John Prine, Elvis Costello and a jukebox on fire episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 18, 2025 · 39 MIN

John Prine, Elvis Costello and a jukebox on fire

from Word In Your Ear

Novelist and journalist Tom Piazza struck up a friendship with the irreplaceable John Prine in the last years of his life. This relationship, which began as a profile for a magazine, almost blossomed into an autobiography and involved a road trip in an inadvisable vehicle, has resulted in a new book “Living In The Present With John Prine”. Which involves:•⁠ ⁠setting off in a 1977 Coupe De Ville and driving “until the engine burns up”.•⁠ ⁠sitting up all night playing old country songs.•⁠ ⁠remembering how he came to write some of the greatest songs of the last fifty years•⁠ ⁠an evening’s swapping stories with Elvis Costello which ends with the alarming word “the jukebox is on fire!”•⁠ ⁠what Prine’s last album “The Tree Of Forgiveness” has in common with Beethoven’s late quartetsBuy Living In The Present With John Prine: https://amzn.eu/d/9vWv9rgFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourearHelp us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 18, 2025

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

John Prine, Elvis Costello and a jukebox on fire

0:00 39:25

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Word In Your Ear?

This episode is 39 minutes long.

When was this Word In Your Ear episode published?

This episode was published on September 18, 2025.

Can I download this Word In Your Ear episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!