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List Price: $16.98 | | Label: Oh Boy
Salesrank: 5722
Released: April 26, 2005 |
| Our Price: $11.45 |
| Used Price: $7.33 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Fair & Square Track Listing:
1. Glory Of True Love
2. Crazy As A Loon
3. Long Monday
4. Taking A Walk
5. Some Humans Ain't Human
6. My Darlin' Hometown
7. Morning Train
8. The Moon Is Down
9. Clay Pigeons
10. She Is My Everything
11. I Hate It When That Happens To Me
12. Bear Creek Blues
13. Other Side Of Town
14. Safety Joe
Editorial Review:
John Prine takes his own sweet time dancing with his muse -- and truly writes what's in his soul. So if it takes him a little longer to write the songs that capture moments and reveal the gently folded human truths that bind us all together. It's always worth the wait. Now, nearly nine years since the release of his Grammy-nominated Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings, the iconic American writer has put the finishing touches on his latest offering, appropriately titled, Fair & Square. "It was just time," says Prine in his always understated way. "I had a bunch of songs. I'd started recording them, and it turns out, I liked them pretty well. So, now, I get to get them all just the way I like them - and then I get to let them go out to meet the world." With the occasional wheezing accordion, curlicue electric guitar parts, quick-wristed mandolins, billowing B-3 pads and puddles of pedal steel guitar, the rough-voiced singer/songwriter's first self-produced record is a homey affair that draws generously from the palette of traditional American music -- be it folk, bluegrass, shuffles, vintage rock & roll, torch, country -- for an amalgamation that would be at home on any Wurlitzer in a whiskey-soaked tavern with beer signs flickering from age and the walls stained deeper than sepia from the years of constant smoke.
With bluegrass queen Alison Krauss on the ode to his Irish refuge "My Darlin' Hometown", the street corner desolation of "The Moon Is Down" and alt-country princess Mindy Smith bringing allure and tartness to "Morning Train," "Long Monday" and the melted neon ponder of "Taking A Walk," Fair & Square is the work of a man at ease with his life, secure with his place in the world and willing to share the things that he sees. "It's been a while, so I'm pretty excited," Prine admits with that Oh Boy grin. "And that's a really good place to be."
Description of Fair & Square:
Good things come to those who wait. During John Prine's nine-year interval between albums of original material, fans who hailed his recovery from cancer wondered whether he'd ever return to full creative speed. Here, Prine puts doubts to rest with an album that ranks with the finest of an inspired career. The big heart of "Glory of True Love," the socially conscious bite of "Some Humans Ain't Human," the reflective grace of "Taking a Walk," the wry whimsy of "Crazy as a Loon"--the hallmarks of Prine's artistry are reaffirmed on Fair & Square. The album also reflects Prine's first attempt at producing himself, with the warmth of his rough-hewn vocals finding a comfortable fit among the organic, largely acoustic arrangements. Though Prine penned 12 of the 14 cuts (including two bonus tracks, one recorded in concert), a pair of covers prove revelatory: Blaze Foley's "Clay Pigeons" sounds like it could well be one of Prine's own (with a melody that recalls "Hello in There" and a lyric of renewal that sounds like personal testament), while A.P. Carter's "Bear Creek Blues" carries an electric charge as the traditional song rocks harder than anything else on the album. With a generous selection of close to an hour of music, the album stands as a creative triumph for Prine, a fully satisfying effort that rewards the patience of his loyal fans. Welcome back. --Don McLeese
Fair & Square Reviews:
John Prine's best 
2009-11-15 - For me, this is Prine's best album overall, I am sort of at a loss for words to describe it. All I can say is that you need to hear this one. I've never seen him live, but that's on the bucket list after hearing this.
Fair & Square is crisp and on spot
2009-08-29 - Great album. Prine is the kind of writer who would give an English teacher fits but also produce pieces that everyone else in class would enjoy and smile at in amazement and envy.
He makes word play look easy with both humorous, tongue-in-cheek verses as well as sarcasm-laced and somber ironies woven into biographical ballads.
Senior John Prine
2009-06-29 - I am as senior as he is but this I think is the
best that he has done. He sounds so relaxed and music
is great. Good Job John!
TOM
Yes, She's My Everything 
2008-12-11 - Parts of This review have been used to review John Prine's "Great Days" album which is pound for pound the best compilation around but if you have extra dough get this one as well.
Over the last several months I have done more musically-oriented reviews that I had expected. One of the themes that have kept cropping up is that for some folk/blues-oriented musical artists like Bob Dylan my attachment was immediate, long time and on-going. For other artists like John Prine it has been more of a recently acquired taste. In fact, my first acquaintance with the work of John Prine, at least that I was aware of, was several years ago when I was requested to get a couple of his CDs for a friend for Christmas. Upon listening to those albums, including this compilation, we both agreed that the best bet was to return them and get something else. Go figure.
I had, obviously, heard Bonnie Raitt do his "Angel From Montgomery" long ago but I never associated his name with that song. Then a couple of years ago I happened to listen to his "Hello In There" and "Sam Stone". Anyone whose has been affected by the Vietnam War experience in any way will gasp after hearing "Sam Stone", a very personal take of the destructiveness of that war for many of those who fought it, found hard drugs and found the black hole as a result. If you want to hear a real anti-war song rather than something wistful like "Where have All The Flowers Gone?" and the like then listen to this one. Yes, this guy has something to say that I wanted to (and on some songs, needed to) hear.
This compilation represents a nice selction of his later work. Mr. Prine is a good guitar player, a very, very good wordsmith who has produced some poetic turns of phrases here that will have you thinking for a while. He also frankly, has the wry sense of humor (in the classical Greek sense of that word) of a man who has been pushed around by life, has pushed back; taken his beatings, dusted himself off and gotten back up again. You know, just the kind of guy that I, and I am sure other guys and gals of a certain age, very definitely can relate to.
So what is good here? Listen to "She's My Everything", "Morning Train" and "Crazy As A Loon". The you will know what I mean by that remark about his wordsmanship mentioned above.
Better and better
2008-11-24 -
Wonderful CD!!! Prine just gets better and better. From first to last this cd is worth buying for a friend,yep it's that good
Tim Hogins Kearney,ne
