For Better, or Worse

For Better, or Worse is the seventeenth studio album by John Prine. It consists of tracks in which Prine teams with an all-star array of female singers to tackle carefully chosen vintage country tunes in duets. The album was also released in vinyl format that also included a mp3 download pass for the album. It is his first studio album release in 9 years since 2007's Standard Songs for Average People.

For Better, or Worse
Studio album by John Prine
Released	September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30)
Recorded	January–February 2016
Genre	Country
Label	Oh Boy
John Prine chronology
Singing Mailman Delivers (2011) For Better, or Worse (2016) The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Associated Press	(favourable)[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]
Exclaim!	9/10[4]
The Guardian	[5]
NPR	(favourable)[6]

Background

The album is the second compilation album featuring duets with Prine. The first Prine's compilation of duets was in 1999 when he recorded the similarly styled In Spite of Ourselves.[7][8][9]

The 15 tracks contain 14 duets with 11 female artists (with Iris DeMent, Lee Ann Womack and Kathy Mattea) recording two duets and Alison Krauss, Susan Tedeschi, Holly Williams, Morgane Stapleton, Amanda Shires, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Prine's wife Fiona Prine recording one duet each. The last track is a solo recording, "Just Waitin'", by Prine.

Two of the artists, Iris DeMent and Fiona Prine had been featured in the 1999 album as well.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard Country Albums chart and number 30 on the Billboard 200. It also reached number 7 on the US Independent Albums chart and number 5 on the US Folk Albums chart. The album has sold 43,700 copies in the US as of March 2017.[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Featured vocalist	Length
1.	"Who's Gonna Take the Garbage Out"	Johnny Tillotson / Lucille Cosenza / Teddy Wilburn	Iris DeMent	2:41
2.	"Storms Never Last"	Jessi Colter	Lee Ann Womack	2:43
3.	"Falling in Love Again"	Friedrich Hollaender / Sammy Lerner	Alison Krauss	2:31
4.	"Color of the Blues"	George Jones / Lawton Williams	Susan Tedeschi	2:54
5.	"I'm Tellin' You"	Billy Hughes	Holly Williams	1:50
6.	"Remember Me (When Candlelights Are Gleaming)"	Scott Wiseman	Kathy Mattea	3:32
7.	"Look at Us"	Max T. Barnes / Vince Gill	Morgane Stapleton	2:46
8.	"Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)"	Joe Maphis / Rose Lee Maphis	Amanda Shires	2:58
9.	"Fifteen Years Ago"	Raymond Smith	Lee Ann Womack	3:06
10.	"Cold, Cold Heart"	Hank Williams	Miranda Lambert	3:32
11.	"Dreaming My Dreams with You"	Allen Reynolds	Kathy Mattea	3:12
12.	"Mental Cruelty"	Buck Owens / Dixie Davis / Larry Davis	Kacey Musgraves	2:23
13.	"Mr. & Mrs. Used to Be"	Joe Deaton	Iris DeMent	2:36
14.	"My Happiness"	Betty Peterson / Borney Bergantine	Fiona Prine	2:55
15.	"Just Waitin'"	Hank Williams		2:49

Personnel

• Kenneth Blevins – drums
• Shad Cobb – fiddle
• Iris DeMent – vocals on tracks 1 and 13
• Lloyd Green – pedal steel guitar
• Mark Howard – acoustic guitar, mandolin
• Dave Jacques – upright bass
• Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson – harmonica
• Alison Krauss – vocals on track 3
• Miranda Lambert – vocals on track 10
• Kathy Mattea – vocals on tracks 6 and 11
• Pat McLaughlin – mandolin
• Kacey Musgraves - vocals on track 12
• Tim O'Brien – fiddle, mandolin
• Al Perkins – pedal steel guitar, resonator guitar
• Fiona Prine – vocals on track 14
• John Prine – mlead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Amanda Shires – vocals on track 8
• Morgane Stapleton – vocals on track 7
• Susan Tedeschi – electric guitar, vocals on track 4
• Pete Wasner – piano, Wurlitzer piano
• Jason Wilber – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Holly Williams – vocals on track 5
• Lee Ann Womack – vocals on tracks 2 and 9

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 161 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 152 US Billboard 200[13] 30 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] 2 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[15] 5 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[16] 7 US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[17] 8

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[18] 69

References

1. Deming, Mark. "John Prine: For Better, Or Worse". AllMusic.
2. Wine, Steven (September 29, 2016). "Music Review: John Prine performs covers on duets album". Associated Press.
3. Christgau, Robert. "For Better, or Worse > Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
4. Mullin, Kyle (September 30, 2016). "John Prine For Better, Or Worse". Exclaim!.
5. Spencer, Neil (October 2, 2016). "John Prine: For Better, Or Worse review – marriage duets, country-style". The Guardian.
6. Allen, Jim (September 22, 2016). "Review: John Prine, 'For Better, Or Worse'". NPR.
7. Richard Turner in The Wall Street Journal: John Prine Sings Duets in New Album, ‘For Better, or Worse’
8. Jim Allen review on npr.com: John Prine - 'For Better, Or Worse'
9. Neil Spencer in The Guardian: John Prine: For Better, Or Worse review – marriage duets, country-style
10. Bjorke, Matt (March 5, 2017). "Top 10 Country Albums Sales Chart: March 6, 2017". Roughstock.
11. "Ultratop.be – John Prine – For Better, or Worse" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – John Prine – For Better, or Worse" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
13. "John Prine Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
14. "John Prine Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
15. "John Prine Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard.
16. "John Prine Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
17. "John Prine Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
18. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2020.