Room for Squares

Room for Squares
Studio album by John Mayer
Released	September 18, 2001
Recorded	Loho Studios, New York City, New York; Sunny Acre, Easton, Maryland; 33 & 1/3 Studios, Brooklyn, New York; Applehead Studios, Woodstock, New York; Media Mix Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Pop rock, acoustic rock
Length	54:14
Label	Aware, Columbia
Producer	John Alagia
Professional reviews
ABC link Allmusic link Blender link PopMatters (unfavorable) link Robert Christgau link Rolling Stone link Slant link Stylus (B) link
John Mayer chronology
Inside Wants Out (1999) Room for Squares (2001) Any Given Thursday (2003)
Alternate covers
Cover for the initial June 2001 release
Japanese version
Singles from Room for Squares
"No Such Thing" Released: April 23, 2002 "Your Body Is a Wonderland" Released: September 3, 2002 "Why Georgia" Released: April 29, 2003

Room for Squares is the debut studio album by American musician John Mayer, released on September 18, 2001. Originally released independently by Aware Records on June 5, 2001, the album reached number nine on the American Billboard 200 albums chart. It remains as Mayer's best-selling album to date, with sales of over 4,308,000 copies in the United States, as of July, 2009.^[1]

Production

The album's title is a reference to Hank Mobley's No Room for Squares album. All songs from the album were written by Mayer; three songs, "No Such Thing", "Neon", and "Love Song for No One", were co-written with Clay Cook.

Through constant shows, including in the Atlanta-area Eddie's Attic, Mayer's reputation began to build, and a March 2000 appearance at the South by Southwest Music Festival^[2] brought him to the attention of "launch" label, Aware Records.^[3] After including him in the Aware Festival concerts and having his songs included on Aware compilations, in early 2001, Aware released Room for Squares as an internet-only album. During that time, Aware inked a deal with Columbia Records that gave Columbia first pick in signing Aware artists, and so in September of the same year, Columbia remixed and re-released Room for Squares.^[4] As part of the major label "debut", the album's artwork was updated, and the track "3x5" was added, which didn't appear on the original as the recording wasn't yet complete at the time. The re-release included reworked studio versions of the first four songs from his indie album, Inside Wants Out.^[5] The cover art for the most recent release of Room for Squares features a periodic table design beginning from the back cover which continues to the front cover, ending at the right-side.

The album was relatively unknown at its time of release, but it became more well-known through word of mouth and John's touring. By the end of 2002, Room for Squares had spawned several radio hits, including "No Such Thing", "Your Body Is a Wonderland", and ultimately, "Why Georgia" (a radio-only single).

Critical reception

Anthony Decurtis (with Rolling Stone) gave the album four out of five stars, calling it "irresistible".^[6] PopMatters gave an unfavorable review, saying "It doesn't offend, nor does it attempt to make itself too exciting for the most part."^[7] Robert Christgau sympathized with PopMatters' negative stance on the album, criticizing its lyrical composition (specifically, the lyric "She keeps a toothbrush at my place/As if I had the extra space" of City Love).^[8]

By the end of 2002, Room for Squares had spawned several radio hits, including, "No Such Thing," "Your Body Is a Wonderland," and, ultimately, "Why Georgia", which was released as a CD single six weeks before the follow-up album, Heavier Things, was released in 2003.

In 2003, Mayer won a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Your Body Is a Wonderland”. In his acceptance speech he remarked, “This is very, very fast, and I promise to catch up.”^[9] He referred to himself as being sixteen, a remark that many mistook to mean that he was only sixteen years old at the time.^[10]

Track listings

All songs written by John Mayer; "No Such Thing", "Neon" and "Love Song for No One" co-written by Clay Cook.

Original version

1. "No Such Thing" – 3:51
2. "Why Georgia" – 4:28
3. "My Stupid Mouth" – 3:45
4. "Your Body Is a Wonderland" – 4:10
5. "Neon" – 4:22
6. "City Love" – 4:00
7. "83" – 4:51
8. "Love Song for No One" – 3:21
9. "Back to You" – 4:01
10. "Great Indoors" – 3:36
11. "Not Myself" – 3:36
12. St. Patrick's Day – 5:21

Columbia re-release

8. "3x5" – 4:50
9. "Love Song for No One" – 3:21
10. "Back to You" – 4:01
11. "Great Indoors" – 3:36
12. "Not Myself" – 3:36
13. "St. Patrick's Day" – 5:21

United States Columbia bonus disc

1. "Lenny" (Stevie Ray Vaughan cover live at X Lounge)
2. "The Wind Cries Mary" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover live at the X Lounge)

Personnel

All track numbers correlate with those on the Columbia re-release of the album.

Additional personnel

• Jack Joseph Puig – mixing on tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10
• Jeff Juliano – mixing on tracks 2, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13; engineering; Pro Tools engineering
• Scott Hull – mastering
• John Mark Painter – strings arrangements
• Dan Fallon – artwork
• Alex Fallon – artwork
• Joshua Kessler – photography

References