John Prine started writing songs while delivering mail in Chicago in the late 1960s. Over the last 50 years, classic tunes just seemed to pour out of him – some sad, like “Angel From Montgomery” and “Sam Stone”; some funny, like “Illegal Smile” and “In Spite of Ourselves.” Now, after beating cancer twice, the 72-year-old Prine is back with a new album, “The Tree of Forgiveness,” and it’s turning into the biggest record of his career, debuting at #2 on the Billboard Rock and Country charts. Anthony Mason pays a visit to Prine (whom Rolling Stone calls the “Mark Twain of American Songwriting”) at his home in Nashville.
