John Prine’s 80th birthday celebration is getting even bigger. Ahead of what would have been the legendary songwriter’s 80th birthday on Oct. 10, Oh Boy Records has unveiled Found Dogs, a newly curated archival collection arriving the day before that digs back into the sessions for Prine’s beloved 1995 album Fell short of Dogs & Mixed Blessings.
The release coincides with a slate of previously unveiled tribute events honoring Prine’s enduring legacy, including the all-star Souvenirs: 80 Years of John Prine concert in Chicago on Oct. 8. Originally issued as a 2,000-copy Record Store Day exclusive in April, Found Dogs will now receive a wide physical and digital release.
The collection assembles alternate takes, acoustic performances, demos and five previously unreleased Prine originals recorded during the Fell short of Dogs & Mixed Blessings era, offering an unusual look into his creative process. Leading the set is the newly unveiled“World Without Love,”one of those previously unheard songs. The track lands with a lyric video built around never-before-seen Super 8 footage of Prine on a family vacation in the early 1970s.
As for Souvenirs, the Chicago Theatre-based event will be hosted by John C. Reilly and feature performances by Margo Price, Steve Earle, Nathaniel Rateliff, Valerie June, Joy Oladokun, Josh Ritter, Kathleen Edwards, Alejandro Escovedo, Amos Lee, Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra and many more, with proceeds supporting the Hello in There Foundation. The tribute extends well beyond the concert.
The Prine family, Oh Boy Records and the Hello in There Foundation have unveiled five days of events across the Chicago area, including screenings of the concert documentary How Lucky Can One Man Get, a panel on Prine’s impact on the city’s folk scene at the Chicago History Museum, the unveiling of a new mural by Jon Langford followed by a celebration at the Old Town School of Folk Music and a hometown gathering in Maywood, Ill. , where Prine grew up. All proceeds from the Chicago Theatre concert will benefit the Hello in There Foundation, which has distributed more than $1.
4 million in grants to over 100 charitable organizations since its launch in 2021. Found Dogs follows another recent archival project from the Prine estate, John Prine: Live at Old Town School of Folk, the first complete concert recording issued from the songwriter’s vault. Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Prine passed away in April 2020 at the age of 73 due to complications from COVID-19.
After debuting in 1971, he dropped nearly 20 albums and saw his songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, George Strait and Miranda Lambert, among others.