Magnolia Thunderpussy

Magnolia Thunderpussy

John Prine - Fair and Square

Details

Format: CD
Label: OB
Catalog: 34
Rel. Date: 04/26/2005
UPC: 094012003425

Fair and Square
Artist: John Prine
Format: CD
New: Available $14.99
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Quintessential American singer/songwriter John Prine returns with FAIR & SQUARE. 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 flicker from age and the walls stained deeper than sepia from the years of constant smoke.

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''Fair & Square'' is an album by American folk singer-songwriter John Prine, released on Oh Boy Records 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. - Wikipedia

It's been nine years since Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings, Prine's last album of original material. The boy works slowly, but his attention to detail makes every track on this new set glimmer like the unblinking eye of a newborn. Prine has blossomed as a singer in the last few years, as evidenced by the smooth, nuanced vocals on Fair & Square, and there's not a single weak track here-many of them are destined for Prine's next Greatest Hits. "Glory of True Love" opens the set with exuberant good humor-when Prine sings, "Old Faithful's just a fountain, compared to the glory of true love," you have to smile, because it's an image only he could get away with. "Clay Pigeons" is the portrait of an aging daydreamer trying to find salvation in music as his life slowly fades away, and "Some Humans Ain't Human" takes a brief potshot at the cowboy in the White House. Prine's tranquil melodies are country, but free of the melodic clichat make so many country songs sound overly familiar. These are tunes you can hum, with lyrics that grow deeper and more meaningful with every listen.
        
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