Kristofferson - KRIS KRISTOFFERSON***

Blame It On The Stones/To Beat The Devil/Me & Bobby McGee/The Best Of All Possible Worlds/Help Me Make It Through The Night/The Law Is For The Protection Of The People/Casey's Last Ride/Just The Other Side Of Nowhere/Darby's Castle/For The Good Times/Duvalier's Dream/Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down

At the time of the release of his debut album Texan country singer Kris Kristofferson was best known for his songs recorded by other artists, most notably the Janis Joplin cover of Me & Bobby McGee.

“On Kristofferson, we hear the songwriter put his imprint on his own songs. The results are decidedly mixed. He delivers his songs with passion. However, there's no denying the fact that he had a very limited vocal range. But the biggest problems with the album extend well beyond the singer's voice. The producer dampens these songs with shoddy arrangements, filled with cheesy female back-up singers, dated strings, and an unclear musical vision. It's a testament to the quality of Kristofferson's poetic lyrics, and his simple but effective tunes, that the record is as good as it is.”

“His debut features most of his best known work, you get that outlaw drifter persona and a wonderfully dark feel to songs which made them so appealing to rock acts as well as country. His voice has little in the way of range but it has a lot of presence that wins through even when the arrangements are a little patchy, and some of his social commentary sounds a little glib.”

“Kristofferson's spoken word style with a voice broken-in through whiskey and smoke sings of what he knows, the hard living and hard luck won through perseverance where the protagonist always gets up the next morning, albeit a little unsteady and dreams of his luck turning.”

“In style the album straddles both mainstream country and the nascent country-rock, although a little awkwardly at times. This is understandable given Kristofferson was basically creating his own genre.”

“Unfortunately, the tacky, dated arrangements do little to redeem his idiosyncratic vocal style. Many of the lyrics are similarly trite and contrived. The songs range from simple-minded jabs at middle-class values, to awful mini-epics glorifying his downtrodden, obscure characters.”

“After watching a plethora of artists in many genres turn his songs into hits, he decided to craft his own album of older material as well as fresh. This is the result: one of the best country debuts of the last 40 years.”