In addition to Moore's guitar and voice, Prosperous featured musicians Andy Irvine (mandolin, mouth organ), Liam Óg O'Flynn (uilleann pipes, tin whistle) and Dónal Lunny (guitar, bouzouki).

Other musicians included Kevin Conneff (later of The Chieftains) on bodhrán, Clive Collins on fiddle, and Dave Bland on concertina.

The album takes its name from the house and town of Prosperous, County Kildare, where it was recorded by producer Bill Leader in the summer of 1971.

[2]: 86–91  The house (featured on the front cover of the album) is owned by Dr Andrew Rynne, surgeon and medical practitioner and founder of Clane General Hospital in County Kildare.

The majority of the songs on the album are traditional, with the exception of "James Connolly" by established folk singer Patrick Galvin, "Tribute to Woody" (about Woody Guthrie) by Bob Dylan (originally titled "Song to Woody"), "The Ludlow Massacre", by Guthrie, "A Letter to Syracuse" by English folksingers Dave Cartwright and Bill Caddick, and "I Wish I Was in England", an early composition by Moore, who would go on to establish himself as a significant songwriter of Irish music.