Fair & Square is an album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 singer-songwriter John Prine

John Prine

John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...

, released on Oh Boy Records

Oh Boy Records

Oh Boy Records is an independent American record label founded in 1984 by singer John Prine, his manager Al Bunetta and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Slick Ballinger, Shawn Camp, Dan Reeder...

 in 2005. Three versions were released: a standard CD, an Extended Play (EP) CD with four bonus tracks, and a vinyl version with the same four bonus tracks.

At the 48th Grammy Awards, Fair & Square won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album...

.

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Mark Deming wrote of the album "...the man on Fair and Square seems a good bit less scrappy and more contemplative than the guy who cut Prine's most memorable material... for the most part this album is an unusually spare and subdued effort from an artist who usually can't help but crack a smile; with any luck he'll be feeling a bit more hopeful next time out, though this is still great music for a quiet afternoon." Music critic Bill Frater wrote "There is a timeless quality to his songwriting style. He claims that the words just come to him without him having to do anything, but just write ‘em down. I don't doubt it; even random words like Constantinople can work if the right writer hears it. John Prine is indeed a songwriter's songwriter and we all should be so honest and trusting." Music critic Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 gave the album a 3-star Honorable Mention rating.

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Prine, except where indicated:

1. "Glory of True Love" (Prine, Roger Cook) – 4:12
2. "Crazy as a Loon" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin
   Pat McLaughlin
   Pat McLaughlin is a singer/songwriter based in Nashville, TN.He was raised in Waterloo, Iowa, but moved to San Francisco, California in the early 1970s. There McLaughlin began to write songs, playing alone at open mic nights and in the streets near the bay. After a brief stint in Boston, he moved...
   
   ) – 5:03
3. "Long Monday" (Prine, Keith Sykes) – 3:22
4. "Taking a Walk" (Prine, McLaughlin) – 6:09
5. "Some Humans Ain't Human" – 7:03
6. "My Darlin' Hometown" (Prine, Roger Cook) – 3:14
7. "Morning Train" (Prine, McLaughlin) – 4:02
8. "The Moon Is Down" – 3:47
9. "Clay Pigeons" (Blaze Foley) – 4:27
10. "She Is My Everything" – 4:25
11. "I Hate It When That Happens to Me" (Prine, Donnie Fritts) – 2:49
12. "Bear Creek Blues" (A.P. Carter) – 4:45
13. "Other Side of Town" (Live recording) – 4:53
14. "Safety Joe" – 3:58

The following bonus tracks are also found on the EP and vinyl versions:

1. "Carousel of Love"
2. "That's Alright By Me" (Prine, McLaughlin)
3. "That's How Every Empire Falls" (R.B. Morris)
4. "Dual Custody" (Prine, Roger Cook)

Personnel

• John Prine – vocals, guitar
• John Wilkes Booth – mandolin
• Shawn Camp – guitar
• Jerry Douglas
  Jerry Douglas
  Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
  
   – Weissenborn
• Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar
• Paul Griffith – drums
• Pat McLaughlin
  Pat McLaughlin
  Pat McLaughlin is a singer/songwriter based in Nashville, TN.He was raised in Waterloo, Iowa, but moved to San Francisco, California in the early 1970s. There McLaughlin began to write songs, playing alone at open mic nights and in the streets near the bay. After a brief stint in Boston, he moved...
  
   – guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals, Wurlitzer
• Phil Parlapiano – accordion, piano, Hammond B3
• Dave Jacques – bass
• Jason Wilber – guitar
• Kenny Malone
  Kenny Malone
  Kenny Malone is an American drummer/percussionist from Nashville, Tennessee. He has been, since the 1970s, and continues to be a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acoustic-based genres.-References:...
  
   – percussion
• Roger Cook – ukulele, background vocals
• David Gerguson – bass
• Alison Krauss
  Alison Krauss
  Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
  
  – harmony vocals
• Mindy Smith – harmony vocals
• Dan Tyminski – harmony vocals

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
2005	Billboard 200	55
	Billboard Top Independent albums	2
	Billboard Top Internet albums	55