John Prine Covers Stevie Wonder for Spotify Singles
Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Music News John PrineLegendary singer-songwriter John Prine is the latest to pair up with Spotify for the streaming platform’s Spotify Singles series, releasing a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You” and performing his own “I Have Met My Love Today.”
The “I Just Called To Say I Love You” cover is drastically transformed, doing away with the synthesizers, heavy bass and smooth vocals of the soul artist’s original. Instead, Prine’s signature, almost-monotonous rasp and finger-picked guitar bring a genuine and truly endearing tone to the track.
In contrast, “I Have Met My Love Today”—while maintaining the spirited, calypso rhythm found in the original—adds in a lead slide guitar at the forefront of the track and layers in harmonies done by The Secret Sisters (also heard on the Wonder cover). The resulting version is much busier, and, oddly enough, almost beach-y.
The track was pulled from Prine’s most recent album, The Tree of Forgiveness, which was released in April on his own independent label, Oh Boy Records. The album was Prine’s first in over 13 years, and it—along with his Spotify Singles session—was produced by Dave Cobb. The album charted at career highs, topping out at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.
Prine is currently on tour, embarking on a slew of dates all leading up to his New Year’s Eve performance at Nashville’s Grand ‘Ole Opry. You can find those tour dates below, beneath Paste archival audio from a Prine show circa 1978.
Stream Prine’s Spotify Singles here.
John Prine Tour Dates:
October
03 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Tennessee Theatre
05 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Ryman Auditorium
06 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Ryman Auditorium
19 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Ace Theatre
25 – Cleveland, Miss. @ Bologna Performing Arts Center
26 – Meridian, Miss. @ MSU Riley Center
November
07 – Breckenridge, Colo. @ Riverwalk Center
08 – Grand Junction, Colo. @ Avalon Theatre
10 – Denver, Colo. @ Buell Center
16 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
17 – Omaha, Neb. @ Orpheum Theatre
December
03 – New York, N.Y. @ Holiday Cheer for WFUV
07 – Toronto, Ont. @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
08 – London, Ont. @ Centennial Hall
12 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ Westgate Theatre
14 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Celebrity Theatre
15 – Tucson, Ariz. @ Fox Theatre
31 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Opry House