Kristofferson (album)

In 1965, Kristofferson left his teaching position at the United States Military Academy and he moved to Nashville to start work in the music business as a songwriter. He contacted Marijohn Wilkin, the aunt of his former platoon commander, who signed Kristofferson to her publishing house Buckhorn Music. Wilkin pitched Kristofferson's song "Talkin' Vietnam Blues" to singer Dave Dudley.[1] Concurrently, Kristofferson worked a series of odd jobs that included bartender, construction worker and railroad worker.[1] He then worked as a janitor for Columbia Records, a job that afforded him the possibility of talking directly with the artists and a presence during recording sessions.[2]

After his second child was born with esophagus issues, Kristofferson took a job with Petroleum Helicopters International in Lafayette, Louisiana. He would fly workers to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and he used the time during flights to compose new songs. At weekends, he returned to Nashville, and for the following week he would pitch the songs around town before returning to Louisiana.[3] The trips exhausted Kristofferson; his children were living with their mother in California and he felt his career as a songwriter was failing. Petroleum Helicopters International reprimanded him for his increased alcohol consumption. Upon returning to Nashville the same week,[2] Kristofferson learned three of his songs had been recorded: "Jody and the Kid" by Roy Drusky, "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Roger Miller.[4]

Through June Carter, Kristofferson made his first attempt to pitch material to her husband Johnny Cash. Carter took the demos, which were eventually lost in a pile of other material Cash had received.[5] At the time, Kristofferson worked on the weekends for the Tennessee National Guard. To attract Cash's attention, Kristofferson landed a helicopter in Cash's property.[6] Cash eventually invited Kristofferson to a "guitar pull" party in his house. Cash was impressed and invited Kristofferson to perform with him at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival.[7] Unsatisfied by Buckhorn Music, Kristofferson decided to change labels. The director of Monument Records, Bob Beckham, invited Kristofferson to play songs for him and label owner Fred Foster.[7] Kristofferson performed "To Beat the Devil", "Jody and the Kid", "The Best of All Possible Words" and "Duvalier's Dream"; Foster was impressed and offered Kristofferson two contracts; one as a recording artist for Monument Records and one as a songwriter for Combine Music. The ten-year contract required Kristofferson to submit ten records containing songs he had written.[8] Kristofferson was surprised he had been signed as a singer; he told Foster at the time: "I can't sing, I sound like a frog!"[8] Kristofferson later said Buckhorn Music had not allowed him to record demos of his own compositions.[9]

In 1969, Kristofferson left Nashville to join the production of Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie in Peru. In his absence, Cash continued to promote Kristofferson's original songs with other singers. Upon his return to Nashville, Kristofferson learned of his new popularity and started to work on his debut album.[10] As his manager and producer, Foster had decided to keep some of Kristofferson's original material from being passed to other artists. The new material, as well as his songs that had already been recorded by other artists, were included in the recording sessions, which were held at Monument Recording Studio. Kristofferson did not have a backing band so Foster gathered musicians known to him.[11] Johnny Cash wrote the album's liner notes.[12]

Kristofferson was released in June 1970. Kristofferson then formed a band with Donnie Fritts (keyboards), Dennis Linde (guitar) and Billy Swan (bass), and embarked on a tour to promote the release.[8] He played at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. On his first night, he opened for Linda Ronstadt and sang "Help Me Make it Through the Night".[33] That year, the album failed commercially, selling 30,000 copies.[34] Following the success of Johnny Cash's version, in November 1970 Kristofferson won Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards with "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down".[35]

Billboard called Kristofferson a "dynamite package", and called its material "potent".[36] Robert Hilburn wrote a favorable critic for the Los Angeles Times, saying; "[Kirstofferson] is able to combine lyric sophistication with country music's traditional interest in everyday problems". The review said the album's themes "deal with hypocrisy", talk about the "need for companionship", the "dangers of a too conventional life", and the time Kristofferson "was arrested for being too poor".[37] For the Chicago Daily News, critic Kathy Orloff described Kristofferson's lyrics as "personal but not mawkish, emotional but not self-indulgent, tender but totally masculine".[38]

The reviewer of the Austin American-Statesman mentioned Kristofferson's fame as a songwriter and other artists recording his material, and said on Kristofferson, his voice is "rough" but that the release was "able to capture the spirit and maintain the honesty of the music his perceptions have produced".[39] While The Baltimore Sun called Kristofferson's voice "lousy", the reviewer noted; "On this album, if you're going to list all the good songs, you'd list all the songs".[40] The Associated Press considered Kristofferson's material "perception and poetry".[35] Critic Robert Christgau gave Kristofferson a B−, commented on the "lack of raw charisma", and called the songs "perfunctory" and the album "disappointing".[41] Rolling Stone called the album "superb" and praised Kristofferson's compositions as "simple songs that speak eloquently of his experiences". The reviewer said Kristofferson's performance is "remarkable strong and expressive".[42]

In the summer of 1970, Janis Joplin recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" with her newly formed Full Tilt Boogie Band. Her version was released after her death in October 1970; it reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 and was included on the 1971 release Pearl.[43] In January 1971, the Nashville Songwriters Association named Kristofferson Songwriter of the Year. By June 1971, Kristofferson was reported to be "almost always sold out".[44] Following the momentum of Joplin's success, Monument Records reissued Kristofferson as Me and Bobby McGee in September 1971. The decision was taken after Columbia Records took over the distribution of the Monument Record releases.[45][46] The reissue of the record improved the original sales figures.[45] The reissued album peaked on Billboard's Top Country Albums at number 10 on November 20, 1971.[47] On the pop charts, it peaked at number 43 on the Billboard's Top LPs by October 9, 1971,[48] and was certified gold.[49]

The album was remastered and unreleased tracks were added to its 2001 edition on Monument-Legacy.[50]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Rolling Stone Record Guide
Robert Christgau	C-
Rolling Stone
AllMusic

On the 1979 edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide, critic Stephen Holden gave the album a negative review. Holden said of Kristofferson: "as a performer, he is a questionable talent", while he added that "his rough singing style - which is minimal, to put it charitably" soon "wears thin". Meanwhile, Holden characterized the material of the songs as "strong".[51] In his Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies critic Robert Christgau downgraded Kristofferson from his original review to a C−. Christgau said; "he's the worst singer I've ever heard. It's not that he's off key – he has no relation to key. He also has no phrasing, no dynamics, no energy, no authority, no dramatic ability, and no control of the top two-thirds of his six-note range". Closing the review, he recommended the album for "demo collectors".[52] In a 2001 review, Rolling Stone gave Kristofferson four stars out of five; critic Adam Bresnick described it as "one of the great lost records of the hippie era" and called it "a country masterpiece packed with tales of drifters and dreamers recounted in rough-hewn poetry worthy of the best honky-tonk songwriters".[53] AllMusic gave Kristofferson five stars out of five; the review credited Kristofferson with being different to his contemporary Nashville singer-songwriters because he noted the "natural affinity between the country archetype of a hard-drinking, romantically independent loner and the rock & roll archetype of a drug-taking, romantically free hippie".[49]