final episode of the fourth and last season of the Netflix series 'Ozark'.

Recorded versions

* John Prine, 'John Prine (album)' (1971)

* Bonnie Koloc, 'Hold on to Me' (1972)

*John Denver, 'Farewell Andromeda' (1973)

* Bonnie Raitt, 'Streetlights' (1974), 'No Nukes: The Muse Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future' (1979), 'Road Tested' (1995), 'Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2' (2021)

* Tanya Tucker, 'TNT' (1978)

* Leslie Spit Treeo, 'Don't Cry Too Hard' (1990)

* Bedlam Rovers, 'Frothing Green' (1990)

* Mystery Girls, 'Mystery Girls' (1991)

* Ben Harper, 'Pleasure and Pain' (1992)

* Dave Matthews Band, 'Salem College' (1993 - lead vocal by Boyd Tinsley)

* Susan Tedeschi, 'Just Won't Burn' (1998)

* Chris Jones, 'Moonstruck' (2000)

* Ringsend, 'Vertigo' (2001)

* Kate Schutt, 'Brokenwingtrick' (2002)

* Allison Scull and Victor Martin, 'From the Back Burner' (2002)

* E.G. Kight , 'Southern Comfort' (2003)

* The Residues, 'Last Man Alive' (2006)

* Theo Hakola, 'Drunk Women and Sexual Water' (2007)

* Matt Andersen, 'Live at Liberty House' (2007)

* Jill Johnson, 'Music Row' (2007)

* Paula Nelson Band, 'Lucky 13' (2008)

* Old Crow Medicine Show, 'Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine' (2010)

* John Prine and Emmylou Harris, 'In Person & On Stage' (2010)

* Alfie Boe, 'Storyteller' (2012)

* Thief River, 'Southbound to Nowhere' (2013)

* Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers, 'Love Whip Blues' (2014)

* Brandi Carlile Live on Wits podcast (2015)

* Jay Boy Adams, featuring Zenobia, 'How Long How Long' (2016)

* Maren Morris, 'Joy Week' (2017)

* John Mayer began covering this song at select concerts on his 2014 spring tour.

*Low Society, 'Sanctified' (2017)

*The Lone Bellow live in select concerts in 2017

*Maggie Rogers live in select concerts since 2018

* Shea & O Youtube Nov 2019

* Foxes and Fossils Youtube April, 2020

Published versions

* 'Rise Up Singing'

References



Category:John Prine songs

Category:Jill Johnson songs

Category:Bonnie Raitt songs

Category:1971 songs

Category:Songs written by John Prine

Category:1970s ballads

Buy Angel from Montgomery now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1971



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1107188951.