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. 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.

Prine introduced "Angel From Montgomery" on his self-titled debut album in 1971. 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. She sang it in duet with John Prine in 1985 at a concert in tribute to Steve Goodman.

Many thanks to Bette Lanpher for the use of her video of this live performance at Zephyrhills VFW from which still photos were made and used in this video.

Barry Oliver is a musician/singer/songwriter originally from Groton, NY, who resides in Zephyrhills, FL. He performs at several music venues in the Zephyrhills area. Barry was elected to the New York State Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2019. With just a few exceptions, Barry's vocals were recorded LIVE; accompanied by background tracks.

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